Bloodguilty (6 page)

"I could close that." But he didn't know if he should, if he would be able to only lick the wounds closed and not bite down into Mikki and drain him further. His hands were shaking.

"Close it, then," Mikki said, kneeling down next to him.

Unsteadily, Casimir put a hand on his shoulder. "If I bite you," he began, licking his lips, "stab me."

"What?" Mikki drew back.

"I'm going to lick your wounds to close them. I won't do anything else, or at least, I'm going to try not to." He expected Mikki to jerk away and get up, but he stayed still. Casimir drew in a steadying breath and took Mikki's chin in his hand, gently turning his head to bare his injured cheek.

He was careful not to apply too much pressure with his first lick. The taste of blood made his veins burn, and his fingers bit into Mikki's shoulder. Casimir fought back the urge to savage him like an animal and licked the wounds methodically until they closed, unable to help licking clean the trails that had spilled down Mikki's face.

"They might leave scars, but they won't be as bad," Casimir said. He licked his own lips, trying to catch any blood that might have spilled.

"Thanks," Mikki said, touching his cheek. "That help you feel better?"

"Not really. It's like eating a cracker when you're starving: it's something in your system, but it's not going to sustain you."

Mikki thrust his bloody hand in front of Casimir's face. "Here."

"What—?"

"I'm just gonna wash it off. Might as well have two crackers."

Casimir took hold of his wrist. "Are you sure?"

"Not like it's doing me any good now. And I know what it's like to go hungry," Mikki said. "Hurry up, before I change my mind."

"Thank you." Casimir was even more careful with Mikke's fingers than he had been with his cheek, running his tongue in the crease of each before taking one into his mouth. He made sure it was between his fangs and not against one of them, closing his lips around it tightly to savor the taste as long as he could, sucking the finger completely clean before moving on to the next.

Mikki was breathing harder, and Casimir glanced up to make sure it wasn't from fear. His dark eyes were dilated, and a light flush colored his cheeks. "I didn't mean 'suck my fingers off'," he mumbled.

"Sorry." Casimir let the digit slide out of his mouth, licking the inside of his cheeks before adding, "Really, thank you."

"That gonna help your shoulder?"

Casimir didn't even want to look at it. "Not a lot. But it's better than nothing."

"Can't you lick it closed?"

"Even if I could, it's missing muscle." Now that the adrenaline was leaving his system, his shoulder was a raw mass of pain. Casimir fought against the nausea that rose in him, forcing himself to get to his feet.

Mikki stepped over the monster's body and headed for the kitchen. Casimir followed. Inside, there was an older couple, freshly dead. Their flesh had been rent away in wet ribbons, and they slumped over each other on the floor.

"They didn't deserve this," Mikki muttered, turning away.

Casimir swallowed. Even dead, the smell of blood was overwhelming. "This is my fault. The note said I shouldn't have come; one of the vampires must have had her follow me."

To his surprise, Mikki shook his head. "Not your fault. It's theirs."

"You're being a lot nicer to me today."

Mikki crossed his arms. "Adeline told me that you didn't force my brother into feeding. That you let him go when he freaked out. Even if we're not talking, I still care."

"You're a good guy." The pain flared up again, and Casimir clutched his shoulder. "If you'd help me find a streetwalker, you'd be an
amazing
guy."

Rolling his eyes, Mikki put a supporting hand on Casimir's back and guided him out of the door. "Fine, but we're coming back here after. It sucks what happened, but there's a lot of hungry people here, and we need to get that food before it's all taken."

"Agreed," Casimir grunted, trying his best to stay upright as they walked to the door.

Casimir caught a glimpse of his reflection in a pile of broken glass on the street. He looked like hell. His shirt was shredded and covered in blood, there were claw rips around the ankle of one pant leg, and there was dried blood around his mouth, but his shoulder was by far the worst. A bloody mass of muscle and pain, it hurt worse now that he could see the damage done.

"Sure you're going to make it long enough to find a hooker?" Miki asked, wiry arm looped around Casimir's waist to keep him up and walking.

