Chapter Thirty-Three
Sherese
I enter the freezing cold room, and a feeling of revulsion fills me.
It always does when I enter this room. It always brings back memories of the first time Rizo brought me in here and told me I would have to drink blood to survive.
I remember seeing all the blood bags and wanting to throw up, while at the same time fighting my urge to consume the entire fridge of blood.
I walk over to the wall-sized cooler and pull on the handle, frowning when it doesn’t open.
I see the small black scanner and grimace.
Now, I’m going to have to get help with this one, too.
I place my thumb on it, but it doesn’t work, not that I thought it would.
I step out into the hallway, ready to track someone down.
“Little Lamb.”
I grit my teeth. I’ve always hated that nickname. I wipe my expression clean before I turn around. “Rizo.”
“Did you need something?”
I point behind me. “I need access.”
He makes a point of looking at the wall, then back at me. “You have a fresh source of blood. Why would you need blood bags?”
Dread crawls up my spine, but I keep myself calm. “I feed from him, but not for every meal. I still need blood bags to supplement.”
He cocks his head, and I wonder if I messed up.
I actually don’t know if that’s true or not.
From the look he’s giving me, I’m thinking it’s not.
I rush to think of something, but he beats me to it.
“Then you’re not taking enough at your feedings.
If you’re taking enough, you should only need one feeding a day.
” I search his face, looking for any sign that he knows I’m not really using Hunter.
But there’s nothing there...that I can see anyway.
“Oh. Good to know. I guess I don’t take too much because I’m worried about draining him, and I would really hate to see that happen.
” I don’t give him any time to dissect my words any further or give myself a chance to make a bigger mess than I already have.
“Thank you.” I walk away from him quickly and make my way to the elevators.
I nearly hit my head on the wall when I realize I can’t go without a thumbprint.
Rizo shows up beside me a moment later. He pushes a few buttons and then steps back.
“Put your thumb in.” I follow the same process I went through with Ajax. “Now you can move around on your own.”
“Thank you.”
He nods, and I step into the elevator quickly before he says anything else. “Little Lamb,” he says, and I resist the urge to squeeze my eyes shut. Instead, I meet his gaze. “How are the sessions going?”
It takes me an extra second to realize the sessions he’s referring to are the ones with the healer.
“Oh. Good.” He stares at me, and I force myself to stay calm.
Finally, he nods and steps out of the elevator.
“Good.” The doors close, and I sink against the wall of the elevator.
When I get to the bottom floor, I walk slowly towards our room.
As anxious as I am to get back, I’m not anxious to face Hunter.
What in the world am I going to do about blood?
Anxiety rushes through me. I can’t feed from him; I made a vow never to do so.
And I would never dishonor him in such a way.
By the time I get to our room, I decide not to tell him.
I’ll figure out something. In the meantime, I’ll survive.
I don’t need a ton of blood; I'll be fine.
“Sherese.” I turn at the sound of Ajax’s voice. He waves his hand, and I stare at him.
“I’m not a dog, Ajax.”
He scowls at me. “Come on.”
“Where?”
He doesn’t bother to explain. “Duty calls.”
Duty ends up being several hours of staring at screens.
I’m in a room with two other vampires watching a wall of screens.
Ajax explained that it’s our job to watch each of the shifter-vampires.
If there was movement of any kind, we’re to hit the yellow button followed by the specimen’s number.
It sends out an alarm to the workers who need to sedate the shifter-vampire.
If one of them were to come completely awake, we are to hit the red panic button.
If there’s time, we follow up with their number.
But the most important thing is to send out the alarm.
I know from before the damage one of these creatures can do.
I’m not exactly sure how I got on this particular job, but I have a feeling it’s part of keeping a watch on me.
I’m released to go do my job with the healer, and then I have to come back here again.
When I finally drag myself to our room after my last shift with the healer, I’m dead on my feet.
Not only am I physically tired, but I’m emotionally wrung out.
The healer had all but cussed me out tonight, and it was painful.
I got it; I really did. I hated what I was doing to her, and yet, I didn’t know how to stop it without Ava paying the price.
When I finally open the door to our room—actually, Hunter opens the door for me—I walk right over to the bed and crash. I lie back and close my eyes. “Hey,” Hunter says after a minute. “At least get ready for bed first.”
I groan but sit up. He holds out his shirt to me, and I take it, too tired to find anything of my own. A few minutes later, I climb into my side of the bed. “Do you need blood?” he asks softly. I’m too tired to even sit up.
“I’m good.” I fall asleep right after that.
The next day is a repeat of the day before, except it’s another vampire this time that wakes us. I jerk the door open. “You know, if I had my phone, I could set an alarm and be ready on time,” I snap.
The vampire doesn’t so much as flinch. “Be in the patient’s room in ten minutes.”
