10. Flint

10

FLINT

The way she looks at me is beyond anything I could've envisaged. It's like I'm her everything, and it crushes me a little bit to know that I'm not really. I did what any decent supernatural creature would do under the circumstances.

Decent.

I'm hardly that. I've had my fair share of debauchery and bad attitude, but when it comes to this girl with the purple hair and big blue eyes, breasts I want to slide my dick in between and curves I could walk for miles with my fingertips, I'm whatever she wants and needs me to be.

"Hi," she breathes out as she lets me pass. I duck inside, trying not to touch her. She has been through enough without extra stress from me.

"Are you okay?" I ask as she closes the door. She is clutching a to-go cup of blood so tightly it has squished in the middle, and the top has half popped off.

"I'm okay. Been better. At some time in the past, I've been better."

"I'm sorry," I mumble.

"Why? You didn't do anything. Well, except save me. Are you sorry about that, Flint?"

Her demanding eyes bore into mine, and I smile.

"Definitely not sorry about that."

She gives me a shaky grin back, and it settles the unease in the pit of my stomach, but it's short-lived. "Uhm, so your dad brought me here and is paying for my classes and stuff… I can't pay him back with money. I have none. Before this, I was living with my… parents… and I was an art student at the local college. Even if I knew where my home was from here, it makes no difference because there is nothing there I can sell or use to pay him?—"

"Who said you had to?"

"I'm not a charity case. What I was trying to say is, I will find a way to repay what he has done for me… I'm just not sure how, yet."

"Violet. My dad has more money than he knows what to do with. He's a Dragon Emperor. Trust me, he isn't short of gold."

She blinks, her face paling. "Emperor? Gold?" She nods then and gulps, muttering to herself. "Of course you don't use human money here. Emperor?" She scrunches up her face .

I chuckle. "It sounds way grander than it is. He leads the Snow Dragons. We have a rather inflated version of ourselves."

She snorts at my self-deprecating humour, which is the prettiest sound in the world. "I see. Thanks for the heads-up." She turns from me to stare out of the first-floor window. "So, where is here?"

"The location is technically in the Kielder Forest in Northumberland. But on a parallel plane."

"What?" she asks, turning back to me, her mouth open. "Parallel plane?"

I nod and move closer to her. "It's a supernatural plane of existence that runs alongside the human world."

"So that was the clingfilm thing?" she asks.

"Hmm?"

"When your dad dropped me off here, there was a moment where it felt like we burst through clingfilm. Was that the plane, or whatever?"

"The veil," I say with a nod. "Yes. I suppose I've never thought of it being like that."

"Speaking of dropping me," she suddenly growls. "Why did he let me plummet to the ground from a hundred feet up?" She gestures wildly in the air.

I point outside. "You saw how big he is, where did you expect him to land?"

She looks taken aback and peers out of the window. "He'd have knocked half the towers down," she says. "With his wings or landed in the treetops. "

"Yep."

"Okay, I'll let him off."

"I'll let him know," I say dryly, and she laughs. A genuine laugh that does warm and fuzzy things to my insides. It's a shame I have to spoil it, but I need to know. "Uhm, Nathaniel. Did he hurt you in any way?"

She sobers instantly and looks away, taking a sip of her blood drink. "Are you asking if he forced himself on me?"

"You don't have to answer, but it would be helpful to know so we know how to help you."

"You don't need to help me. You've done enough."

Her clipped tone is cold and distant. Whatever we were forming earlier has gone.

But I can't let this drop. I move in even closer, staying on the edge of her space but only just. "Did he?"

Her head snaps to the side to glare at me. "No, okay. He didn't. Happy now?"

"No," I say, shaking my head. "I am anything but happy about this situation, Violet."

She suddenly looks defeated, and her shoulders slump. "I'm sorry. You've been so kind to me, and you don't even know me."

"I do know you, Violet," I murmur, causing her to look up at me in surprise, but now it's my turn to look away. She clearly isn't ready for revelations of fate and destiny and all that shit that Dragons believe in down to their core. Although I never truly believed it until I laid eyes on her. Now, I know. Whatever her purpose in this world is, part of that is to be with me. I was where I was, when I was, so I could save her and bring her here.

Suddenly, she drops the now empty cup and starts shaking so badly, I grip her upper arms to stop her from hurting herself. "Violet?"

She doesn't answer me. She can't. Her teeth are chattering, and her skin has gone almost blue. I scoop her up and place her on the bed, where she continues to judder and shake. I lunge towards the door and yank it open. "Someone get Blackthorne! Now! It's an emergency." I could track him down myself, but that would mean leaving her, and I'm not going anywhere. I return to her side and take her hand, caressing it and trying to be reassuring.

"It's okay, Violet. Help is coming."

I have literally no idea where to begin dissecting this reaction. I'm not a vampire, and I don't know many vampires, certainly not any intimately enough to know what this is. But I know something isn't right.

A moment later, Blackthorne bursts through the doorway and stops by Violet's bedside, looking down at her. He places his hand over her forehead, and she stops the manic shuddering, calming down to a tremble and a shiver.

"What is it?" I ask .

"Withdrawals," he states. "I had hoped this wouldn't happen, but I should've been more prepared."

"Withdrawals from what?" I ask. "She had a cup of blood only seconds ago."

He gives me a grim stare. "Her sire."

My blood drains from my face, and I feel a bit sick at that. "What do you mean, withdrawals from her sire?"

Blackthorne's expression is grave, as he explains. "When a vampire is turned, they form a bond with their sire. It's both physical and psychological. Being separated from that bond so soon after turning can cause severe withdrawal symptoms. Theirs is more powerful than I anticipated."

I look down at Violet, who seems to have fallen into a fitful sleep. "But she hates him. He held her captive, turned her against her will."

"That doesn't matter to her body," Blackthorne says softly. "The bond is there regardless of the circumstances of her turning. Her mind may reject him, but her body craves the connection."

The implications of this make me feel ill. "So, what do we do? We can't send her back to him."

"Absolutely not," Blackthorne agrees firmly. "We'll have to manage the symptoms as best we can. I can get Professor Eldon to brew some potions that should help ease the physical effects. The psychological aspects will be harder to deal with. "

I nod, still holding Violet's hand. It feels so small and fragile in mine. "I'll help. Whatever she needs."

"Right now, she needs more blood."

Without hesitation, I pull up my sleeve and hold out my wrist, close to her mouth.

"From the dispenser," Blackthorne grits out.

"No, this is better. My blood is powerful, it will help heal her faster."

"You know live feedings are prohibited on Academy grounds."

"Tough shit," I growl, crawling onto the bed and holding my wrist to her mouth. She must scent the blood pumping through my veins because her fangs drop and her eyes snap open.

Before Blackthorne can stop us, Violet latches onto my wrist, her fangs sinking deep. The pain is sharp but brief, quickly replaced by an intense pleasurable sensation. I can feel her drawing my blood, my essence, into herself, and it makes my cock rage to be inside her while she drinks from me.

I stifle a groan, as Blackthorne sighs heavily but doesn't intervene further. "Be careful," he warns. "Dragon blood is potent. Don't let her take too much."

I nod, barely hearing him. My focus is entirely on Violet. Her trembling has stopped, replaced by a soft purring sound as she drinks. The colour is returning to her cheeks, her skin less clammy under my touch.

After what feels like both an eternity and no time at all, Violet releases my wrist, giving me a look of sheer horror. She shoves me away and I have no choice but to move back, my heart squeezing against the rejection as she leaps off the bed and disappears into the bathroom, slamming the door closed behind her.