Page 89 of Love Bleeds

Chapter Thirty-One

"Come on now, open up." Aldrich sat on a chair by the bed he'd moved Crimson into after the first day. It was going to be more comfortable long-term, and who knew how long he might have to do this? They were stuck at an impasse with no real plan to solve their problem, and while that remained true, Aldrich was going to be stuck playing the role of prison-ward/nanny.

Nothis favorite role. Not even close.

He often enjoyed slipping into other roles, making himself look different using charms and then changing his voice to fit his act. He'd even told his various partners more than once that he could be 'whatever they needed him to be', but this? He hoped it would be over soon.

Taking care of other people wasn't his favorite pastime. Especially when he was also the one inadvertently responsible for their illness.

Crimson would die if Aldrich didn't feed him, but the blood Aldrich fed him sickened him.

It was a no-win situation.

Crimson had agreed to this, knowing full-well what he was getting himself into, but as his brain had turned to mush over the past two days, it seemed he'd forgotten that he was here consensually. Or that he needed to let Aldrich feed him.

Honestly, it would have been more pleasant to feed a toddler throwing a tantrum.

Crimson turned on his side, facing away from Aldrich as Aldrich tried to set the bottle to his lips. Some of the blood ran onto the bed sheets, adding to the stains already there. Aldrich would probably have to throw them out when they were done here, but on his list of grievances, that one ranked pretty low.

"Come on," he said again. "You know I can't let you starve."

Crimson didn't say anything, but he shook his head.

Aldrich didn't admit it out loud, but he kind of agreed with him. Starvation might have been more kind. Aldrich had only ever had animal blood once, and it wasn't a memory he liked to dwell on. "All right, I get it," he said, rising from his chair. "I won't make you open your mouth for me."

Fortunately, he had more options than just that one.

He got a couple of syringes out of a chest of drawers by the door and prepared one of them with blood from the bottle. When he turned back to the bed, he found his captive watching him intently.

"What, you didn't think I was gonna resort to this?" Aldrich snapped his finger against the syringe to the get the bubbles out. "Sorry, kid, but I can't let you die." He wasn't sure how coherent Crimson was, but he kept talking anyway, if only because it kept his own mind occupied. After all, it wasn't like he enjoyed any of this. He'd done a lot of bad shit in his life as a vampire, but he'd never been cruel.

At least, not willingly.

It just wasn't his jam. He didn't get off on other people's suffering.

But his life had left him with a higher tolerance for it than most mortals, which was why he was the one stuck with this job. "If it was up to me, I'd simply kill you," he said, approaching the bed again. "But a lot of people would be sad if I did that, and I still want to fuck at least one of them, so it's not an option."

Oh, the things he did for love.

Or some approximation of it, anyway.

He set the needle to Crimson's skin when the other vampire suddenly started speaking. "You have to... he has..."

"He has what?" Aldrich humored his patient. After all, it was the first time he'd said anything that day and Aldrich had been getting a little bored talking to himself with only his phone for entertainment.

"Girl," Crimson said, but even as he said it, he looked confused, as if his own words didn't make sense to him.

"What girl?"

"Nicolai can't have her."

"Don't you worry about Nicolai. We're dealing with him, all right? Just take your medicine and chill."

"But...he has...You don't get it!" Crimson stopped and stared at Aldrich as if he'd just imparted all the secrets of the universe unto the older vampire and Aldrich just wouldn't listen. Some sort of animal-blood induced fever dream for sure.

"Look, maybe I'll wait a bit to give you this shot." Aldrich set the syringe aside because he didn't want to accidentally fry the other vampire's brain and kill him. How would that look? Would anyone actually believe him that he hadn't done it on purpose? The mortals might not.

Not that he could really blame them for their mistrust of vampires.