Page 14 of A Trial By Blood

“Yes.”

“And you want me to aid in your death?”

I tried to swallow again. “Y-yes.”

“How?”

I felt my face heat. I hadn’t expected him to ask that, not yet, anyway. “I want you to drink from me…until my heart s-stops beating.”

Ronan blinked again. “You want me to feed from you? Drain you?”

“Yes.”

* * *

Ronan

Her logic was sound. The reasons she gave me for wanting to die made perfect sense. It would be better for Rose if her suffering were to end. But when I thought about her gone, about her lying still and cold in this bed, the boulder in my gut returned, but worse, it was as if it were covered in pointed spikes. “Your family won’t want this, Rose.”

She licked her lips. They were dry and cracked, and I remembered what her sister had done earlier and reached for the wet cotton pad.

“Can you do it in a way that they won’t know? So they assume I died in my sleep?” she said before I dabbed it gently across her lips, as Iris had done.

Something came over me, a sensation I’d never experienced before, one that was unpleasant. Like the spiked boulder in the pit of my stomach was battering my insides. The pain was physical, but also not. How was that possible? It shouldn’t be. Rose watched me, waiting for my answer. “Possibly. My saliva has powerful healing properties. If I drain you, then lick the wound before your last breath, it will heal over and no one will know.” The boulder grew. It grew so big that I felt it in the center of my chest and almost drew in an unnecessary breath.

“If you agree to this, no one can ever know you helped me. They’ll be angry at you, Ronan, and I don’t want that.”

Her eyes were huge as she watched me, waiting for my answer. “Your sisters, Rose, they love you as mine loves me. I may not understand it, but the way Luna explains it, if I were to no longer be here, she would suffer greatly. Your sisters, your mother, your aunt…” Me. The word exploded through my head out of nowhere. I frowned. Me? The thought was illogical. Why would it affect me? “They wouldn’t want you to be taken from them.”

Her hand still covered mine. “Ronan,” she said, her voice soft, “I will be t-taken from them, anyway. And soon. I’m in pain. Seeing me like this is hurting my family. At least when I’m gone it’ll be over. I’ll be at peace, and so will they, knowing my pain has stopped.”

How could I deny her? Why would I even think to? What she said made sense. I didn’t need to understand or feel pain to know I didn’t like the idea of her suffering. Ignoring the boulder in my gut, I met her faded blue eyes. “Yes, Rose, I’ll help you.”

Her lids drifted shut and a shaky breath passed her lips. When they opened again, they glistened. “Thank you, Ronan. Th-thank you.” She squeezed my hand and her lips trembled. “We can do it tomorrow night.”

The house would be empty. It would be just her and me here.

There would be no better time.

CHAPTER 4

Ronan

I didn’t like crowds.

The club was full, people pushing and shoving. I didn’t want to be touched by these strangers. They were drinking, dancing, singing, and laughing too loud. I quickly headed for the door on the other side of The Bank’s main room.

I hadn’t planned to come here, not yet. I’d fed only a week ago. I’d trained myself to last at least a couple weeks before the need became too much and the physical effects of depriving myself showed. But tonight, I was to feed from Rose. I would drain her until her mortal heart stopped beating. If I was to do that without losing myself to a frenzy, to blood lust, I needed to prepare. I would not cause Rose more pain by biting too deeply or accidentally tearing her fragile skin when thirst overtook me. I would take every measure to ensure she felt nothing but pleasure, like everyone did when a dhampir drank from them.

Yes, tonight, Rose would die.

At my hand.

The boulder didn’t return at the thought because it hadn’t left, not since the night before when Rose made her request. I didn’t understand the feeling, and no matter how long I lay awake trying to identify it, I found no answers.

The vampire at the door inclined his head when he saw me and opened it so I could pass. The Vault was another club, below the main one, a place where blood drinkers could come and feed freely from beings who were eager to be fed from. Killing donors was forbidden here. This was a place of pleasure. Pleasure of the flesh for the gift of blood. It was a tradeoff I understood, even if it were something I actively tried to avoid.

I opened the massive iron circle in the side of a brick wall. The door had once led to an actual vault; the building above had been a bank at another time, hence the name.