Page 13 of Loved to Death

He rolled his shoulders and scowled at her, but she wasn’t looking in his direction. She pulled the saddlebags off her shoulder, opened the side that her gun used to be in, and dug down into the bottom of it. She frowned and started pulling things out.

Thomas immediately pulled the gun and coin purse out of his pockets and held them out to her. “I’m sorry. I took them before you came back to the barn last night.”

They locked eyes for several seconds before she took the items out of his hands with a furrowed brow and pursed lips.

“Before I knew better,” he added to appease her.

She put the coin purse back in the saddlebag and put the gun in the pocket of her dress. Then she put her hand on the skin between the base of his neck and his shoulder, pinching the muscle there until he grimaced. “Steal from me again, and you’ll regret it.”

“I won’t,” he answered, stomach churning. Her words and actions reminded him so much of his father, that he automatically wanted to go behind her back and steal just to prove she had no power over him.

With a curt nod, she let go. “Stay,” she said before stalking off toward the little farmhouse.

For the next fifteen minutes, Thomas forced himself to stay put while Polly inspected the house, the barn, and the surrounding area. Eventually she waved at him, and called out, “It’s empty.”

Chapter Five

Half an hour later, they arrived at the dairy farm and had no trouble sneaking into the barn unnoticed. Polly opened the stall that was closest to the barn door and lured the cow out with an apple. She grabbed some rope from a post and tied it around the cow’s neck before leading it out to the edge of the pasture with Thomas following.

“This should be far enough,” she said, looking back at the farmhouse in the distance. “You feed first. Bite the left side of her neck and drink your fill, even if it doesn’t taste good.” Polly secured the rope to a sturdy tree trunk.

Looking at the cow’s neck and thinking about leather, Thomas shook his head. “I don’t think my teeth will puncture cow skin very easily.”

“You don’t use your human teeth.”

Polly used her fingers to lift her upper lip. He watched a set of six pointy teeth descend out of the gums above her human teeth, as if she was a venomous snake about to strike. They came down past the human teeth and then stopped. He looked at her eyes; they’d turned black.

“Get close to the cow’s neck and your body will do the rest,” she advised. “You’ll quickly learn how to move the teeth up and down on your own.”

He put his fingers under his own upper lip. The little dagger points of teeth were just under the surface. “Will my eyes turn black, too?”

“Yes. Once you’ve had your fill, I’ll feed from the same wound and then I’ll show you how to stop the bleeding.”

“Stop the bleeding? I thought we’d end up killing her.”

Polly shook her head. “A cow has several times the amount of blood that a human does. At most, you can drain one or possibly two humans in a night. If you try for more, you’ll regurgitate everything. You’d feel exceptionally ill before you could consume enough cow blood to harm the animal and you’ll have no trouble stopping. Cow blood versus human blood is like…the difference between drinking curdled milk and drinking hot apple cider when you were human.”

He grimaced.

“Besides, leaving a trail of dead animals in our wake would eventually lead to our capture.” She pointed to a spot on the cow’s neck. “Bite here. The pain of the initial bite will make her struggle momentarily, but I’ll hold her head to calm her until the pain subsides. Keep your lips firmly pressed around the wound so the blood doesn’t get on your face or clothes. Pay attention to your stomach, not your tongue, and drink until you’re full.” She put her hands on the sides of the cow’s face and then nodded at him.

Aiming for the spot she’d pointed to, he stepped in and leaned close to the cow’s neck. His set of sharp teeth descended on their own. He’d meant to touch them with his fingers before biting but instinct took over. He almost gagged when the blood hit his tongue, but once the liquid got down his throat, it started warming him from the inside. Like a bowl of warm, rancid soup on a cold winter’s day.

Taking Polly’s instructions to heart, he drank until that warmth had spread throughout his entire body and then took his mouth off the spurting wound. Polly shoved him out of the way and closed her mouth over the punctured skin. It was only then that he noticed that the cow was surprisingly docile. He rubbed a hand down the cow’s back.

Once she’d had her fill, Polly took her mouth off the wound. “Put your hand on the neck just below the punctured skin to help staunch the flow of blood and close the wound.” She demonstrated as she spoke and the spurting wound slowed to a trickle. “Then make sure your sharp teeth aren’t down.”

She grinned so he could watch hers retract. “If they’re down when you do this, the wound will bleed more instead of less. Then use your tongue to lick the wound several times and the blood will start to coagulate.” She demonstrated by licking the wound five times and the trickle of blood stopped. Then she pulled the edge of her skirt up with her free hand and pressed it against the wound before taking her other hand off the cow’s neck. “Then put firm pressure on the wound for a couple of minutes to ensure the bleeding has stopped.”

“That’s amazing.” Thomas put his finger on his gums again, willed the sharp teeth to come out. They descended, and after he touched them, his fingers came away damp with a clear liquid. He rubbed it between his fingers and sniffed it but couldn’t discern any particular smell. He moved his new teeth up and down a few times, getting used to the sensation.

A few minutes later, Polly let go of the wound, checked for bleeding, and untied the cow. “We’ll put her back and be on our way.” She looked up at the sky. “We have a solid six hours before daybreak.”

Soon they were both riding Polly’s horse heading north. Thomas was behind her holding the reins, and she was sitting in front with her backside pressed against his groin.

“Why ride a horse?” Thomas asked. “I believe I could run all night without getting tired and the horse needs constant upkeep.”

“She helps me blend in. It would be odd to arrive in a town without a horse. And if I’m desperate I can feed from her.”

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