I had never heard it described that way. But I also hadn’t known he wasn’t drinking until he was satiated, as he was supposed to. What did that mean for him?
“That cannot happen. What you are describing does sound unusual, but we are made to stop upon the limit. It is just how we are.” The doctor sounded frustrated. “Why would you even think that would be a negative thing?”
In a quiet, pained voice, Devareaux said, “I didn’t want to be consumed by her. Our statuses are so different.” The doctor made a sound of disapproval.
“I am grateful our makers don’t normally pair low blood borns with high blood borns.”
What?
“Because it just proves that you high and mighties really do think you are better. You don’t deserve your blood wife.” He huffed. “You need to drink of your wife. You are starting to fail.”
Had he not gone to Quinn when I didn’t arrive?
“She needs her blood more than I do. I can wait until she is replenished.”
“No you cannot. Take some now or you will fail.”
When someone talks about a vampyr failing, it means the body organs have not had enough blood and will start to deteriorate. Why did Devareaux not go to Quinn, or even one of the blood banks for a sample of human blood? He should not have waited this long for my blood.
“Take a small bite of her. It should be enough until she wakes.” He sounded disgusted, and I heard shuffling until the door closed loudly.
Then silence. At one point I thought I heard crying.
Devareaux’s voice came out in a whisper as he took hold of my limp hand on the bed. “I don’t deserve you. You deserve better.” He whimpered. “But I want to deserve you. I need to deserve you. I cannot let you go.”
Silence. Then he gripped my hand a little tighter. “I love you, Odessa.”
Then silence again. He continued to hold my hand for a long time, with the only sounds being from the noise outside of the room. I laid in a hazy fog.
I vaguely remembered being kidnapped. Then it dawned on me. I had been forced into a bloodletting party. Somehow, Devareaux found me and took me to a recovery facility. Since vampyrs technically don’t get sick, our society did not have the need for hospitals, like the human societies did. Instead, we had recovery facilities for those who needed a place of rest to regain their strength after a bloodletting or if a vampyr had gone too long between takings.
I felt Devareaux take my hand and press my wrist to his lips. Although I assumed he would bite me to drink, there was a flicker of something inside me at his touch.
“I am sorry, my love. Just a small taste. I promise.” He bit into my wrist making me gasp. I couldn’t open my eyes if I wanted to, but the pain was sharper in my wrist than my neck. I did not feel any of the euphoria I did when my blood was normally taken, but I assumed it may be because I was still recovering.
I didn’t know what to believe or what to feel. I was still mostly numb from the loss of blood from the bloodletting. As he said, he did not drink much of me. Eventually, I fell back into a steady sleep.
When I woke again, Devareaux was still holding my hand, caressing the back with his thumb. I tried to pull my hand back, but he gripped it tighter as my eyes fluttered open. I turned to see him sitting next to the bed, his hair disheveled, eyes red rimmed, and a pained expression.
“Odessa,” he breathed out my name. “You’re finally awake.”
I nodded ever so slightly, and again tried to pull my hand back from him, but he continued to grip it. “You lost a lot of blood, but the doctor said you should be back to your usual self within a few days. I think it would be best for you to recover back at home.”
I hesitated, looking at him. “You’re home?”
He flinched. “Our home, my love.” He looked sad.
I shook my head. “Your home.”
More fiercely, “No, our home. You are my blood wife. You will stay my blood wife. No other woman will ever take that position. Not now. Not ever! I almost lost you, for good. No! I do not accept that.” His eyes were intense on me.
“You want someone who fits in your circle. I do not. I will not.”
He shook his head aggressively. “No! I do not want you to fit in. I want you, Odessa! You! All of you! The woman who has asoft soul for others, who is as beautiful inside as she is out. Who sacrifices her own happiness for a scoundrel of a husband who couldn’t see past the end of his upbringing. A status, a status that means absolutely nothing without you by my side.”
I looked away, tired and wary.
“With you as a low blood born, and me as an aristocrat, we could be a team and cause a reckoning.”
