Page 8 of Resurrecting His Soul
There was still the matter of Allison. Just like her, Allison was in an unfamiliar town with no other friends anywhere nearby. Lisandra needed to find her friend right away, and if she was going to be staying with Ricardo, then he was just going to have to deal with a human being around because she wasn’t leaving Allison alone. Her best friend was only on this journey because she had refused to let Lisandra run away from their home on her own. And with Allison around, it was all that more important that Ricardo and her were not on the killing humans for food train.
She didn’t want to wait any longer to go find Allison. It had already been a couple of days, and knowing Allison, she was probably searching everywhere she could trying to find her. Still, she wanted to feed before they went to get Allison. She would never forgive herself if she lost control and attacked Allison in a hunger rage like she’d done the waitress before.
Ricardo led her to the back patio after they returned to his home, and he held out a chair for her. “You need to feed,” he said when she sat in the chair offered.
She jerked her head up and looked at him, another vampire myth crossing her mind. “Do you read minds? Can I?”
He laughed. “No. I am afraid that is only reserved for werewolves. I have never met a vampire with the ability to read minds. But you are a new vampire, and we need to get your thirst under control.”
“I agree,” she nodded. “I want to find Allison, but I want to make sure I am not thirsty when we do.”
His smile faded, and he reached over and placed his hand on hers and ran his thumb softly over the back of her hand. It was crazy how such a light touch from him ran all the way to her heart like electricity, trying to make it start beating all over again. “I’m afraid that you will still have to deal with the thirst. Of course feeding first will help, but the ability to be around humans without feeding is a control you will have to learn to strengthen over time, and even at your strongest, the thirst will still be there, lingering in the background, always trying to break free.”
“So, we don’t get full? Like when I ate as a human, I could only eat so much.”
“We can drink our fill, but there is a part of us, and it is a large part, that is instinct driven, and at our most basic level, our instincts drive us to survive. They drive us to feed.”
Her face fell, and she blinked away the tears that were trying to break free. “So, it’s possible Allison will never be safe around me? That there will always be a part of me fighting to break free to get to her? To hurt her, because she’s human.” A tear escaped, and she quickly brushed it away with the back of her hand.
Ricardo stepped up to her and cupped her cheek in his hand. She should have pulled away, but she didn’t want to. His eyes roamed over her face for a moment before they met hers with a small smile. “It will always take some willpower on your part to be near any human without ending up feeding, but something tells me it will not be a problem for you. Especially with your friend.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Your love for her is evident, and I am finding myself beginning to believe that love like that might be stronger than anything. Even a young vampire’s blood thirst.”
Feeling antsy, she stood up and looked out at the trees surrounding the property. She straightened her spine and decided to believe he was right because she had to believe him. She didn’t want to live without ever seeing Allison again. “So, can we feed off animals or something? I’m not particularly thrilled about killing Bambi, either, but since I wasn’t vegan as a human, I guess it wouldn’t be much different.”
Ricardo busted out laughing. It was the first time she’d heard him really laugh, not that there had been much to laugh about since they met. His laugh warmed her in places she realized in that moment had been ice cold long before her heart stop pumping. “I’m afraid you’ve been reading too many young adult fantasy novels.”
“So, that’s a no on the animal blood then?”
He chuckled once more and smiled. “Yes, that is a no. We need human blood to survive. If we are going to try not drinking directly from humans, I will stock up on blood bags. It won’t be as fresh, but it will sustain us.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “We aren’t giving it a shot. We are not feeding from people, Ricardo. It is too dangerous. Too easy to lose control. And I won’t become a killer. People don’t deserve to have their lives ripped from them like that—to go out terrified and in pain. If you don’t want to do this with me, I understand. We just met. You don’t have to change your lifestyle for me. But, if I am being honest, I don’t think I will be able to be friends with someone who isn’t willing to at least try not killing innocent people.”
Ricardo sucked in a breath and his eyes went wide. He reached for her, then suddenly dropped his arm. She could have sworn his eyes lost some of their luster. “I’ll have us something here within the hour,” he said after a moment.
“Thank you,” she said, but he was already gone before the words had left her mouth. Running her hands up and down her arms, she suddenly felt cold, and it had nothing to do with the temperature outside.
****
Ricardowasn’t kidding when he said he’d get blood bags. The refrigerator barely had a nook or cranny that wasn’t filled. When he brought a few bags over to the kitchen table where she sat like she was waiting for any regular meal, she expected to be grossed out, but when he used his fangs to rip open the first bag she experienced two things, and neither of them were close to disgust. Something about watching him rip that bag open with his fangs filled her with a need that wasn’t remotely related to her thirst; hunger maybe, but far from the food variety if the heat that blossomed in her body was any indication. Then the scent of the blood from the opened bag slammed into her and lit her on fire like she was being incinerated from the inside out. Her blood thirst hit like the wildfires that took California by storm a couple years ago, and her fangs shot out, fully descending in her mouth and she snatched the bag from Ricardo’s hand and sucked it dry before he had the top ripped off the second bag.
After she drank four bags dry, Ricardo quietly took them to the trash and brought back a rag. When she met his eyes, she noticed he was smirking. “What’s so funny?” she asked when she took the offered rag from him.
“Apparently I underestimated your hunger,” he said with a small laugh.
She took a moment to assess, but the thirst was under control. “No. I think I’m good. I mean, the thirst is still there, but it’s just a subtle thing in the background. I guess that’s what you meant when you said we don’t get full like humans.”
Shaking his head with a smile, he walked over to the fridge and grabbed a couple more bags before he came back to the table and sat down. “That’s not what I meant. The four bags were meant to be for both of us.”
When he didn’t laugh and say he was joking her mouth dropped open. This had to be what girls felt like who got embarrassed if they ate a lot in front of their crush. “Crap. I’m sorry. I just… I didn’t really consider that. I kind of got lost in my thirst for a minute, I guess.”
If she was expecting him to get as lost in his thirst, she would have been disappointed when he took a sip from the bag in his hand like it was a milkshake and he wanted to take his time, savoring the flavor, and making sure not to get brain freeze. “No, I should have expected you to need more. I should have been prepared when you woke up from your transition. Considering how long you went without feeding, I am surprised you didn’t rip into the pile in the fridge as soon as I opened the door. Your control is impressive.”
The image of the waitress at the bar popped into her mind and she dropped her eyes to the table, not wanting to look at him and see the praise in his stare. “I think you’re forgetting the woman I attacked earlier. I doubt she’d find my level of control impressive at all.”
Ricardo was up, around the table, and leaning over her before she could take her next breath. He lifted her out of her chair and gently forced her to look up at him with a finger beneath her chin. “A weaker vampire would not have stopped, but you did. That kind of restraint comes from you. The person you are, not what you are. It is a beauty beyond anything I have seen before. Do not discount your virtues. You may have fed from her, but that is something we all must do. When it came down to it, the kindness inside your heart was stronger than your thirst. That is what matters.”
