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“Assistance?” I could barely speak.
He stared only at my mouth now.
I was intensely aware of my body. How my skin had grown hot. How my split lip was a little swollen. It’d stopped bleeding, but the cut was open and raw. Did he mean assist, as in heal my lip? I didn’t think I was nearly ready for anything of the sort.
I must’ve had a nutty, panicked look on my face, because he laughed outright. “My dear innocent, I think I’ve frightened you. I mean simply this: Your next mealtime, when you take the blood, you must rub it into your cuts, and they will heal quickly. Run your tongue, like so, along the wound. ” He licked his lower lip in a way that made me feel intensely uncomfortable.
He gave me a wicked smile. “Shall I ensure you’re doing it correctly? Perhaps I will come to the dining hall to watch. ”
“I…” He’d made it sound so…naughty, and I definitely did not want Alcántara to show up at the dining hall to watch me do naughty-sounding things with my tongue.
So how did one answer such a question? I figured guys were guys, no matter the century, and it never hurt to be coy. “I wouldn’t want to trouble you,” I said hesitantly. “I think I understand. Thank you, though. Very much. ”
I held my breath, waiting to make sure I’d given the correct sort of reply. His answer was an amused grin, and relief washed through me. I automatically returned the smile, and our eyes locked for a strange, frozen moment.
“Now. ” All business again, Alcántara pulled away, sitting in that graceful, erect posture that vampires seem to have perfected. “We must administer your punishment. ”
“My…oh. ” That hadn’t been my punishment? I felt the blood leach from my head.
He laughed. “How you pale. You perhaps expect to be given some menial task? A beating maybe?” His eyes lasered into me, reading my reaction, which of course was pure fear.
Tasks and beatings. Yup, that about summed it up. “A little more ‘wisdom hammering’?” I tried to look blasé, but I feared my expression faltered.
He relaxed into the couch, smiling broadly. “I fear your headmaster expects something of the sort, yes. Claude is so very old-fashioned in some ways; yet he strives to be so modern in others. He thinks my habits are very medieval. ”
“Well, you are actually medieval. ” I bit my lip, making it sting. The thought had spilled from me before I considered it, and I hoped he wouldn’t take offense.
But Alcántara laughed, delighted. “Indeed,” he said, nodding and considering, “I am the Dark Ages become flesh. ” He grew serious. “Call it what you like, but my philosophy is that a warrior should be rewarded for his—or her—blood thirst. And so brava, Acari, for almost getting the better of Guidon Masha. I assure you, it is she who will face the severest of my punishments. ”
I was baffled. Then relieved.
“So…I did well? And it’s Masha…I mean, Guidon Masha who’s in trouble?”
“That is one way to express it. ”
“Can the same go for Emma?” I’d been so desperately afraid of losing my friend, her situation was the first thing to pop into my head. But I regretted the words the moment they’d passed my lips.
His features hardened. “Do not try my patience. I have told you before, there is no such thing as a friend on this island. You are your only friend. And Acari Emma needs to learn to fight her own battles. ”
That silenced me. I didn’t want to bring any unwanted attention on anyone—especially on Emma; more scrutiny was the last thing she needed.
I dipped my chin, discovering it wasn’t difficult to speak with deference when I was scared out of my wits. “Yes, Master Alcántara. ”
He crossed an ankle onto his knee, casual once more. “Although I do have something I think might be some punishment for you. Or you will perceive it as such. ”
I stiffened. Here it comes. The other shoe, dropping.
“You will be tutored. In German. ”
But I was fluent. I’d read Faust and the complete works of Kafka in their original German. “You mean I’ll have to tutor it. ” I’d put it as a statement, not a question.
“No,” he said with exaggerated patience. “We have an important task ahead of us, and your current knowledge will do you no good where we are going. ”
That gave me pause. He was referring to our mission, off the island. I was dying to know about it.
“I need you to become conversant in modern business German and etiquette. When to say Du, to say Sie. How to bid farewell, or to moderate conflict. These are the things that will preserve you from the dangers of our mission. ”
