9. Cyan
Chapter 9
Cyan
M y next day off had me antsy as hell, buzzing with restlessness. I sure as hell couldn’t stay home so I hit the street heading toward the Cap, opting to walk instead of riding my motorcycle.
It was no mystery why I was on edge. A certain human woman was the culprit, one that I couldn’t touch or drink from, lest I shackle myself to her and only her. The answer to handling that was the same way I handled most stresses in life—a pulsing neck at my mouth and a pretty ass in my lap.
Tavi had been haunting me like a ghost since she arrived, and not an entirely unwelcome one. Her scent always hit me like brisk, fresh air when I entered my apartment. It smelled like coming home, not just crashing in my bed for the day. Even when I left my place, small hints of her presence lingered in the hallway and great room.
It felt like witchcraft, some strange magic that I began associating her scent with home and comfort. And it unnerved me.
After a few days, Tavi seemed to be settling in well enough. She and Bea were attached at the hip, always together. My clan mates were starting to talk about her, referring to her in casual conversation like she was one of us. And technically speaking, I suppose she was. This arrangement was not temporary. She was staying with us for the rest of her natural life. That thought always gave me strange feelings. Not bad exactly, but feelings I wasn’t used to.
She was my blood pet in name only, and yet I felt oddly possessive of her. I got twitchy and a little snarly when someone else referred to her as Tavi. Only I called her that, Temkra damn it.
Why did she have to be so…interesting? Why couldn’t she be a typical human who made themselves small around us, trying like hell to not to draw attention to themselves? No, she had to have that tantalizing scent, had to bravely volunteer for the Selection to save her friend. She even had the cool winemaking hobby, which was especially unfair for making her even more interesting. On top of all that, she had to be appealing to look at too.
All of those factors combined made me insatiably curious about the taste of her blood. But the moment I tasted her, I’d be claiming her. Which was absolutely not an option. And so the vicious cycle of pulling away began again.
Eventually, I would get bored of her. I inevitably got bored of every female who came my way. Until that happened, I had to settle for distraction.
I weaved my way through the crowded streets of the Cap before walking into Pulse Point like a man on a mission. It wasn’t the only club Blood 'til Dawn owned, but it was my personal favorite. The VIP lounge in the loft was always reserved for our clan members only, roped off to anyone else except our personal guests.
With a nod at the bouncer at the base of the stairs, I went up to the loft to find it empty. Perfect. A night out was usually best enjoyed with friends, but I was about to drink from someone who was not my blood pet, and I didn’t want any of their disapproving looks killing my buzz. The waitress coming over to serve me, on the other hand, was exactly what I needed.
“Cyan,” she purred, orange eyes lighting up. “What can I do for you?”
Irina was a dragon shifter, and a gorgeous member of the species. More importantly, her blood was spicy, rich, and satisfying. Her forked tongue often lent to a good time as well.
“Blood.” I held out a small wad of cash and gave her my most charming smile. “And the pleasure of your company, of course.”
She smiled back, plucking the cash from my hand with long, slender fingers. “I’ll be right back. Should I send over a drink while I get ready?”
“That would be great.”
I settled on one of the plush couches while she left to wash off any make-up, sweat, or perfume that might affect her taste. The neck was an area where scents tended to concentrate, so a quick wash or rinse was standard procedure.
Another waitress brought over a drink on a tray, my usual, a Sazerac with a small dash of blood. I left a generous tip on her tray, and she was forgotten the moment I picked up my drink. Absently, I watched the light show and the DJ on the floor below as I took a sip, and the taste that hit my tongue immediately pulled me out of any relaxed state.
I grimaced, holding the glass up to examine it. Something was off in the drink. It wasn’t awful but not the taste I was used to. I made a face as I swallowed, then sniffed the inside of the glass for anything amiss. Nothing that I could detect.
“Everything okay, Cy?” Irina’s deep, honeyed voice floated over, closely followed by her hand landing with gentle weight on my thigh.
“You change up your blood source? Or your whiskey?” I set the drink aside.
Irina frowned, a crease forming between her reptilian orange eyes. “No, they’re both the same as we’ve always used. Why?”
