Chapter 28
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
H yax had texted Gwil to get back to the lab. The potion was progressing nicely. It was beginning to thicken and had a purple sheen that needed to darken a little and then it would be ready for Gwil’s blood.
The door opened, and Gwil let himself in. “How’s it going?”
“Pretty good. I did have a moment when I added the birch bark, but I realised I needed to stir faster and all was well.” His arm was beginning to ache and he was glad they’d reached a point in the process where he could have a few minutes to rest.
Gwil shrugged off his jacket. “You do know vampire blood doesn’t exactly flow?”
Hyax hadn’t considered a physical obstacle to Gwil donating. “No, but now you say it, you’re technically dead, so I guess that should have been obvious.”
“I think I’m going to have to nick a vein and give it a squeeze to encourage it out. How much do you need?”
“A decent blob should do it.”
“Is that an imperial blob or metric?”
Hyax wasn’t in the mood for Gwil being flippant. He was already tired, but equally it wasn’t Gwil’s fault either. “Fuck you. Just bleed and shut up.”
“Bleeding for the Prince, not your usual royal decree… at least not during peacetime.”
Hyax had brought his sample preparation tools with him, including a set of blades he’d sharpened and sterilised for use on Gwil. If he kept up with his bad jokes, Hyax would be tempted to blunt the blades again before use.
Hyax couldn’t remember seeing Gwil bleed. Over the years, he’d got himself into plenty of dangerous situations, but his vampire strength had often given him the advantage, and while he’d sported bruises and once a broken hand, there’d been no sign of the red stuff.
He offered Gwil a scalpel. “Do you want to make the incision yourself?”
Gwil scowled. “Can you do it?”
“Are you telling me you’re squeamish about seeing a little blood?”
“Ha, ha, fucker. No. I just don’t want to do any permanent damage.”
Hyax laughed. “Okay, diddums. Let me look after my brave ickle vampire.”
“If this wasn’t needed to stop a dragon destroying my city, I’d tell you to fuck yourself.”
“Maybe they’ll make you mayor for your sacrifice. You already have the cat.”
“The things I do for you.” He rolled up the sleeve of his shirt.
“Remember I’ve bled for you.”
“I seem to recall you enjoyed being at my mercy.” He smirked, sexy bastard. “I look forward to repeating the experience.”
Hyax took hold of Gwil’s arm and examined the crook of his elbow. “Your veins aren’t exactly obvious.”
“Not sure what you were expecting, Hyax.”
He waved his hand and muttered a charm fae healers used to search below the surface of a patient’s skin and was able to identify a good spot to target.
He cast another spell to prevent Gwil from experiencing the pain and made a small incision.
As predicted, the blood didn’t flow freely; a glob welled up around the wound like a dollop of damson jam.
“How much more do you need?” Gwil asked. “One blob enough?”
“I was going to titrate until the potion changed to the correct colour, but I guess we go in a blob at a time and I’ll stir like a mother fucker.”
“I can give the wound a bit of a squeeze to encourage the blood out.”
“Good idea. Hold your arm over the cauldron.”
Hyax reduced the flame. The purple potion went from a rolling boil to a gentle simmer. Gwil got into position and a fat teardrop of blood fell into the liquid with a satisfying plop . Hyax stirred rapidly, but there was no immediate change. They would need more. “Another two, please.”
Gwil obliged and it took several minutes of squeezing and stirring until the potion gradually changed to the pink colour Hyax was expecting.
He turned the heat down even lower. “It will need to steep for a few days. I’ll let Simon know he can tell Chris to get working on his lavender bombs.”
Gwil was staring at his arm. The spell he’d cast would have stopped the pain, but the wound looked red and angry. Hyax pressed his fingers to the cut to heal it. “Thank you. I hope it wasn’t too weird.”
“I’ve done much weirder stuff.” He grinned. “So are we done here? Because I thought we could go home, get changed, and then I could take you to Bled.”
He’d agreed to go at some point, and Gwil had been a great sport and not complained about being sliced open, but the brewing had taken a lot out of him, and he still had to contact Simon and Chris.
“It’s not that I don’t want to go, but not tonight. I’d rather head home and we curl up. I’m kinda knackered and need to preserve my strength.”
Gwil hid his disappointment well. “No problem. I’ll pick up some Korean food, maybe some chocolate, and we can go to Bled another time.”
“Thank you. I do want to go. Promise there will be other options than blood to drink, though?”
Gwil laughed. “Fully stocked, non-blood bar. They even do ambrosia, and their mixologist claims to be able to recreate any cocktail on demand.”
“That is quite the claim.” He thought a few hours together would be just what they needed. “I’ll look forward to them trying to impress me. And I’ll make sure I look hot for your little fangy friends so you can show me off properly.”