Page 79 of Bonded By Blood
“Sure!” Kendall darted out one of the side doors, letting it swing shut behind her. She moved with urgency, clearly not wanting to see a moment of Brianna’s feeding.
Brianna finally let go of her side and carefully pushed up as the woman, one of her mother’s human staffers, moved into her line of sight. She’d never actually properly met the woman and couldn’t recall her name, but that didn’t stop the middle-aged female from curling her hand into a loose fist and extending her arm in offering.
“Is my wrist all right, Princess? Or would you prefer my throat?” She even asked the question with a straight face, and somehow, that struck Brianna as odd. Perhaps she’d spent too much time with Joe.
“It’s perfect,” Brianna said, dismissing the thought, as she pulled the woman’s arm up to her mouth. She let her fangs drop, let herself focus on the not-quite steady beat of the woman’s heart, and closed her eyes as she sank her fangs into the soft flesh.
The woman gasped quietly but didn’t attempt to retreat, didn’t tense—didn’t otherwise react at all.
Hot, delicious, refreshing blood coated Brianna’s tongue and she gulped it down. Her body responded, her senses sharpening, the pain that still remained in her side almost instantly vanishing. Fresh blood was the best, fastest way to rejuvenate.
In the back of her mind, Brianna registered her mother’s voice. “Go to the kitchen and grab a bottle. She’ll need more than this slave can give. And Joseph has earned a drink as well, so bring two glasses.”
The advisor who’d spoken before replied again. “Yes, ma’am.”
Trista was right. Brianna needed to be careful how much she took. In fact, she probably should stop in the next few seconds. She gulped once more, relishing the taste, then carefully extracted her fangs in order to not do unnecessary damage to the volunteer’s arm. She straightened, licked her lips, and smiled at the woman. “Thank you.”
The woman was shuffled away, her arm wrapped up, and the advisor returned with two glasses and a fresh bottle of blood.
Feeling a little better, Brianna straightened to sit properly and patted the cushion beside her as she found Joe’s watchful gaze. “Come, sit. You must be exhausted.”
He didn’t argue, and quietly accepted a glass as he moved. But before he drank from it, he studied her. “Are you sure you should be sitting up?”
Brianna smiled. “The fresh blood helped. I’ll sip at this and be fine.” Physically, at least.
Joe returned her smile, relief shining in his eyes.
“That’s good to hear,” Trista said, readjusting the ottoman and claiming a seat on it in order to sit in front of them. “I’m glad you’re all right, Brianna.”
“I’m sorry if I worried you.”
Trista gave her a moment to sip at her drink before continuing. “Joseph mentioned your uncle. Or a vampire claiming to be him.”
Brianna looked away, finding herself watching the slow swirl of deep crimson in the champagne flute. “It was him,” she said, quietly. “I’m certain of it.”
Trista let out a breath. “I can’t believe he would show up, after all this time. And it’s true he’s claiming responsibility for those bothersome Wilsons?”
Brianna frowned. “Mother,” she said. “Did you know he was alive? Did you think he was alive?”
Trista matched her frown. “I wasn’t certain,” she replied. “Frankly, I’d hoped he wasn’t. But I suppose I took for granted we’d gotten lucky.”
“Lucky?” Brianna tightened her grip of the stem of her glass. “How can you say that? He was our family. Why would you want him dead?”
“I’d rather not discuss that, Brianna.”
Brianna drew a breath to keep from snapping the stem entirely. “That’s unfortunate, considering he just ripped out half of my liver.”
“My brother was a miserable excuse of a man, Brianna,” Trista said firmly. “If there was one member of our family I would have gladly thrown to the fire in exchange for the others, it was him. So naturally, he was the one who lived.”
“He protected us,” Brianna said. That was how she remembered it, at least.
“We were convenient to him,” Trista said. “He’d have killed one or both of us eventually. I knew that even before we became cursed.”
A door opened and Kendall re-entered, cautiously. “Um, is the feeding done yet?”
“Partially,” Trista replied. “They’re drinking out of glasses like civilized vampires.”
“I brought a change of clothes,” Kendall said as she walked up. She made a show of adjusting the bundle of fabric in her arms.