Page 51 of Queen of Darkness
“We got it, then?” I was referring to the necessary amount of blood.
“We got it,” he confirmed. “And you still have eight hours to recover and take it to Mr. Orrin. But you have to do it. Unassisted. So that means getting stronger. You might feel strong now, but you’re still too weak to walk.”
“Eight?” I whispered. “That’s it?”
Aaron’s jaw tightened, and he looked away momentarily. “You were out for a long time, Jo,” he said, clearing his throat softly. “I, uh, we almost lost you.”
“I’m back now,” I said, touched by his caring and his fear for me. He was in the same position he’d been in when I’d started it all. Had he even moved? Sixteen hours he’d been by my side. Never leaving. “And, uh, thank you.”
He smiled. “Anything for you, Jo.”
I couldn’t match his smile. Not with blood crusting my mouth and the taste of it still so strong on my tongue. But I could pat his hand. Reassure him.
“You have a few more hours’ rest,” he said. “We’re going to try to get some more blood.”
“No,” I whispered, shoving aside the vampire part of me and its desire for more. “No more. Please.”
“You have to do it,” Aaron growled at me. “You’ve come this far, Joanna Alustria. Are you going to give up now, just because you have to drink some more blood and feel good? Or are you going to do what’s necessary and walk into that office and deliver this damn blood yourself?”
I glared at him. We both knew the answer to that.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Itottered into the reception area, the cooler clutched to my chest with all my strength. Aaron had been right; I was far weaker than I felt. Despite drinking down more blood than I’d had taken out, my body was far from recovered. Clearly, it wasn’t a one-to-one ratio. I took another step forward, wishing Aaron could have accompanied me inside.
He was standing right outside the door, having carried me into the building and up the elevator. I would have fallen well before if he hadn’t. But that wasn’t part of the rules. I simply had to walk into the office and deliver the blood,myblood, to Mr. Orrin without assistance.
I’d thought I could do it. Right now, however, the rectangular waiting room seemed like it stretched on for eternity. The secretary’s desk was against the wall on the far side of the room from me. Behind her was the long solo hallway that led to Mr. Orrin’s office.Thatwas where I had to go.
Staggering forward, I approached the desk, even as the room spun and started to elongate itself before my eyes. The secretary looked up at me, her face blank, though her brown eyes screamed disdain. She didn’t want to deal with me and whatever my business was.
Weren’t her eyes green last time?I wondered, my brain going off track as I stared at her. It didn’t matter. I had a mission to accomplish.
I took another step, my legs screaming with the effort; the muscles in no way recovered enough to walk. Yet, walk I did. My arms were looped through the cooler’s handles, and I kept it close to me. It was also strapped around my middle and over my shoulders, but if I dropped it, or if any of the blood packs fell out, there was no way I could pick it up and then stand again.
Come on, you bitch. Ask me why I’m here,I thought, glaring at the secretary. I was the only person in the room, and she wasn’t on the phone. Yet, she made no effort to start the conversation. Instead, shewaitedfor me to cross the room. Making me go to her before acknowledging my presence.
Setting my teeth, I vowed that I wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction of seeing me crumple over. I would walk up to her desk and make the bitch do her damn job. She was going to get up off her perfect little ass and walk her unnaturally perfect legs down that hallway to tell Mr. Orrin that I was here. I didn’t care.
A tiny sigh escaped the woman’s lips as I took another two steps. I was somewhere between halfway there and seven miles distant, judging by how hard it was to take each step. My energy was fading. I had to get there.
So, I took a step. And then another.
“Can I help you?” the woman asked once I was finally standing right in front of her desk.
I looked longingly at the flat surface of the desk, wanting nothing more than to lean on it and rest my weary body.
Do that, and you won’t get back up. And that might count against you in some way.
Even as the idea came to me, I recognized the trap. The Guild wasn’t going to make this easy on me. If they accepted my blood, they would make Elenia very unhappy. It might be done by the book, but I doubted they wanted to deal with unhappy customers. So, it would be in their best interests to make every little thing a failure point.
“I’m here to see Mr. Orrin,” I rasped. “About the fulfillment of a Blood Letter.”
The secretary looked me up and down and sighed. “Very well.”
She lifted the phone from the desk and pressed a button on it. I was surprised she didn’t get up and talk to him in person, making me wait even longer.
Perhaps me saying that I was here about the Blood Letter means she can’t wait? I don’t know.
