13. Stella
13
Stella
Apparently, sneaking around at night is a bigger attention grabber than just walking right into Shifter tower during the day, books in my arms. We are easily passed off as a study group, and no one even looks twice at us as we make our way to Tree’s room.
Okay, so they do look twice, but it’s because of my spirit. It seems everyone still has a lot of questions about the resident Valkyrie.
Tree and his coven, who I’ve learned are named Sia, Edgar, and Rolf, lead me into the room. Unlike my room, which is almost blindingly white, Tree’s room is cool earth tones. It’s soothing and comfortable, with low lighting and thick curtains.
It’s also a mess.
Clothes pile up on the desk and in the chair, the blankets look like they were thoroughly rolled around in, and there is actual dirt on the floor.
Where did that even come from? It’s like he stomped in here with muddy boots.
“Don’t we have cleaners?” I ask, looking around the space.
Sia snickers under her breath, and Tree smacks her upper arm. “I don’t let them in,” he says. “None of us do. You never know what they’re looking for.”
The idea that a cleaner could discover my notes and research never crossed my mind. I make a mental note to remove my room from the schedule.
Tree awkwardly sits on the edge of his bed, wringing his hands in his lap. “Look, Stella, are you sure?” he asks quietly. “I know this is asking a lot of you. For the past year, we’ve struggled to find regular donors. We’ve got a small rotation now, but we knew the others who help for a few weeks before we asked, so it was less awkward for all of us.”
“Then why ask me so soon?” I ask as I sit beside him. Tree’s personality is off-putting sometimes, and he’s hard to read, but when I look at it through the lens of him being in a constant state of near starvation, it makes a lot more sense.
“You’re powerful,” Rolf, the willowy vampire, says, interrupting whatever Tree was starting to say. “It’s very obvious to anyone who knows how to look. It is instinctual for us to seek out the strongest life force we can, and we were drawn to you immediately.”
“Powerful blood is more filling,” Edgar, the bigger one, adds.
Tree winces when he looks at me. “I know it makes it sound like we’re using you. Fuck, I know we are using you.“ I place a hand on his forearm, slowing down his fidgeting. He inhales deeply. “We have four others who let us feed from them, and there are four of us. We can’t take from them every day - it wouldn’t be right and too noticeable. So a different one comes every day…”
“And so you only truly eat every four days,” I finish for him. “Does the steak at least help?”
“A little. It’s like a bandaid on a bullet hole, though,” Tree mutters darkly. “But your blood is strong enough that all of us should be able to feed on you for the same amount of blood one of the others would be able to give one of us.”
“I’m that much stronger?” It sounds a little cocky when I ask like that, but I’m not sure I believe what they’re saying, and it’s difficult to figure out a gentle way to parse this out. They could be blowing smoke up my ass in an attempt to get me to agree. “How would you know if you’ve never met a Valkyrie before?”
Sia interjects, “We can sense your power. It’s common knowledge among vampires that mythological spirits are the richest food source for us, and the rarest spirits are always the most powerful.” She blushes and ducks her face into Rolf’s shoulder.
“Okay, I guess that makes sense,” I say as I chew the inside of my cheek. “So I can feed all of you in one day. How often would you need me?”
Tree’s face lights up with hope. Well, shit. I don’t think I have it in me to crush that look. “We’re not sure how long we’ll stay satiated for. Can we play that part by ear?”
I appreciate the honesty that Tree and his coven are affording me. While I know that, technically, I am doing them a favor, I do not doubt that there will be a benefit or two for me somewhere down the road. I’m not always a quid pro quo type of person, but in a place like Robert Sinclair’s, I’d be a fool not to stack up some favors.
I pull off my canvas shoes and socks and walk to the bathroom.
“Where are you going?” Sia asks.
“Washing my feet.”
The vampires laugh at that, but I can feel the way the tension in the room dissipates. Once my feet are clean, I sit back on the bed, which Tree made while I was gone, and rest my back against the headboard. “What now?”
