Page 62 of Bullets and Blood
“I thought you were dead.”
“Hard to kill.”He looked away.“You should know it was me who took your blood so you could be turned.I’m sure they would’ve told you anyway, but I wanted you to know so you can curse me out properly on day five.”
“I wanted this.I’ve wanted this for years.I won’t blame you.”
Nix nodded.“We’ll see.”
* * *
Nix peeled the bandage off.There was skin there now, pink and thin enough that he was sure he could see his insides.That was a big improvement over yesterday when he could definitely see his insides.The muscle would take longer to regrow.He made the effort to shave but stayed in the pajamas given to him.Aside from walking to Lance’s room and back to his own, he hadn’t been up to doing anything else but eat and sleep and heal.But it was day four, and he needed to make the effort to be there because he knew how bad day four was, and it shouldn’t be gone through alone.The hunger took over, and he didn’t want Lance to be alone or with someone else.
He’d done this.
He should be the one.
For the first time since being shot, he didn’t hold his stomach as he walked down the corridor.The house seemed large, with high ceilings and exposed wooden beams in the ceiling, but he hadn’t had a chance to see much of it and wasn’t sure he’d be allowed to, even if he did have the spare energy for a guided tour.
A man sat guard at the door.He looked up from his book, but instead of nodding like he usually did, he stood.Nix sighed.He’d lose this fight if it came to blows.
“You don’t have to go in.”
“Yeah, I do.”Lance was his boyfriend, and he’d been the one to kill him.
“You aren’t well enough.Garrick is returning with a volunteer.”
Nix jerked his chin at the door.“He’s asking for blood then.”
“They weren’t the words he used, but yes.”
“I’m going in.”
The man put a hand on Nix’s shoulder.If his guts weren’t held in by about two layers of skin, he’d have sat the man in his chair.He stared at the hand and then looked at the man.“Would you let someone else fuck your boyfriend?”
“He’s not your boyfriend at the moment.He’s just hungry.”
As much as that was true.It was still Lance and as well as owing him, he wanted to be there.He lifted the man’s hand off his shoulder.“I’m going in.”
“If you’re well enough for that.You’re well enough to talk to Ann.”
Nix turned at Garrick’s voice.Another man was with him.Nix narrowed his eyes.That was about the only threat he’d be making, but if they dragged him away, he was going fight them, paper-thin skin or not.“I’ll talk to her tomorrow.”
And she’d tear the truth out of him with a glimmer that would shatter his carefully built walls.It didn’t matter if it happened tomorrow or in a week’s time; he’d have to let the Reid matriarch into his head, or they wouldn’t let him be inked into the family.
Garrick considered him for a moment, then gave a single nod.“There’s lube in the bedside table.Make sure you leave before the rage kicks in.The doctor won’t want you undoing all his hard work.”
“I’m not suicidal.”No one ever stayed for day five.It didn’t matter how much he loved Lance, he wasn’t going to be in the same room as him when his body flooded with unfamiliar hormones activated by his first blood feed.
Garrick nodded to the guard.
The guard stepped aside.“Don’t get killed.I’ll miss our chats.”
Nix flicked him a smile.He’d spent so much time sitting outside the door, he’d gotten to know the man well enough to know that he liked fantasy novels and cryptic crosswords.
Nix drew in a breath, then opened the door and slipped into the dark room.The curtains were drawn, but a crack of light slipped through, cutting the room in half.Lance got off the bed, fluid like a cat scenting prey.Nix licked his lip and kept the door at his back.
He tried to remember what it had been like for him.Some distant cousin that he’d mucked around with in biting class had volunteered, but aside from the gnawing hunger in his bones and a lust that couldn’t be sated, he didn’t remember the details.
Lance put his hands on either side of Nix’s head.He pressed his cheek against Nix’s and breathed him in before his lips brushed Nix’s neck.