“Something taste’s off, but it’s not a big deal.” I slid an arm around her waist, bringing her to my lap.
“I can get you another.” Her arm came around my shoulders, lips ghosting over my ear.
“Nah.” I held the nape of her slender neck, angling her for a comfortable bite. “This is what I really want.”
She arched with a soft sigh, giving me more access, and I wasted no time in sinking into her vein.
When her blood hit my mouth, it was all I could do to not let out a groan. Of disappointment, that was. Something tasted off about her too. The spicy, rich taste that I’d enjoyed in the past was now bland, almost watered down. What the hell?
I’d barely drawn two mouthfuls when I unlatched my fangs and flicked my tongue over the two points to seal the wounds. It was quick, perfunctory, not the playful neck licking that I was known for. I pulled away, not meeting Irina’s eyes with the confusion I knew would be in her stare.
“Cy, what’s going on?” She dragged her nails over my scalp, an affectionate gesture I used to love, but now made my skin crawl with wrongness.
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “Maybe I’m coming down with something. Everything I taste is just…off.”
“Aww, getting the vampire flu?” She touched the back of her palm to my forehead. “Can your kind even get sick?”
“It’s rare, but it happens.” She wasn’t getting off my lap, so I pushed her off as gently and non-offensively as I could. “I should get some fresh air or something. Sorry we couldn’t have more fun.”
Her lips curved in a coy smile, accepting my apology. “Call me when you feel better. It’s been a hot minute since I came to the compound.”
My immediate reaction was no, hell no. I did not want to bring my casual fuck-slash-blood source around where Tavi was. And then I felt something like guilt. Shame. Like Irina was a dirty little secret I didn’t want Tavi knowing about.
But I gave her a tight smile in return. “Sure. See you, Irina.”
I couldn’t leave the club fast enough. And yet the cool night air didn’t feel any better. My mind was back in that cycle of missing Tavi, wondering about her taste, then chiding myself for being tempted to fall in that trap. The more I avoided her, the greater the temptation seemed to get.
I hit the pavement, going nowhere in particular, just needing some movement. It was busy tonight in the Cap. People crowded the streets and storefronts were bustling with activity. A pair of motorcycles rolled slowly down the road, taking care with the pedestrians. I recognized Desmond and Laith, and gave a quick wave, which Des returned.
We patrolled our turf in rotating pairs, so that everyone could watch over different areas, have different days off, and work with a different partner. My clan mates were family, and of course I loved them all. But no one had made a better pair than me and Kalix.
“Fuck,” I muttered aloud, watching Des and Laith’s tail lights get smaller as they maneuvered down the street. Guess I was feeling sentimental about all kinds of things tonight.
Kal would’ve slapped me upside the head over how hard I was avoiding Tavi. He’d encourage me to accept my responsibility, to jump headfirst into taking care of my blood pet. To provide her with protection and a comfortable life.
“It’s the least you can do when you’re taking her blood, her life force. When she’s trusting you not to drain her dry,” he’d say.
“Well, I haven’t fed from her once so how’s that for a loophole?” I’d retort. And he’d snort and call me an idiot.
He was always right, of course. I was an idiot. And a coward. I let him get imprisoned when it should have been me, after all.
Fuck, I wished he was here. I knew exactly what he’d say, but I’d give anything to hear it straight from him.
My aimless walking brought me to the restaurant district. The night was warm enough that most places had their windows open to the street. Scents of food, alcohol, and all kinds of species poured out of those establishments. Human, brusang, vampire, and dragon shifter. I drew in a deep breath and nearly gagged. None of it appealed to me.
Except…one.
One scent that was light, sweet as dark berries, and comforting like home.
I followed the direction it came from, turning toward the restaurant window as if manipulated by a puppet master, and almost laughed at the cruelty of the universe. Tavi was sitting right there, at a table directly next to the window, with Bea across from her.
Of course the human I was trying to avoid and forget would pop up right in front of me.
Their heads were turned away from the window, focused on some third person who I assumed to be their waiter, until another scent drifted across my path. One that made me gag. Sunlight and rot with an undercurrent of burning.