He and Sia sit side by side and reach out delicately to grasp my ankles, pulling my legs to the side. They lift my feet towards their mouths, but Tree puts out a hand to stop Sia before she can make contact. “I have to ask one more time, Stella,” he says quietly, even though I can see the pain that question causes him.
“I’m sure, Tree.”
He searches my face, and I feel like I can see Tree clearly for the first time since I’ve met him. He’s strong-willed and a little brash but trying to do right by his coven. We may never be the best of friends because I still think he’s kind of an ass, but I don’t read any malice from the vampire.
He must see what he was looking for in my eyes because, at the same time, he and Sia bite down on my feet, latching onto a vein I didn’t know was there. It hurts, but not in the way I thought it would. It’s like stepping on something, a quick sharp bite followed by an ache.
Tree didn’t lie - this does feel very clinical. The stories would have you believe that vampire bites were either excruciating or orgasmic, with nothing in between.
That is not the case.
It doesn’t feel much different than getting blood taken at the doctor’s office.
They barely spent any time drinking when Rolf and Edgar pull them off.
My blood drips down Tree’s chin. He swipes at it with his finger and sucks it off the tip, his eyes half-lidded. Sia is crying softly, crawling up the side of the bed to hold my hand as she props herself beside me. “I was last in the rotation,” she says quietly. “It’s been four days. Thank you.”
I squeeze her hand in my own, marveling at how her skin brightens and her eyes lighten with each passing minute. She already looks healthier.
Large hands around my heel and ankle and sharp pricks indicate that Edgar and Rolf are drinking. Tree stands behind them, looking at his watch. Timing them, I realize. I didn’t notice them timing the other two, but they must have.
It’s very respectful that they track how long they feed. It would be easy for a starving vampire to drain someone, and yet they have figured out a way to regulate the feeding and keep their donors safe. Rolf and Edgar unlatch easily, smiling and wiping the blood from their chins.
“So, what do you think? Award-winning cuisine?” I joke, pulling my legs up and crossing them beneath me.
“It’s incredible,” Edgar says. “Really, thank you for this gift.”
Sia continues to stroke the back of my hand. “You’ve been so selfless in helping us. We are indebted to you.”
“I don’t think you need to thank me like this.” I am quickly becoming uncomfortable. A vibe almost akin to hero worship is brewing, and I won’t be able to do this if it’s always like this. “This is what friends do.”
Tree laughs wryly. “The first time we met, I insulted your friends, yet still, you’ve given me this gift.”
I think back to our first meeting and how shitty he was to Clay and Ryan. It’s hard to see that male as the one in front of me now, gratitude in his eyes and on his tongue.
“You’re not wrong. You were an ass. But what they’re doing here isn’t right. They shouldn’t be starving you like this. It’ll make you desperate. If they think you’re dangerous out in the real world where you can feed, what do they think is going to happen when you’re starving?” I pull one of my feet up to look at the wounds on the bottom. Between the vampire venom that begins the healing process and my quick recovery genes, the bites are already barely noticeable. “I’m a bitch when I’m hungry. Once, the guy I was seeing was late to dinner, and I had skipped lunch. By the time he got there, I was ready to flip the table.”
“That’s what I’ve been saying!” Rolf says, crossing his arms over his thin chest. “But it was this or prison, and I don’t know anyone who has ever gotten out of prison, so this is it.”
With Rolf’s declaration, I wrack my brain, trying to think of any supernatural that I knew, even if only by association, that came back from prison.
And I come up empty.
I slip on my socks and shoes and grab my bag, my mind spinning. I have to get this written down before I forget so I can do more research on it.
“I… I gotta go, guys.”
“Are you okay?” Sia says, reaching for me.
“Oh, shit, yeah, sorry. I realize how this looks. I’m not leaving because of you guys. I just remembered something I’d forgotten.” I don’t wait for a response and rush out of their tower, not stopping until I’m safely in my room with the door locked. I set up my hotspot and open a private, untraceable browser.
And I lose myself in conspiracy websites.