Page 46 of The Tainted and the Tamed
She gaped at him. “Turnedme?”
“Chairman Asami.” With a frown in his shadowed eyes, the chairman rephrased the question. “How long have you been a vampire?”
The color drained from Murasaki’s face. “A vampire?”
Momoko stepped in front of her protectively. If she wasn’t in such shock, Murasaki would admire her for how boldly she faced down the chairman.
“She isn’t a vampire.”
“Then what—”
“That’s a problem for later,” Momoko said sternly, “as you said.”
With a grunt, the masked chairman turned away. As if he was starting to wake, Haruki began to writhe in pain. “What can I do?” the chairman asked.
“You’ve done enough, Chairman Noguchi. You’re injured, too. You should rest until I can attend to you.”
Murasaki found herself at Haruki’s side. Her hand hovered over his sleeve, wanting to shake him awake as if he was just sleeping. The part of her brain not in complete shock warned her not to touch him. “Haru,” she said softly.
“Haru?” The masked chairman shook his head. “Even I barely call him that. Girl, how long have you been lovers?”
She was too busy watching desperately for signs of Haruki’s breath to respond.
“Ms. Mukai, Chairman Asami has been giving you medicine.” As Dr. Setouchi spoke, he rubbed some kind of ointment on Haruki’s skin. “But it wasn’t what you think. There was immortal blood mixed into it.”
Murasaki’s head snapped up.
“It’s true. There are only vampires in this room, Ms. Mukai. Vampires and a fox-shifter, once my wife returns.”
“I don’t—that’s not possible.”
“It is.” He pointed his chin toward her. “You’ve seen how quickly your throat has healed. Your bruises have already yellowed. Your wounds are like scratches now. You have immortal blood in you.”
Dr. Setouchi stopped ministering to Haruki. “Ms. Mukai, I must ask something of you. It pains me that I must, especially after you lost so much blood. It’s something that could help Chairman Asami.”
The hazy whirl of the room stilled. Suddenly, Murasaki saw the doctor clearly. “What is it? I’ll do anything.”
“Are you certain?”
“I’d be dead if it wasn’t for him.”
Dr. Setouchi nodded. “I need you to offer some of your blood to Haruki.”
The masked chairman’s voice sounded distant, though his shadow was over her. “You mean they haven’t—”
“I’ll do it.”
Momoko reappeared at her side. “She doesn’t know what that means. You can’t ask her to do that.”
“I want to,” Murasaki said.
Dr. Setouchi lowered his eyes to Haruki. “Fetch my scalpel, Momoko. Please.”
A few drops—that was all it took.
That’s what Murasaki repeated to herself, as blood from her wrist ran steadily into Haruki’s mouth.
She was never a religious person, but something about this felt unholy. Wrong. Yet she did not stop. If this is what it took to save him, Murasaki would do it.
