Blood Thirsty

Ch. 8: He Loves You

He let out a breath. This castle was definitely trying to kill him.

"You know I'm a vampire, right?" Knox said like Anthony needed the reminder.

"I know," Anthony said in a similarly curious way.

"I can take care of myself."

"I know," Anthony agreed again, not sure why this guy was picking a fight with him. Knox just sighed and breezed past Anthony for the door. Anthony's stare lingered on him. They've only met for a few hours, and it still didn't feel real. Seeing him was like catching an actor outside in the wild, like an out of body experience.

"Beatrix, what was that?" Knox demanded upon entering the room. "You nearly fried us alive."

"Nearly!" A woman echoed back. "Nearly fried you. If it did, I wouldn't be getting this lovely scolding."

Knox sighed. "What was that?"

"I'm playing around with controlling sunlight..." she explained as Anthony crept into what looked like a workshop stuffed inside this cave. Instead of plants, there were mushrooms in planters and instead of animals, there were bugs in glass cases with roaches winking at him. It felt odd seeing a laptop opening on the large wooden table in the center of a mortar and pestle, small bubbling potions on burners, and other mysterious jars of ingredients. The far wall staged a couple of caldrons, all of them going while several fans whirled in every corner.

"You work for vampires and you're playing with sunlight?" Knox asked her, the irony dripping from his mouth.

"I'm on vacation," Beatrix stated, fanning herself with a red fan larger than her arm length. This woman had obviously lived a good amount of life, her dark hair highlighted with rivers of silver. She had a soft face, lined with wrinkles around her big brown eyes and a smile.

"You won't have a job at all if you end up killing the heir to this coven."

"You're so dramatic." She waved off his worry, when she finally noticed Anthony. "Oh, who's this?"

"Beatrix Hare, this is Anthony Ventura, my fiancé."

A smile broke out across Beatrix's face. "Oh, the new fiancé. So, you agreed to your brother's sloppy seconds? You must be a good son."

"You'd need parents for that." Anthony offered his hand and her grin widened as she accepted the handshake.

Exasperated, Knox dropped his arms onto his hips. "This isn't a social call and honestly, you're both getting on my nerves." Anthony scowled at him for that. He wasn't allowed to complain about Anthony's lack of filter if he was just going to say stuff like that.

"Anthony was bitten by one of the mutants," Knox said.

Beatrix sat up straight, a thrill passing her eyes. She really held no expression back. "Really? When? Where?"

"Today and in the forest-"

"No, where was he bitten?" She yanked on Anthony's arms, untangling them as she brought him closer.

"He," Anthony spoke up. "Was bitten on his shoulder."

As soon as he said it, she yanked at his clothes, untucking his shirt. "Hey!" Anthony yelped, grabbing her wrists. "Watch it. Buy me dinner first."

Obviously, Beatrix wasn't listening. She pushed his blazer off and Anthony just sighed and relented to her pulling. She helped him out of his shirt and tossed it at Knox. "Today you seem perfectly normal." On the last word, Knox obviously had to hold back a laugh and Anthony feigned like he was going to kick the prince. "I don't remember making extra potions."

"You didn't," Knox said. "My mother used the last one on me."

"You were bitten too?"

"No, she overreacted and mistakenly gave me the potion."

Beatrix leaned in closer to Anthony and loudly whispered, "You'll find the prince is a mama's boy." Turning back at the prince, Beatrix's brow narrowed. "So, what did you do?"

"I figured the potion was fresh enough in my veins, so I had Anthony bite me."

"Fascinating, like the opposite of sucking the venom out. Interesting. Anthony," Beatrix asked him, "How do you feel? Any difference? Many cravings?"

Anthony glanced at Knox, wondering if he should keep his desire to rip Knox's neck open, how he wanted his blood more than anything. Anthony just nodded. "I just feel peckish already. My appetite seems to have changed and... and the wounds are closed but I can still feel them. They're pounding."

She hummed. "I'll add this to the top of my list once I get back."

"Get back?" Knox echoed.

"I told you! I'm on vacation!"

"This takes precedence over your little vacation. Anthony needs help. We're out of antidote and we're no closer to finding an actual cure."

Beatrix shrugged. "If you're so worried about it, I'll leave you a list of ingredients I need. Gather them up and I'll make you buckets of potions. I actually think observing Anthony and the effects of the bite might be good for research."

"I'm not an experiment."

"No, but you're property of the Lavigne family now, aren't you?" Her dark eyes pinned Anthony right into place, cutting right through every defense he had ever made. "You're not a thing loved by his highness. You're a tool. As am I."

"Don't listen to her," Knox said, but he wasn't as convincing as her. She believed what she said with her whole chest. Knox was just being nice.

"What do you expect us to do in the meantime? He's obviously struggling."

Beatrix smiled again, standing up. "You'll just have to let Anthony continue to bite you. Think of it as bonding between a new couple. Nothing unites two people more than one of them keeping the other alive."

"Where are you going?" Knox asked as she passed him.

"I'm off to find Milan. I expect he's close by. I'll bend a little and gather some evidence in the forest and bring it back for further study, but honestly, I need to finish packing. Good luck with this one," she told Anthony. "He doesn't listen. Besides, I figured you two might want some alone time. That bite on his back looks angry. He needs help."

She closed the door behind her, leaving Anthony half naked on the table and Knox madder than Anthony had yet to see.