The Vampire's Requiem [malexmale]

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty (Newell)

I woke up from a nightmare, breathing hard and fast.

I could feel cold sweat trickling along my skin as my eyes darted around in the darkness. I expected to wake up entangled in blankets, but I woke up to Starling wrapped around me tightly, hugging me and humming again. I blinked a few times, frowning before I tilted my head back.

I went still seeing Xed sitting in the chair by the bed. I glared at him and he just stared at me, expressionless. It was hard to tell what he was thinking, but it was still incredibly awkward and irritating that he kept Starling cling to me while I slept. I couldn't even remember falling alseep. I peeled Starling off me and looked down to see that he'd fallen asleep, curled up now with the blankets. I ignored him and looked up at Xed, frowning.

"Any news on the wolves?" I asked, keeping my voice quiet so as not to wake him, or Hunter, who was sprawled out on the floor, snoring. Xed shook his head. I sighed, running a hand through my hair and glaring at the wall across the room.

"This is getting annoying. We're wasting precious time here." I muttered. Xed gave me a look that told me he wasn't sure what we should do, and honestly, I agreed. I wasn't sure how to bring the culprit in and I wasn't going to waste my time saving a pack of werewolves I wasn't fond of. I wanted to get out of this hell hole and return to civilization.

And I was craving fresh blood.

Not the bagged garbage they stole from hospitals. I wanted warm, fresh blood that I obtained on my own. Preferably pureblood vampire blood, but that was a rare thing to aquire nowadays given my situation. But any fresh blood in general would appease my appetite.

"We need to leave," I said at last, rubbing my temple in irritation, "Tomorrow night. We'll just leave. If they ask, kill them." Xed paused for a second and looked like he was actually debating an argument before he nodded. I appreciated his obedience.

"What about the kid?" Hunter's voice asked sleepily from the floor. I frowned, glancing through the darkness down at him. He was now a lump under the blankets, his arm thrown up over his head. I looked at Starling, who continued to sleep soundly.

I personally didn't want to leave Starling here with the wolves. Who's to say they don't kill him anyway as they grow weary of their investigation? At the same time, I didn't want to take him with us. I wasn't a parent, and neither was Xed. Starling was a child. An actual child. We couldn't afford to take a child with us everywhere with the world chasing after us. The chances of Starling dying in a horrible manner were far too high for me to even consider the idea of letting him tag along.

But I still couldn't leave him here.

"I have a friend who will take him." I said at last. Surely Vladimir wouldn't be heartless enough to turn down a child in need. He had a child of his own and his fatherly instincts were what made him so soft. It didn't help that he was married to Alexander Lee Grey, the purest little soul in the world that would just cry over Starling's cute face.

"Vladimir," Hunter snorted, "And what makes you think he'll even be alive long enough to take care of the kid?" I sighed, exasperated.

"You're not going to kill Vladimir."

"And why not?"

"Because he's Vladimir Van Gothica, you nitwit. That's like threatening to kill your Christian God."

"Okay, A) Not cool. That's blasphemy in my book. And B) You sorely underestimate me."

"And you sorely underestimate Vladimir. He's not even a normal pureblood."