Page 91 of As Darkness Fall
“Yes, and?” I said. “He’s a little extra crispy at the moment. Not much help.”
“We can fix that,” Vir said, and now he too wouldn’t meet my gaze.
“What the hell are the two of you talking about?” I growled. “Someone stop being a coward and spit it out.”
“He needs blood,” Vir said when Fred continued to shake his head. “Mortal blood.”
“My blood,” I whispered in sudden understanding, making sense of why the other two were so uncomfortable at the suggestion.
“Yes,” Vir said heavily. “If you give him some blood, he will heal faster. And help us out of here.”
“We got through here fine the first time,” I said. “Why can’t we just leave? Nobody wanted to fight us.”
“You don’t know where we are,” Fred hissed. “If sh–if anyone finds us, it would be bad. They might think we did that to him.”
I glared at him. Who was this “she” that he’d almost said? He stared back.
“Fine.” I looked at Vir. “How do we do this?”
“Drip it into his mouth,” Vir said. “Don’t let him bite you. I will hold his hands back.”
“That’s not very comforting,” I growled. “Now, how do I–oh, thanks.”
“No problem,” Fred said as I took the offered knife from his hand. “Least I can do.”
“You did a lot,” I told him. “Thanks to you, we have the Idol. That’s big, in my books, at least. So thank you.”
Fred shrugged, unhappy at the attention, and stepped away.
Grimacing at what I was about to do, I stepped up to where Vir was holding Aaron and held my arm over Aaron’s mouth. Bracing against the pain, I dug the blade into the underside of my arm and opened the skin.
“This is disgusting,” I said as the first droplets fell into Aaron’s blackened mouth.
The reaction was immediate. Fangs jutted down from his upper jaw, and his head lunged for my arm with blinding speed.
“Sonofabitch!” I shouted, yanking my arm away. “Why didn’t you warn me!”
“I did,” Vir said. “I told you not to let him bite you.”
“Not about that, about the–” I sighed. “Never mind.”
It wasn’t worth arguing over. I positioned my arm farther out of reach and let the blood continue to drip for a few moments more before he tried again.
“Okay, I’m done,” I said, pulling away, dropping the knife, and using my free hand to pinch the wound closed while my shifter healing stopped the bleeding. “That’s too much for me.”
“I’m–cough–I’m sorry,” Aaron said from where he lay in Vir’s arms. “Sometime—sometimes, I cannot control myself when I’m so weakened.”
I whipped my head around, stunned at how fast he was healing. Color had already returned to his entire head and much of his neck. Yet, he still didn’t move.
“You still look weak,” I pointed out.
“Yes,” he agreed sourly. “But I am coherent again. So, thank you. I…owe you.”
“Don’t mention it,” I said, still majorly creeped out by his vampness. I should have been ready for it, but I hadn’t been, and now it was giving me the heebie-jeebies. “Just make it worthwhile. Get us out of here as fast as you can.”
“Can you survive about a mile-long hike?” he asked. “We are quite close to an exit.”
“Do I have to do it in this form?” I asked, covering my nudity. “I’m gettingreallytired of all my naughty bits being on display.
