The Judgement Of Divinity (TMOE #2)

Chapter 3: Lips are sealed, kind of

Anthony's expression grew darker, but Ethan had already turned towards Tom with a charming grin.

"Shall we?"

Tom looked away, possibly taking Anthony's disapproval into consideration, but Ethan wouldn't give up so easily.

"Come on." He adopted a pleading voice, walking over to him and ending the process with a surprisingly impressive twirl to end up right in front of Tom with another grin. "I'll owe you a hug."

"No one wants your cold-ass hugs." Richard shoved Ethan away before he could get closer. The latter sighed before leaning in to flick Richard's nose.

"Bad." He smiled. "In this household we share."

"He's not up for sharing," Richard growled while placing himself between the two other men and Lucius started wondering if there was some kind of pack dynamic going on between Tom and Richard that he hadn't noticed before.

He wasn't allowed to compare Richard to a dog though, even though Ethan seemed to.

"It's alright." Tom placed a hand on Richard's shoulder and gently pushed him aside. "It's not like it's anything new."

"Isn't that the problem?" Richard scowled. "He's always taking it for granted."

"You know you can say no," even Anthony chimed in, only causing Tom to look uncomfortable. Too much decision-making was landing on him at the moment.

"Let's just get it over with." He rolled up his sleeve, and Ethan wrapped a deep red handkerchief around part of his lower arm. "On the terms that I can leave this whole thing afterwards."

"All good with me." Ethan's smile broadened, and then he raised Tom's wrist to his mouth, sinking his teeth into it without the slightest sound from the victim.

Lucius opened his mouth to curse, but no words could leave his mouth. Instead Eliza was the one to verbally react.

"That's horrible!" She looked more disgusted than scared, knitting her eyebrows at the scene. "And he does that a lot?"

"On me?" Tom asked, barely acknowledging the massacre on his wrist aside from a twitch in his eye. "No, but this is how he eats in general, so yes."

"He eats humans?" Lucius finally managed to speak, voice thicker than he would have expected. "Why the fuck do you even let him near you? Why do you let him eat your fucking arm? I know you're weird, Tom, but this is sick."

Tom only stared at him at first, possibly wondering whether to acknowledge the insult or not, but then he pointed at his occupied wrist.

"Blood. He eats blood."

"Human blood," Richard added, not without a glare at Ethan who looked disturbingly casual about the whole thing. "So Tom's the only one he can eat from when he comes here."

"Why?" Lucius' voice turned cold, staring at Anthony. "Why wouldn't he be able to eat Anthony's blood?"

"Or yours, for that matter?" Eliza shook her head at Richard. "Nothing about this makes sense."

"Because Ethan and I are related by blood." Anthony was glaring at Richard as well now. "And undead people can't feed off of their own family. Might be a good thing to add there, Richard."

"Why can't they eat their relatives?" Lucius' sceptical glare was still fixed on Anthony, whose eyes pointed skywards.

"I don't have all the answers to these things. It's not exactly something people know a lot about, and that goes for me as well."

"And I don't eat people, I drink their blood," Ethan reminded him as he'd apparently finished up his dinner business and was in the process of wrapping Tom's wrist tight. "It also helps me heal quicker, which is much appreciated in my current condition."