Page 7 of Love Bleeds

Instinctively, Crimson took a step back. Whatever 'training' Silas had received to be able to drink that stuff, Crimson had no desire to undergo it himself.

"Don't worry," Nicolai said. "This isn't for you."

Crimson exhaled in relief, even though he wasn't stupid enough to think he was safe yet. His sire hadn't taken that bottle out of the fridge for no reason.

Sure enough, Nicolai corrected himself. "Let me rephrase that. It isn't for you to drink. I don't believe that's going to get me far with you. You have a different weak point. Something I should have realized much sooner."

Crimson said nothing, just let his sire talk. He was in no rush to find out what fresh new hell the man was imagining for him. For now, he allowed himself to be cautiously relieved that he wasn't supposed to drink any more animal blood.

At least, he was until Nicolai revealed his new plan. "We're going to head out tomorrow night," he announced. "I fully expect you to obey my orders this time.Allmy orders. And if you don't," he gave the bottle a little shake, "this will be waiting for you."

"But you said--"

"Not for you to drink. You're going to feed this to Silas. You've seen me do it. You know how."

"But I..." Crimson stopped. He knew there was no point in mentioning that he could never hurt someone like that. Nicolai wouldn't care. He would find a way to force him.

"If you can't do it, you know what you have to do," his sire said, predictably. Then he smiled. "I was never going to get to you by hurting you, but this might just work."

"None of this is Silas's fault. It's not fair." Again, a silly concern to even bring up, but Crimson couldn't help himself. This was unacceptable.

"Silas isn't going to complain. Trust me, I've made his life so much better than what he had before becoming a vampire... helping me with your training is the least he can do."

Crimson's mouth opened, but no words came out.

Nicolai locked the fridge again and walked past Crimson, out of the room. "None of this will even be an issue if you just follow orders," he reminded Crimson before closing the door.

He made it sound so simple. Crimson knew that it wasn't.

He also knew that he was going to do everything in his power to make sure he would never have to feed anyone even a drop of animal blood.