I scowl after him and slam the door harder than necessary. Hunter sits on the side of the bed watching me. Without a word, I stalk over to the bathroom. After a fast shower, I throw on clothes. I'm just about ready to leave when Hunter stops me. “Did you get blood? I don’t have any more for you.”
I blink. “Uh, yeah. I’m good.” I pause for a moment. “You haven’t eaten since we got here.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine.” I shake my head. “I can’t believe I didn’t get food for you. I’m sorry. I’ll track somebody down this morning.”
“It’s fine, Sherese.”
My mood was already dark. “It’s not fine.
I’ll figure it out.” I leave without another word, shutting the door behind me a little harder than necessary.
I stalk through the building, intent on finding somebody to get food for Hunter.
But I decide to get to the healer’s room first. I didn’t want her to pay the price for being late.
She doesn’t bother looking at me when I get to her room, nor does she look at me the entire way.
Thankfully, she doesn't fight me, like she did every other time we’ve stepped into this room.
I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.
When I finish with the healer, I make my way to my next shift.
Before I start, I track down Ajax. “I need food for Hunter,” I tell him without preamble.
He has the audacity to smirk at me. “Do you now?”
“Yes. I do.”
“Not sure we can help with that. I mean, unless he wants blood...”
I stare at him. “We both know you don’t drink blood, Ajax, and yet you look to be eating pretty well.” His face tightens with anger, but I’m past caring. “Food. For Hunter. Where is it?”
“There is no food for the wolf. You should have thought of that before you brought him with you. Sorry.”
He is anything but sorry, and I’m fuming with anger. “Ajax,” I take a step closer to him. “I swear—”
He peers behind me, and I know without looking that Rizo is here. “Little Lamb,” he says in a velvet voice. “What do you need?”
I don’t look away from Ajax. “I need food for Hunter.”
“Aw. The shifter. I guess it wouldn’t do to let your food source starve.” I turn to him, but he faces Ajax. “Be sure the shifter has food to eat.” He leaves without another word.
There's suddenly a harsh grip on my wrist, and I wince when he grinds the bones together. If I were human, the bones would have already snapped. “I’ll get your precious wolf his food,” he all but growls in my ear.
I don’t respond in any way, and when he releases my limp wrist, I walk over to the double doors with my head held high.
I put my thumb on the scanner. Rizo has made sure my thumbprint is on all the scanners it needs to be on.
It’s not until after nine again that I make my way back to our apartment.
When I get there, Hunter stops suddenly and turns to me.
“What were you doing?” I ask, and it comes out harsher than I intended.
“Pacing.”
He doesn’t say anything else, and I don’t either. I head to the bathroom to take a shower before collapsing in bed. Before I go to sleep, though, I turn to look at him. But I don’t see him. “Hunter?”
“Here,” his voice comes from the floor.
“What are you doing?”
“Working out.”
“Oh.” I stare up at the ceiling for a moment. “Is your wolf okay?”
It’s silent for a moment. “He’s as good as he can be.”
I close my eyes for a moment. “I’m sorry.”
“Not your fault,” he says through a harsh breath, and I figure he’s back to pushups or sit-ups or whatever it is he’s doing. I’m aware of him on the floor as I start to fall asleep, but when he walks towards the bathroom, I suddenly remember.
“Hunter.”
He stops and turns just before the bathroom door. “Did you get food?” He nods. “What was it? Because Ajax was in charge of it, and that worries me.”
“It was a vampire. He dropped off a bunch of food, so I won’t go hungry.”
I close my eyes. “Good.” He heads into the bathroom, and I start to drift off.
When I wake the next morning, there’s a deep ache in my gums. I squeeze my eyes tightly and push the pain away.
I figure if I don’t focus on it, it will go away.
The day drags on, and the feeling doesn’t go away.
In fact, it gets worse. I find myself craving blood.
My stomach cramps, and I wonder what in the world I’m going to do.
But I force those thoughts away; I’m stronger than my blood cravings.
I’ll be fine. I don’t look at Hunter when I get back to the room that night.
I’m so hungry, and my mouth is so dry. I feel terrible.
I don’t bother even changing for bed. I hear Hunter say something, but I ignore it and try to find peace in sleep.
That night, I dream of blood. I dream that I drink so much, I’m finally satiated.
But when I wake with an ache in my stomach, and my gums feeling like knife blades, I know I’m in serious trouble.
I push the covers back and move to stand up.
The world spins a moment, but I find my balance and make my way to the bathroom.
It will pass. I just have to stay strong until I figure out a way to get into the blood supply.
I hadn’t found a way the past few times I tried, but I will today.
There was literally no other option. I was slow, but I eventually showered.
But the hot water is too much; it only weakens me further.
I barely make it out of the tub without falling.