"Let's hope so," was his grunted reply. "Stop for a minute. I need to catch my breath." Breathing wasn't actually necessary for him, but his ribs were still sore from Lilin breaking them.  Catching his breath was an easier explanation than telling Mikki his ribs were grating together. He hadn't gotten nearly enough blood for them to heal completely.

Mikki stopped and leaned Casimir against the front wall of a drug store. It was open, and the shape of a green cross from the sign blinked over Mikki's face. "How the hell are you even still alive after yesterday?"

"It's hard to kill a vampire. We can live and heal as long as we still have a brain and a heart," Casimir panted, trying to collect his thoughts. "Staking only puts us down for as long as it's in—the heart has to be destroyed for us to die, or it'll heal. Or if we starve to death."

"Good to know." Mikki touched the cheek that'd been scratched earlier. "I don't even feel it. That's pretty damn amazing."

Casimir nodded, exhaling a slow, shaky breath. The licking fire of starvation was searing his veins. If they didn't find a streetwalker soon, he was going to have to tell Mikki to run away before he lost control. He was already starting to fray around the edges. "Let's keep moving."

Mikki took hold of him again, and they lurched into motion, passing a dark building with boarded-up windows and a weapons store guarded by an iron fence and speaker on the gate.

When they drew closer to the next dark building, Casimir said a silent prayer to whatever god looked out for vampires. A man who looked around Mikki's age was leaning against the alley there, wearing faded jeans that hung low on his hips. He was shirtless, showing off his lean, muscled torso but had a hat with a bill pulled down to hide his eyes.

"That looks like a rent boy to me," Mikki said before Casimir could open his mouth. He stopped and leaned Casimir against the wall again. "You look like shit, so let me talk to him."

Casimir wasn't going to argue. He watched as Mikki approached the boy; he lifted his head and stood up straighter, stretching with his arms above his head to make his muscles flex. They talked, but it was too quiet for Casimir to hear more than mumbles, and then the boy finally looked at Casimir. He blanched, and Casimir could see then that he had freckles across his nose.

Mikki turned around and headed back, the streetwalker in tow. The streetwalker's eyes grew wide as he looked at Casimir, stare fixed on his mangled shoulder.

"Hey," he said around a swallow. "I'm Treven. So, uh, your friend tells me you need some blood… You really a vampire?"

Instead of speaking, Casimir smiled wide, showing his fangs. If he were in his right mind, he would've never made such a threatening gesture.

Treven flinched but held his ground. "That's cool, but uh… I'm going to have to charge you extra for that 'cause it's pretty out there for me. You're not gonna kill me, are you?"

"No," Casimir growled. It took all of his self-control to not grab Treven and sink his fangs deep into his throat.

"I'm gonna make sure he doesn't," Mikki added.

After looking around the street—there was no one else around—Treven's eyes came back to Casimir. "Okay," he said finally, reaching into his pocket to pull out a credit reader. "You got a place you want to go or—?"

"Here's fine," Casimir interrupted, shoving a card into his hands.

"In the alley," Mikki said, with one arm on either of their wrists and pulling them in that direction. "Never know who's watching."

While Treven fumbled with the credit reader, Casimir ground his teeth. He looked at Mikki, hoping that his expression showed how far out of control he was. Mikki's brow furrowed, but he nodded slightly.

"Okay." Treven put the reader back into his pocket and held out the card. "So where—?"

Casimir grabbed him by the arm and yanked him closer, teeth immediately clamping down on his wrist. Treven let out a short shout of pain, but Casimir could barely hear it. The burst of blood that he so desperately needed flowed over his tongue, so sweet in his starvation that his legs gave out, and he collapsed to kneel on the ground, desperately sucking on the veins.

The rest of the world faded for Casimir, until the only things that existed were the wrist between his teeth and the hot liquid trickling down his throat. He had the faint sensation of a fist being driven into his shoulder, over and over, but it wasn't enough to make him stop.

A pair of hands wrapped around Casimir's throat, cutting off his air and dragging him away from the precious source of life, throwing him to sit against the opposite wall. He blindly grabbed his attacker by the shirt, but the frantic bloodlust was waning, and he could see that it was Mikki holding him.

"I'm all right," he grated through his strained windpipe. "You can let me go."

