Page 92 of Thicker than Blood
Gasping, I bolt upright, snapping my eyes open.
Elias smiles. “There you are,” he coos. “Gods, you’re even more beautiful. I’ve never seen such beauty.”
His voice booms in my ears, even though I’m somehow aware that he’s nearly whispering. The room is so bright I wish I had sunglasses.
“It takes a bit of time to adjust,” he says, rubbing my back. “Your senses are heightened now. You could hear a fly land on a table.” He lifts his hand, rubbing the pad of his index finger against his thumb, creating a sound that sounds like a power tool. A shudder moves through me, running up and down my spine like an electric current. My eyes burn and my gums throb.
“Ho-how…” I cough, choking on my words, then pause to let it pass.
“Take your time.”
I squeeze my eyes closed and shake my head, slowly peeling them open a few seconds later. “How… long… pain?”
“It’ll only be a few minutes more, darling.” He lifts my hand and kisses it repeatedly. “What a gift you’ve given me. Your soul for eternal life. I hope you’ll find it a fair trade.”
My stomach twists painfully, growling so loud I look around for a wild animal. Elias chuckles.
“You’re hungry. You’ll be insatiable at first—for blood, sex, violence—but it settles soon enough to tolerable levels.”
My mouth waters and my gums stretch painfully. “Food?”
Elias taps the thick vein in his neck. “For now, you’ll feed from me. We’ll get you mortal blood later.”
I launch myself at him, clumsily climbing into his lap and biting at his neck with dull teeth. Huffing in frustration, I pull back.
“Focus, love,” he says. “Desire your meal.”
Somewhere in the back of my mind I’m reminded that it’s weird as fuck to think of Elias as food, but that thought is pushed back in favor of quelling the intense hunger twisting my insides. I direct my gaze to his neck and the vein there.
My jaw throbs as my gums expand and my canine teeth elongate into true fangs. “Fuck.”
“You’ll hardly notice soon enough. Now, darling, feed.”
Without hesitating, I bare my fangs and pierce his vein. Blood floods my mouth, sliding down my throat and putting out the gnawing heat in my gut. The more I drink, the better everything feels. The discomfort eases, sounds normalize, but one thing doesn’t change.
Lust.
My cock swells so rapidly that I sway from it.
“Eat, eat, eat, my love,” Elias says, sliding his hands under my shirt.
I peel my eyelids open to see Tristan chained to the beam and vibrating with rage. The sight stirs a powerful new emotion within me. Something nameless and feral.
I want him to bleed. I want him to die.
“He will, my sweet consort,” Elias says, twisting his fingers in my hair. He tugs my head back, removing my fangs from hisflesh and gazing into my eyes. “You should see yourself. Gods, you are stunning. Your emotions are even better.”
“You can feel me?”
“More than ever. You were meant for me, Geordi. You’ve given me new life.”
“Can you ever love me?”
His gaze softens as he brushes his thumb across my cheek. “I already love you in ways a mortal could never understand, but that’s not what you are. Not anymore. Now you’ll know infinite love, as vast as the universe itself. My love is not conditional. It has no end. You can never lose it or me. My love is thicker than blood itself. Our bond is unwavering. It is unbreakable. And everlasting.”
I put my hand on his chest over his heart, feeling the softthump, thumpbeating in perfect time with my own.
“I am your life force now, and you are mine. My heart beats with yours. I am your breath, your sustenance, your desire. I am everything you need, and you… you are my entire world.”