Page 68 of Beyond the Ruby River
Daka rushed to his side. “Yes, Mahu, look at me instead.” Dark blue irises held Mahu’s captive. Daka took his hand.
In his periphery, Mahu saw Temaj lift his wrist to his mouth. He imagined he could hear the sickening tear of flesh, but in reality only his own heartbeat thudded in his ears as Temaj bit.
The tender flesh, dripping its ruby prize from two neat punctures in the smooth, delicate skin, was pressed to his lips.
Still staring at Daka, Mahu opened his mouth. The first drop of copper fire landed on his tongue. Salty and earthen, the thick liquid oozed from the wound in a slow trickle.
“Drink Mahu,” ordered Temaj. “Close your mouth over the wound and suck. One full swallow at least before it closes. Go on.”
“Please, Mahu,” said Daka. “You can do it.”
Mahu obeyed. He expected to be revolted, to hate the taste, to struggle to swallow. But despite his trepidation, the act came naturally. He pulled one mouthful from the wound, and it went down easier than the broth. Odd, but savory. He managed another. Two swallows. One more than necessary.
Temaj pulled his arm away and for a split second, Mahu had the urge to draw it back. To continue the feast.
Daka squeezed his palm, bringing him back to his senses. The first thing Mahu noticed was the strength returning to his muscles. The vitality he’d lost returned as the miraculous blood coursed through his system. Suddenly the strain to sit straight disappeared, and his head didn’t feel so heavy on his neck.
Around him, the room came into crystalline focus as his vision cleared and enhanced. Everything appeared more vibrant from his own skin to the cotton blanket over his legs. He glanced higher. Each individual leaf of his plant collection seemed magnified down to the spidery veins that made up their intricate structure.
Invigorated, Mahu went to take a deep breath, but sadly that is where the magic ended. Breathing was easier, yes, but his lung capacity didn’t return, and shallow inhalations were all he could manage. Mahu refused to be disappointed. The rest of the transformation was incredible, and he could manage on quick, smaller breaths.
Daka stared at him cautiously. He and Temaj remained quiet as Mahu stretched his neck, rolled his shoulders back, and shuffled farther up the lounge. No trace of a wound remained on Temaj’s wrist. The evidence had entirely vanished save for a few red droplets on his blankets.
Daka spoke first. “How do you feel?”
His voice twirled and leaped to Mahu’s ears like an acrobat dancing to music. The melodious lilt sounded like Daka, but also not. Fresh and new, Mahu wished to hear him speak again. Or maybe sing.
Part of his wish came true as Daka continued, “Mahu? Are you all right?”
Mahu realized he sat with his mouth slightly open, staring at Daka’s jewel-like irises and struck dumb by his ethereal beauty. “I think I’m hallucinating.” He reached for Daka’s plump cheek and stroked the soft skin, smooth like velvet and warm beneath his fingertips.
“It’s perfectly normal,” said Temaj. “Your senses have been heightened. Not as much as a true vampire, but more than you’ve ever known as a human.”
Mahu’s gaze flitted to Temaj, shocked. “It’s like this for you all the time?”
Temaj nodded. “Better.”
Mahu could see each single black eyelash on Temaj’s lids with perfect clarity. Stunning. Also, distracting. Tonight’s goal was important, and Mahu would only have this one chance to help Daka transition to feeding from strangers again. He wouldn’t waste it ogling leaves and eyelashes. He turned to Daka and became transfixed by the blue-black sheen to his hair.
Shaking it off, Mahu pulled himself together. “I feel stronger. I think I can stand.”
Temaj got out of the way, and Daka took his elbow, just in case. Mahu rose from the lounge, surprised that his body did his bidding the way it had always done so before his illness. The recovery was startling.
“It won’t last long,” said Temaj. “A few hours if we’re lucky, then the effects will wear off.”
Mahu’s heart sank at the words. To feel good again only to lose it would be devastating, but this wasn’t for him. This was for Daka. “Then we should hurry.”
Mahu went alone to his bedroom to dress in a fresh tunic and to wash up under his own power, perhaps for the last time. When he returned, Temaj and Daka sat knee to knee, speaking in hushed voices. Daka with an animated, hopeful expression, Temaj more reserved, holding himself stiff and huffing an irritated sigh. His gaze met Mahu’s, one eyebrow raised.
“Dakarai would like me to tell you, that should you change your mind, if I were to turn you to a full vampire, the enhancements you feel now would be permanent.”
So Daka hadn’t given up yet. Mahu hadn’t really expected him to. He inclined his head to Temaj. “Thank you but my answer hasn’t changed. Your blood has worked a miracle for us tonight, and that will have to be enough.”
Saying no to this gift in a more permanent fashion was more difficult than he would have expected, but his soul belonged to Osiris. His family awaited him in the afterlife. Leaving Daka would be gut wrenching, but such was the way of the world. If he could help Daka with this lesson, that would be enough.
“Just think on it, Mahu, please?” Daka’s sad eyes locked in on him and did their worst. Difficult not to reconsider under their heady power.
“Let him be,” said Temaj. “He has only a few precious hours, let’s not spend them bickering.”
