Chapter 25
Footsteps approach me, clunky and rushed. No voice accompanies the sound. Warm fingers curl around my arms, shaking me awake. My eyes flutter open. Her panicked gaze stares back at me, just inches away from my face. Red hair curls around Fiona's lovely chin.
"Finn!" she whispers frantically. "Finn?"
I open my eyes wider, and her arms are around me a moment later. Her grip gets tighter and tighter, as if she thinks I'll vanish into thin air if she loosens it.
"I knew it wasn't a dream. You saved me. You really saved me."
Fresh tears spring to her eyes. Their saltiness burns my cheeks as she plants kiss after kiss on along my forehead.
"Fiona," I grunt. "Argh. Get off me!"
I give my friend a gentle shove, pushing her onto the empty space of bed beside me. She slinks her arm around mine and cuddles into my side. It's already been three days since I saved her from Leo's captivity and still every night we go through this same charade.
"I'm sorry," she whispers, sniffling behind tears. "I had a nightmare. I thought..."
I sigh and reach my hand over to pat her arm. "It's ok. I know. You're safe now, Fiona. You're safe."
The two of us lay in silence. I manage to get my arm out of her hold and slink it around her shoulder.
"When will Kelly drink from me?" she ask quietly.
I think about Kelly and Bogdan. Since the night they brought us back here after rescuing Fiona, they've kept their distance. Neither of them has asked us for a feeding, and their eyes are redder than the blazing sun because of it.
"I'm not sure," I answer honestly.
She wipes away the remaining tears from her eyes and glances up at me. Her gaze studies the length of my face until coming to a stop at the small holes at the base of my neck. Just having her focus on them seems to make them prickle to life.
"Does it hurt?" she asks with a deep blush. "A live feeding?"
Fiona has never experienced one before. She and her vampire set the terms of exchanging blood through blood bags from day one. Fiona would send a bag a week, trying her best to forget that she'd have to do it all over again seven days later.
"Yes," I answer honestly. "It does."
There's a sharp knock on the bedroom door and Fiona flinches beside me. Neither of us says a word as it opens silently. Kelly stands in the doorway, his red eyes narrowing in on Fiona's body lying so close to mine.
"Finn," he grits out. "Bogdan has asked that you both come down to dinner tonight. We have a lot to discuss."
His blazing eyes never leave Fiona while he speaks. She shivers beside me. I can't imagine how she feels right now. A piece of her must feel amazing to have the eyes of her old lover on her once again. The other part must feel disgusted knowing that the look is one of hungry lust from an immortal.
"We'll be down in a minute," I promise.
Kelly tightens his jaw. It looks like he wants to say something else, and based on the look on his face, that 'something else' probably involves moving away from his new prize. Fiona. Instead he gives a clipped nod and leaves.
Fiona rolls off the bed. There are a few deep bruises around her wrists and ankles from being held in captivity. They've had a few days to heal, however, and the color has deepened to a shade that's reminiscent of a molded eggplant.
"When he says dinner, does that mean we eat? Or...they eat?" Fiona asks.
Her voice trembles. She slides her fingers through her long, thick hair and twists it nervously at the ends.
"We will eat," I reassure her. "And Fiona, I know your stance on immortals. I really do. And Kelly and Bogdan still do a lot of things I don't agree with, but never once have either laid a hand on me without my consent."
To my surprise, a flash of jealousy dances across her terrified eyes.
"Only Bogdan has ever laid a hand on me like that," I correct quickly. "He's the only immortal who has fed on me. I just mean that neither of them has hurt me."
I leave out the small detail that Axel has also fed from me...and that he died because of it. This is hard enough for Fiona; I can't imagine that her finding out that my blood is now toxic and could be used as a weapon of war would make this any easier.
Fiona's shoulders relax. She looks defeated and confused. I roll off the bed and start padding my way towards the bathroom.
"I'm going to take a quick shower," I say with a sigh. "You should probably go do the same. I'll meet you downstairs in ten, alright?"
She bites her lip and nods. I know she feels like she's betraying her own kind. She's told me so herself enough times over the past few nights. But I notice a new emotion in her gaze that I haven't seen since Kelly was human.
Desire.
_____________________________
I slide a hand through my damp hair, ruffling it as dry as I can while walking downstairs. Bogdan and Kelly come into view when I reach the landing. A small grin hangs on the edges of his lips, and the sight is so surreal that I study it for a selfish moment before walking into the room. They're talking in hushed voices, sitting at opposite ends of a large, oak dining room table that is overflowing with platters of fruit, cheese, and breads.
