Page 47 of The Vampire Debt
I continue my search for a book and eventually settle on a thick tome of fairytales. I settle into the window seat at the back of the library and open the book. The leather binding groans for being used for what I assume must be the first time.
And then I get lost in new worlds I have never begun to imagine.
* * *
Blinking open my eyes, I find that the gray has cleared and the remains of the sun’s rays are sinking below the horizon. I stretch and close the book, having fallen asleep at some point.
It’s dark now, which means the servants have all left for the day.I wonder where they go... home to their families?There must be a small town nearby, within a short walking or riding distance.
I push the blanket off my legs. One of the servants must have placed it on me when they came to fetch me for lunch or dinner.
I find I have a small appetite for food, but since the sun has set there is no one here anymore and I don’t want to help myself to whatever is in the kitchen. It feels a bit forward to go into their space and rummage around.
Being listless is unusual. But I find myself missing Kitty more and more as of late, made worse by the fact that I could see her soon if I only possessed the skill to do what was needed.
At this rate, I will never earn my freedom.
I close the door behind me and lean against it.
My vision blurs and I tilt my head back trying to blink away the emotions that have welded up unexpectedly.A hot tear escapes and runs down my cheek. I roughly wipe it away with the back of my hand.
I reach back and struggle with the buttons of my dress until it’s undone and let it slide to the floor, then walk to where my night dress is laid out for me over the foot of the bed and slide it over my head. The material reminds me of the white sacrifice like dresses the devoted wear for their vampires.
I finger the thin material. It’s strange. Something like this should make me feel like one of them… but I don’t.
I do not see vampires as gods as the devoted do and I certainly don’t see Alaric that way. Though I don’t see him as just a vampire anymore.
I might be a vampire, but I am still a man.
He is more human than I expected. True, what I had expected was for him to kill me or turn me into a mindless slave right away, and weeks later I am still myself.
Bleary eyed and tired, I crawl into bed ready to get some sleep. I am determined to resume training tomorrow.
I pull the blanket up over me and snuggle into my pillow.
Sharp pain lances through my hand and down my arm. Bolting upright, I withdraw my arm from under the pillow and stare at the long gash running from the middle of my hand and down the side of my arm. Red… so much red, wells up and drips.
I’m lightheaded for a second as shock courses through me. With my uninjured hand, I lift the pillow and toss it away. Laying there, the edge lined with my blood, is a shard of glass. I lift it, it’s not terribly large but the cut could have been much worse.
A violent shiver runs though me. I look back to my cut—blood drips on my sheets.
I need to stop the bleeding.
I walk to the bathroom, the blood leaving a morbid trail. It seems to be bleeding faster now. Inside the bathroom I pause to look around for something to use as a bandage. The servants must have forgotten to replace the towels earlier.
My legs feel week and cold envelops my entire body. I just need to sit for a minute and think.
I look from the slice in my hand to the shard I hold in the other, unsure what to do.
The door to the room swings open, hitting the wall with a hard crack.
Alaric stands in the doorway, eyes blazing, the red ring is nearly glowing in the dim light, his fangs have extended, and there is anger in his expression. His chest heaves with labored breathes.
This is bad. This is very, very bad.
“I’m cut,” I say stupidly. Of course, he can see that. I drop the shard of glass and it cracks as it hits the white tile.
He looks less human in this moment than I have ever seen him before. I think now might be the moment he finally kills me—bargain or no bargain.