Page 47 of Queen of Darkness
“Huh?” I asked, glancing up. “Sorry, lost in thought.”
“Understandable at a time like this,” Vir said, offering me a gentle smile.
Dani and Aaron were nearby, doing the last bits of preparation for their ends of the task ahead of us. Meanwhile, Vir was preparing the magic he said he would use to try to keep me alive. The longer he had to study me, the better he could tailor his spell, apparently. Hence why we were preparing before the others were ready.
“Thanks. What was it you asked?”
“Those,” he said, indicating the nearby blood packs, the full ones we’d gathered before the blood bank had gone up in flames. “What are they for?”
“To keep me alive,” I said. “Aaron is going to feed them to me as we go, doing his best to keep me alive.”
Vir shook his head. “That won’t work.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re a vampire,” he said. “Your body absorbs blood. A human body digests it. Yours soaks it up. It enters your bloodstream due to the change in DNA from the vampire gene.”
I stared at the full blood packs. “And if I start drinking someone else’s blood …”
“Then the blood we draw will not necessarily be yours,” he said.
“And if the Guild finds out,” I said, following his logic. “Fuck.”
“Apt,” Vir granted.
“What do we do? How do we handle this? How long does it take to enter my blood?” I asked. “Do we know? There must besomedelay. Especially for it to get to the point where it would dilute my blood enough so it’s not entirely my own.”
“I don’t know,” Vir admitted. “But do you want to risk it?”
“We’ll have to at some point,” Aaron said, coming to crouch at my side. “If we do nothing, shewilldie.”
I stared up at him, seeing the concern at the corners of his eyes. He was afraid for me. It was understandable. I was petrified. At first, it had been simply about dying. Lately, however, I was starting to become afraid of the things I wouldn’t be around to see. Or experience.
Like a life with you,I thought, staring up at the vampire who had so recently become a big part of my world. That was what I didn’t want to miss. Blinking back tears at the thought of not being able to experience many lifetimes with him, I tried to bring my focus back to the present.
This was theonlyway to explore what was developing between us. To chase the butterflies in my stomach that only he conjured. Not doing this would simply result in a life of misery, constantly running from one hideout to the next, hoping never to get caught. That was no life at all.
“You’ll wait to the last second,” I said firmly. “You must. My body will probably respond even if my mind is gone. But you can’t give me any too soon. We must havemyblood in there. Do you understand?”
“I’ll wait,” he agreed solemnly, voice steady and even. The only hint of his fear was deep in his eyes. In a place, I suspected, only I was allowed to see.
“Okay. Let’s do this,” I said.
Dani came over and crouched silently next to me, needle ready, the line hooked to a bag. She tied a strap around my arm, letting the veins grow more visible.
“Thank you,” I said, catching her eye.
“Don’t ever ask me to do this again,” she said.
I swallowed. “I don’thaveanyone else to ask, Dan.”
“Easy on the feels,” she whispered huskily. “I need to keep my hands from shaking while I put this in.”
“You’ll be great,” I said. “Just like you’ve always been to me.”
The needle pricked my skin. I took a deep breath, exhaling slowly as the first bag began to fill. Part of me wanted to look down, to watch it, but I knew that would be a bad idea. I didn’t need to see it happening. Soon enough, I would feel it.
In what felt like no time, Dani was already switching to the next bag. She carefully handed it over to Aaron, who packed it away into a cooler bag filled with icepacks. Nobody spoke, everyone concentrating on their own tasks.