Fuck. If the scent wasn’t enough, the vampire’s face confirmed it. His red eyes were tinged with yellow and his skin looked dry and faintly blistered. All signs of coming off a draitrium high. When he pulled out a vial and held it out to the women, I didn’t think. I just acted.
My feet carried me through the restaurant’s entrance, and once I spotted the back of his head, no one could unlock me from my target. I headed toward him like a bull after a red flag. He was so out of it, he never even heard me coming.
With my hand around the back of his neck, I slammed his face down on the edge of the table with enough force to call attention to the whole restaurant. Good. He needed to be made an example of.
Despite his shock and pain, the addict managed to keep hold of the little vial in his hand. He even resisted when I pried it from his fingers.
“What is this?” I forced his head to turn and look at the vial in my hand.
“Nothing!” he cried.
“Mm, try again.” I squeezed harder around his neck. Sun exposure had made his muscles weak and soft.
“It’s drae!” he whimpered pathetically. “It’s drae, okay? Fuck, I’m sorry.”
“And you were trying to sell it to these two? Out in public, huh? And on a busy night in the Cap, no less?”
“I mean, I was gonna let ‘em try it for free, but?—”
That only pushed my anger into dangerous territory. I dropped the vial on the floor and crushed it under my boot, which made the addict flail in panic.
“No, no! I spent my whole month’s salary on that! I need to work overtime during the day and, ahh?—”
I lifted him up from the table and, with a flipped grip, used the same hand to lift him off the floor and slam him against the wall.
“I should fucking eviscerate you,” I hissed. My fangs fully elongated, not in blood thirst, but in a surge of seething anger and violence. “For not only trying to sell drae in Blood ‘til Dawn’s territory, but to my fucking blood pet as well.”
The vampire’s eyes widened and not just because I was slowly suffocating him. He’d been trying to sell an outlawed drug to a blood pet of the ruling clan. The same clan who outlawed the drug in the first place. Now he realized how fucked he was.
“You’re going to tell me who your supplier is,” I said, deadly calm in my fury. “And then you will never come anywhere near my blood pet again. If you see her coming down the street, you go the opposite way. If she comes into a bar, you get up and leave. If she says hello, you apologize for existing and get the fuck away. You get me?”
“Yeah! Yeah, I’m sorry! It won’t happen again.”
I released his throat only enough to let him breathe and talk. “Your supplier. Now.”
He hesitated and I squeezed again, making him flail in panic.
“Cy, don’t kill him.”
Tavi’s voice cut through my haze, reaching through to the real me underneath all the fury. It was only because of her demand that I loosened my grip by a hair’s breadth on the dealer.
“Vlad,” he choked out. “I’m a middleman for Vlad, in the south Ribs.”
“Huh.” I grunted, keeping my grip steady. “You’re pretty far north from home.”
“I’m visiting family and uh—ugh…”
“Scoping out new customers?” I drawled.
His shaky nod was all I needed. Well, fuck. The draitrium problem truly was a beast with dozens of heads. We cut off a few, and new ones grew back to sniff around for new territory.
“The whole Heart of Sanguine is off limits to your business,” I hissed in the dealer’s face. “If I see you or anyone associated with you in Blood 'til Dawn’s home turf, we’re sending you to Vlad in pieces. Understand?”
Again he nodded shakily. I drew him forward, then shoved him back just hard enough for the back of his head to hit the wall. “Say it.”
“I understand,” he sputtered. “I’m l-leaving the Heart tonight.”
Only then did I open my fist, and then watched him scurry out of the restaurant like the vermin he was.
I took my first deep breath in ages, looking at the two women still sitting next to the window. “Are you two alright?”
Slow, tentative nods from both of them. Bea understood we had to get rough sometimes to keep drae and its pushers out of circulation. But it was the first time Tavi had seen me do that, and I couldn’t read the expression on her face.
One thing was certain. I had to make sure she was always safe, especially if I was hellbent on avoiding her and wouldn’t always be at her side.
“Time to come home, ladies,” I said. “Tavi, meet me in the apartment in a half hour.”
I got out of there, heading straight for the compound. My blood cooled after a few minutes of walking, and I could think rationally again.
“Fuck,” I bit out to myself at a sudden realization.
What I was about to do would make resisting Tavi so, so much worse.