I step into the room and their red eyes flicker over to me. It's the first time since I've seen Bogdan since the night of Fiona's escape. His face is blank, his lips set into a thin, hard line. His eyes are even brighter than Kelly's. Yet he hasn't come to me for a feeding.
Why?
I bite my lip and Bogdan's eyes follow the movement. They narrow as I nibble on the tender flesh, still sore from my kiss with Leo. My cheeks flush in embarrassment and horrified realization.
The kiss.
Of course.
Bogdan told me just a few days earlier that he can't control his emotions when it comes to jealousy and possessiveness over me. He also informed me that every time I am touched by somebody else... he knows.
How must it have looked to him when I kissed Leo after he shared something so personal with me?
I lower my gaze and plop down into the matching oak chair. No wonder he doesn't want to be anywhere near me. Kissing Leo must have infuriated him. The legs of my chair scrape nosily across the floor as I scoot in to the table. The noise seems out of place in the company of two of the most graceful, soundless creatures on earth.
"Where's Fiona?" Kelly asks, irritation thick in his voice.
"Taking a shower," I mumble.
"And you let her? On her own?"
I stare at him and frown. "What...?"
Kelly scowls at me and leaves the table. His footsteps fade, leaving Bogdan and I alone in this suffocating silence. I reach for a grape and struggle to get it off the vine. When I finally pluck it free, a second grape falls off the plate, rolling along the wooden surface with a nervous wobble.
The sweet nectar spreads across my tongue. Fresh fruit was never something I overly enjoyed before the war began. Sure, I'd always force myself to eat it because I knew it was good for me. But it never struck me as a delicacy that I craved to have at every meal.
When I was at Leo's, however, all of my meals consisted of some type of concoction made from a jar, box, or can. Everything was processed. Everything was tainted with the touch of man. It was then that my craving for the fruits and vegetables from Nature's bountiful land developed. And I promised myself I would never take them for granted again.
"Do you ever miss food?" I ask suddenly, reaching for the escaping grape.
"No."
The part of my stomach that seems to be saved for my desire for Bogdan flares to life at the sound of his voice. I swallow hard and pop the second grape in my mouth.
"Why not?" I press.
Bogdan stares at me, unblinking. "You cannot miss what you cannot remember."
His answers are always so definitive, as if my question was stupid to ask in the first place. The sweet spurts of juice roll around my mouth. I know that when a human becomes immortal, they forget everything. But a taste? A taste is something that becomes engrained in you. It weaves into your body, pulling forth a reaction with something as simple as a smell.
"What does blood taste like to you?" I try again.
A sliver of black swirls in Bogdan's eyes. He remains quiet for a few beats of silence and then leans forward with quickly elongating fangs.
"Mortal blood doesn't have a taste," he begins. "It has a feel. The second it touches our lips, it begins to swim through our veins, touching us in places we don't remember existed."
The plentiful amount of saliva in my mouth runs dry at his description. Back in Leo's classes, I remember him teaching us that live feedings are an intimate experience for mortals and immortals alike. It's because of this that bags of blood became the preferred method of exchange between a vampire and their consort. Humans didn't want to feel anything towards their immortal, and vampires didn't want to share such intimates moment with their consort.
"But yours... yours is different," Bogdan continues. "It does have a taste."
My face is on fire. Every inch is red with want hearing the possession in his voice as he talks about my blood.
"It is sweet," he murmurs. "Rich. It has a spice in it, too. It burns when I drink it - the type of burn that consumes you. It's intoxicating, human. I can feel my body becoming stronger, more alive as it courses through my veins made of demonic ice."
My breathing is ragged. His words and his voice - the combination is an aphrodisiac that causes me to harden without warning. The two holes on my neck prickle to life. I want him to touch me. To feed from me.
"Bogdan," I whisper. "About what happened with Leo – "
"That's not appropriate dinner conversation," he snaps, cutting me off coldly.
But unlike the other times he speaks to me, this time I hear actual emotion in his voice. Sure, it might be anger, but it's something.
"Can we talk about it tonight?" I venture quietly.
Fiona and Kelly's soft voices filter down the staircase, and Bogdan's gaze flickers to them before settling on me.
He nods a single time. "Yes."
________________________________
A/N: Finally! Some emotion from Bogdan.....not much, but hey - it's progress.