Page 51 of Mortal Shift
“You’ve been through enough for one night.”
Whatever I’d been about to say died on my lips at his quiet words, and I searched his face, trying to see if he was making some kind of joke. What I saw was almost…tenderness. Compassion.
“I…”
“It taints your blood,” he said, his face a mask of coldness again. “Tastes like shit. I don’t like it ruining my meal.”
Of course. Tenderness? Compassion? Right. He didn’t even know the meaning of the words.
“Fine,” I snapped. “I’m going.”
“Good,” he said to my already retreating back. “I’ll be coming for your blood tomorrow.”
Chapter Eighteen
“It was sick,” I spat, pacing up and down the library. I’d refused to go back to my dorm out of principle: I didn’t follow orders from Thaden, or anyone else round here. Pure luck had found Ling back here, or maybe she’d never left. I didn’t ask, and she didn’t volunteer it, and honestly whether she’d lied to get rid of me earlier or not was the far smaller issue. “A feeding den! Humans just lining up to be…” I shuddered. “Fed on. Like a living buffet.”
“How did you think they fed?”
“What?”
“When was the last time you saw a vampire in the canteen?”
I stopped dead, a frown burrowing through my forehead. “Never.” I snapped my gaze to her. “Ling, please don’t tell me you’re okay with this.”
“I…”
She colored.
“Oh, my God. You are. You’re completely okay with the fact that innocent humans are locked up here like walking protein shakes.”
“Wow, hold on a moment,” she said. “Do you think you might be getting ahead of yourself just a tiny bit?”
“No, I don’t think that,” I snapped, and then hesitated. “Why might I think that?”
“Well, did any of the humans look like they were there against their will?”
“Well, no, but…”
“Did any of them ask for help?”
“No, but…”
She arched a brow. “But what?”
“But…” I exhaled a huff of air and slumped down into a seat. “Do you have to be so logical?”
“One of us has to be,” she said, flashing me a grin.
“We don’t know for sure though, do we?”
Her grin faded. “I guess not.”
I pursed my lips. Just because someone didn’tlooklike they needed help, didn’t mean they were fine.
“Anyway, it doesn’t make sense,” I said, getting up again. It was too hard to sit still while the blood was pounding in my ears. “Why would someonewanta vampire to feed on them?”
“You, of all people, are asking?”