"Holy shit," Treven said, clutching his wrist. Blood was still seeping between his fingers.

"I'm sorry." With a hand on the wall, Casimir pulled himself to stand, his entire body trembling. "Here, I can close that," he said, reaching for Treven.

He jerked away, hiding his arm behind his back. "No, get the fuck away from me. Don't ever come find me again!" Keeping his back to the wall, Treven inched away from them both.

The smell of blood was still a sickening temptation, but Casimir could control himself now. "At least wrap it up so you don't bleed out. And eat something!"

After Treven slid around the end of the alley, Mikki said, "You would've killed him if I hadn't dragged you off."

The new blood in Casimir's veins turned to ice. "I… probably would have," he said, swallowing hard. "Thank you. Thank you for stopping me."

"Like I was going to watch you kill that guy in front of me," Mikki snorted. He took a hard look at Casimir, and his eyebrows rose. "Your shoulder looks better. Kinda. You got enough blood now?"

"No, but I don't feel like I'm dying." He licked his lips clean, then smiled at Mikki. "You know, you're really a good guy. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."

"No one'd believe you anyway." Mikki rolled his eyes. "But thanks. I wanna get back to the restaurant and take that food before looters do. Well, other looters, I guess."

"I'll help you." He wasn't sure how much he could carry with his shoulder like it was, but that was the least he could do for Mikki.

Casimir's shoulder was
still
a raw mass of pain by the time he returned to the inn. Pulling his shirt off, he looked at his shoulder and winced. The missing muscle had grown back, but it was exposed, the flesh still not healed. This one was going to take a few days. Groaning, he lay back on the bed.

He had to find a new place to stay tomorrow. Mikki and the people working at the Jewel Box were innocent; if Jared was feeling vindictive, they'd get hurt in the crossfire. He would leave as soon as possible. The day after tomorrow, maybe, if he could shoulder his bag again.

It was a shame. He liked Mikki, and the kind heart under his rough exterior. Casimir felt like he was just getting to see it, and now he had to leave. Maybe he could come back someday, but as long as Jared's group was here, he couldn't be in Brightgate. Sighing, Casimir lay back against the pillows.

It seemed like he had just closed his eyes when he woke up to someone pounding on the bedroom door. Groaning, he rolled onto his uninjured arm to sit up. "Who is it?" When he got no response, he forced himself to get off of the bed and crossed to the door.

Lilin was on the other side, two unfamiliar men behind her. "Aren't you going to invite me in?" she asked.

"I'm not that much of an idiot," Casimir replied. She couldn't step foot inside of his home, even a temporary one, without his word. "Are you here to fight me again?"

"If you could call that a fight," she snorted. "It depends on you. Jared invited you to dinner."

"I'm going to have to decline." He took a step back when she grabbed at him.

Lilin's exquisite face twisted with ugly anger. "You have three choices: come with me willingly, have us burn you out, or I'll find that little fucker that helped you and have
him
be dinner. Pick one."

Casimir licked his lips. He didn't want anyone getting hurt because of him. "I'll come. Just let me put a shirt on." With some difficulty, he put the same one back on. One sleeve was almost completely gone, and it was stained with blood.

As he stepped out into the hall, Lilin grasped his shoulder, grinding her thumbnail into his raw muscle. He let out a sound that was pure agony and sank to his knees, her grip keeping him in place.

"If you breathe funny, I'll make your entire body look like this," she warned, withdrawing her hand and licking her nail clean. "Clear?"

"Perfectly," Casimir said through his teeth, trying not to show his fangs at the same time. He didn't need to give her the excuse to kill him.

The two male vampires pulled him halfway to his feet, letting him hang limp between them. When they began to drag him, he said, "Lilin, I really don't plan to try and run. I can walk. And I'm just going to leave town without causing trouble."

"Why don't you tell Olivia that?" she sneered.

He hung his head. "I apologized for—"

"Shut up."

Casimir let his head drop all the lower when they dragged him past the centaur. He would definitely have to find a new place to stay tomorrow. Outside, he could see someone moving in the shadows, hidden even from his eyes. They must have had other vampires nearby, just waiting for him to try and get away. As though he could escape Lilin by running.