Page 42 of Trapped for Her Blood

“Am I correct to understand that human blood is only provided in this infernal place but once a month?” Zuben asks.

Axe nods. “New moon.”

“And you did not feed tonight.”

Axe shakes his head.

“But the last new moon?”

Axe shakes his head.

I take the cup back and our fingers brush, and I see the effect ripple through Axe’s entire body, his shoulders flexing, his abs tightening, his erection bouncing and his eyes glowing brighter as he looks into mine.

His reaction causes a strong one deep inside me too, and I slide my hand into his again, loving how warm and strong and large his hand is compared to mine.

“Axel was in bear form for a long time,” I tell Zuben. “He had a shard of metal—”

“Silver,” Axe interjects. “Silver shard in my paw, kept me from shifting.”

Zuben’s eyes open in interest. “For how long were you in this state?”

Axe shakes his head. “Not sure exactly. Very long time.”

“How did you survive?” Zuben asks, clear interest in his voice. “Does your body require food and water while in bear form?”

“I have a stash of dried meat and berries. Pemmican. And this pool.” He tips his head toward the water. “Bears can go a long time without food. We’re not fragile and needy like humans or vampires.” He squeezes my hand gently as if to tell me he meant no offense.

“How long do you think it was?” Zuben asks, clearly in researcher mode. “As long as a year?”

Axe grunts. “Much longer. Ember tells me it’s 2019?” He shakes his head. “Gotta be thirty years, if I had to guess.”

Zuben’s eyes open wider.

“I was stuck in bear form until Ember pulled out the shard.” He squeezes my hand again.

“And you had thirty years worth of food stored?” Zuben tips his head to the side as if he’s processing all the information, or maybe looking for holes in Axe’s story.

Axe shakes his head. “Bears hibernate. Normally just over winter, but being a hybrid must affect my patterns. Knowing the year now, I must have slept for decades at a time. I only woke to feed four, maybe five times.”

The fascination and curiosity on Zuben’s face are clear. “And you only took food during this time? No blood?”

“I was a bear.”

“This is most interesting,” Zuben says. “I would very much like to learn more about this, but right now my priority is finding a way out of this dungeon. Ember will not survive long down here.”

“Good luck,” Axe says with a grunt.

Zuben puts on his suit jacket and smoothes the sleeves, as if he’s preparing for a business meeting. “There must be guards stationed down here. There must be some way to reach Octavia through them.”

“Octavia?” Axe lunges forward. “You know that witch?”

I hold tight to his hand, even though I have no way to keep him from attacking Zuben.

“Why would you say witch?” Zuben barely reacts to how Axe lunged into his personal space. “The Octavia to whom I refer is avampire.”

Axe’s face fills with rage and hatred. “The Octavia who trapped me down here was a vampire—but also a witch.”

Zuben shakes his head. “She does possess the ability to hold great power over others, but I have no knowledge that she uses witchcraft. Why make that claim?”