Finding Blood (City Underdark #1)

The Trust

After Hugo was gone, there was an awkward silence, for a few moments, between the two. Barmond was never one for long, heartfelt conversation. In fact, with all the talking and the negotiation he had done on that night, he was almost all talked out. No more mind games. That was all he wanted.

Yet, it was him that broke the silence.

"So, tell me, before the annoying brute comes back," Barmond asked, "why did you change your mind?"

"Change my mind?"

"About letting me bite you."

"Oh--" He looked down, at the ground. "Well, I-- You're going to think that I am silly, but-- It troubles you, right?"

"I don't want to push you too far. That's not a good first impression. We just met, and we're going to be stuck together for... a while, at least."

"That's not what I meant. He said that he was fine if you bit him, and then you looked... well, you looked as if you didn't like the idea."

"I did?"

Yoven nodded.

Barmond sighed. He must have been a lot more obvious than what he thought he was, for a stranger to be able to tell.

"You shouldn't have," he said. "That's a matter between him and me."

"What happened?"

Barmond shrugged. He wasn't sure he wanted to answer, but he supposed that hearing about that experience might ease Yoven into it. After all, Barmond supposed that knowing that it was possible to flip the situation on a drinking vampire might feel empowering.

"As you might have guessed, when a vampire drinks from someone, they can create a link. That's because blood, for a vampire... well, it's a bit hard to describe what it feels like, especially to a human that never went through the experience. Let's just say that when a vampire drinks, that's when they are most vulnerable, and once that I was drinking from Hugo-- the only time I ever drank from him, he used that against me."

"How?"

Barmond shrugged.

"Did he hit you?"

"No! No, not at all. On the contrary. He put me in a sort of... trance? And he made me confess things that I wasn't supposed to say, by making me believe that it was safe to say them."

"Oh. Well. That's a better way to interrogate someone than hitting them."

That reminded Barmond of Yoven's bruise.

"Oh-- Speaking of which, are you hurt anywhere?" he said. "We should have asked for some help. They must have someone that can heal in this whole damn place..."

"I'm fine, it's just a little sore. I've seen worse." He gestured to his beard. "I've been on the street for... a while. Eventually, I would have found a way out."

"What happened to you?"

Before he could reply, Yoven was interrupted by the door opening. Hugo had done it, but he was not alone. There were two short beings with him, dressed in dark clothes. Barmond had never seen halflings this small in his life, before he realized that they were, in fact, gnomes. He had only heard of them before, as they were part of the sort of creatures that had a foot in legends and a foot in everyday life. As far as Barmond could tell, it was a lady and a guy, even if they both wore pants.

"Hi," said the one with breasts at Yoven. She was carrying a roll-up meter and a pile of a neatly folded change of clothes. "You're the one that needs a new wardrobe? Could you sit on a chair for me? Preferably, if you could strip as well, that would be wonderful."