Page 54 of Blood as Sweet as Roses
And…it’s nice to feel cared for, for a change. I can go to the restaurant any time of day or night and order anything I want. And my closet is full of new clothes and shoes, courtesy of Crimson’s black card.
It’s just too bad I’ll have to wait to wear them.
Oh, well. What can I do?
Then I hear a sound: the latch of my door clicking. I look over…is it Eloise again?
Myheart skips a beat as Crimson enters my bedroom. Today she wears a loose, long-sleeved shirt and low-rise pants with a thick belt. Her grey eyes are narrowed in concern.
“You’re in pain,” she says. More a statement than a question. I sit up on the bed, awkwardly. I’m not used to people being around when I’m like this. Usually I hunker down by myself and ride it out alone.
“I’m fine,” I tell her, not wanting her to worry. I hadn’t expected her to, and I definitely didn’t expect her to come up to my room. “It happens every month, I’m used to it.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t be,” she replies, coming over to my bed.
“There’s not much I can do,” I say, putting on a brave face. “I’ve scoured the internet, and my nursing textbooks, but nothing’s ever helped. But there’s no need to fuss over me, really, I’m…”
She sits down on the bed, and puts a cool hand to my forehead, my cheek. I’m not used to attention like this, and my stomach flips. She must have other, more important, things to do than to be here with me.
I’m just about to insist that she go back downstairs, that there’s nothing that she could do, anyway…when I see her fangs elongate. For a moment, I think she’s going to biteme, and I instinctively brace myself, my hands clutching the blankets around me.
But instead, she brings her own wrist up to her mouth and bites down on it neatly. Thick, crimson blood flows out of her wound.
To my horror, she holds out her bleeding wrist.
“Go ahead,” she says, thickly. “It will help.”
My stomach turns. There’s nowayI’m going to do that. I’m not very squeamish (I’m planning to become a nurse, after all), but I’veneverin a million years considered drinking someone else’sblood.
“Oh, no,” I reply, with a firm shake of my head. “I couldn’t…”
“You have no trouble giving me your blood,” she counters. She raises a dark eyebrow. “You didn’t realize it went both ways?”
“It’s just…I’ve never…”
“You doubt its power?” Crimson asks. “I’m a three-hundred-year-old vampire. There are only a dozen of us left on this continent. Trust me, what I’m offering you is a rare and valued magical elixir. It will ease your pain.”
I inhale shakily. A drop of her blood drips lazily from her wristonto the duvet. When I look at it more closely, I can see that it’s not quite like normal human blood. It’s thicker, its colour more rich…when I gaze too long, it seems to sparkle and swirl, as though there are whole universes contained within it.
Could she…really be offering something of herself up like this? It seems so vulnerable, so intimate…
But then, I suppose that’s whatIdo, when I give my blood to her.
My head spins as another cramp radiates through my lower body. It’s impossible to imagine that anything could help.
But more than that…there’s a disarmingly tender expression in her eyes. An offering of herself. Does she do this for all of the people she drinks from?
She seems to sense my concession, and she leans in closer.
Just do it, Paige…
Without thinking, I close my eyes, and bring my tongue to her wrist. Just a little lick, a little taste.
The moment her blood hits my tastebuds, there’s an explosion of flavour in my mouth. I thought the wine in the lounge was the most delicious thing I’d ever drank, but this is multiplied a hundred fold. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever tasted…wine comes closest, but this is more nuanced, like drinking the feeling of being wrapped up in a warm blanket after coming in from the cold, the way you completely relax when you realize it’s summer break and you don’t have any homework, the gaze of someone who loves you…
Emboldened, I take her arm, drinking a little more. Her blood is the consistency of maple syrup, and just as sweet. The feeling - themagic? - spreads throughout my entire body, melting the tension and painful cramps away. The transformation is so sudden, so complete, that it takes me a moment to process it.
I put a hand to my lower abdomen, stunned.
