Chapter VI #2
With a curse, I snap the neck of the nearest ghoul and then slip an arm under Nicolai’s shoulder just as he’s about to do a header into the nearest wall.
“It’s time to go.” I can’t fucking believe it’s come to this, me getting a vampyre out of danger.
I could leave him here, get rid of him and all the problems that come with him.
Too bad that the information he has in his head is invaluable and could help my people. Could give us the edge we’ve been looking for all these years. I’m not letting go of that so easily. He’s a means to an end, and to get there I need to keep him alive. For now.
“Good—yes,” Nicolai slurs. That shouldn’t make his accent sexier. He has no right being anything even close to that. “D?-l ?n pula pe...”
I have no idea what he just said, but it sounds dirty.
Might just be his voice; he makes everything sound dirty.
“Sure,” I reply, uncaring what I’m agreeing to.
Anything to ignore the way it makes my dick swell.
I’ve never once ever been attracted to a vampyre before, and I’m not about to start now.
This place is obviously making me crazy.
The sooner we get out of here, the better.
Once we’re in the open again, I’ll be able to think more clearly.
Leaving takes considerable effort, and I receive more than a few gashes and gouges as I push through to get us out of there.
Fighting one-handed isn’t beyond me, but Nicolai is getting heavier with every step.
How does he weigh so much when he’s so fucking small?
Is he making this harder on purpose? I wouldn’t put it past him.
Eventually, the hissing and groans of the living dead lessen, and the scratching disappears though it’s still echoing in my head like a waking nightmare.
I have no way of knowing whether I’m taking us deeper into the ghoul’s nest, or if we’re anywhere close to being near some kind of exit. It doesn’t matter right now; anything is preferable to being ripped apart and feasted on.
Nicolai stumbles on a stray stone on the floor, and the unexpected weight shift sends us into the wall, him in my arms, head on my chest. When my hand comes away from his back, it’s covered in blood.
He’s not healing. At this rate, he’s going to bleed out and be quite literally dead weight.
Not surprising that he’s becoming such a pain in my ass.
We have to stop somewhere, and he needs to feed.
There’s a set of wooden doors up ahead, and I shove through, uncaring where they lead. Hopefully somewhere with a bed or something to sit on.
It looks like a place of worship. Burned-down candles line the floor between rotted and broken pews, leading all the way to the altar at the front of the room.
Figures of a religion long gone are carved into the walls.
I don’t recognize them at all. Dried blood is splashed against them, a dirty brown like copper burned across their faces and their robes.
The scent of fresh blood is strong, causing my upper lip to curl and the hair on the back of my neck to stand on end.
It has to be coming from Nicolai and from my own wounds, but there’s an inner knowing, a part of me trying to speak and reveal a truth that’s just under the surface.
I drop the vampyre unceremoniously on the floor, his back to the stone altar. He slumps, eyes half lidded, his heart rate slowing. He doesn’t have long.
The altar is made of stone, cold to the touch. There are various instruments laid out, each one older than I am. What were they using them for? Sacrifice? Wouldn’t put it past them.
Movement in my periphery diverts my attention. Nicolai has pulled himself to his feet. “What do you think you’re doing?”
Nicolai pauses, one hand on the altar to keep himself upright. He raises an eyebrow condescendingly. “Leaving.”
Like hell he is. “You need blood.” How far does he think he’s gonna get like that? He’s a sitting duck. If he’s gonna leave, he might as well set up a sign that says “free food.”
“There’s not exactly a blood bank around here, is there?” Nicolai snaps. “Where do you think I’m going to find a source? The ghouls out there?”
He makes it a few steps toward the door before his knees give out. I grab his elbow and turn him around, hauling him up against me. The sound of his heartbeat is more prominent now, so close to me, and the red has dissipated in his eyes, only flecks remaining in the blue.
“There is an entire horde of ghouls between us and the way out.” I assume they’re in our way.
Semantics aren’t important when I’m trying to win an argument.
“Neither of us can face them on our own, and I’m not dying down here.
So you’re going to fucking feed whether you like it or not, and then we’re getting out of here. ”
Nicolai sneers at me, twisting his face into the epitome of everything I hate about his entire species. “You’re still forgetting one important detail. Where am I supposed to get blood?”
“You can’t be this stupid.”
Nicolai narrows his eyes in confusion. “Are you—you can’t possibly be volunteering?” he says in disbelief.