Bloodguilty (7 page)

They dragged him outside of town before they let him walk. Casimir could see a small stone house before him, the kind of gray rock that lasted the test of time, covered in climbing ivy. Beyond it was the lake that Inaho must have been living at; he could see the weeping willow that hung over it.

Lilin stopped the other vampires and dusted Casimir down. "You have permission to enter," she said, pulling him up the low stairs and forcing him through the front door.

The first room past the entrance was the dining room. On the very back wall, Casimir saw a glass cage that was frosted over. The snow maiden was seated on a white cot inside, her lovely face as impassive as ever. As he stepped into the room, she seemed to recognize him. He bowed his head to her, she lowered her eyelashes as she had before, but he could clearly see her looking at him when he rose.

The dining table sat before the cage, laid out with empty glasses and plates, full silverware sets at each place. No one but Jared sat in the chairs, and a single human in a red robe was chained to the table leg by his wrists. A bag was tied closed over his head.

Jared rose, and Casimir took a step back. He looked the same: of average height, with a chiseled jaw, long blond hair pulled back into a tail. Casimir had seen winter mornings a warmer blue than Jared's eyes. "There you are. It's about time you came—you're incredibly rude."

"You told me you never wanted to see me again. I took that to heart." Casimir's shoulder was throbbing in time with his increased heart rate. "I'm leaving soon. I never planned to stay."

"I heard you're a hunter," Jared continued, clearly ignoring him. "That's disgusting. Killing humans not exciting enough for you now?"

Casimir looked away. "I don't kill humans. And I'm not a hunter. I only kill the vampires you send after me."

"You don't kill humans
now
, you mean. That's real big of you. Too bad that doesn't help Olivia," Jared sneered, baring his fangs.

"I've apologized. I left. I never killed another human. I don't know what else I can do to pay penance." He lifted his head. "And from what I understand, one of your brood almost killed one of the boys at the Jewel Box."

"That's different." He dismissed the words with a flick of his wrist. "They're just food. They're not pets. We don't kill pets." As he spoke, Jared ran a hand over the human's covered head. He jerked, chains rattling. "Sit down. You're going to have dinner with me."

"I don't—" Casimir cut himself off with a yelp as Lilin grabbed his shoulder, forcing him to sit in the nearest chair.

"Thank you, love," Jared told her. "Now, Casimir. We're going to talk about your new pet."

"What pet?" he hissed, body slumping when she finally let him go.

"That boy that almost set Lilin on fire. I want him. You owe me one for Olivia."

"He's not mine!" Casimir forced himself to sit up straighter. "Even if he was, I wouldn't let you have him. I know what you would do to him."

Jared bared his fangs. "I figured you would say that. Pick up your glass, Casimir, and we'll fill it for you."

Reluctantly, he lifted the heavy crystal goblet and held it up to be filled. "I wouldn't ever bring someone to you to be—"

This time, he was cut off by the keen sensation of a blade across his throat.

Gasping, Casimir clutched his throat, trying to hold back the wetness that was gushing between his fingers. Lilin pulled one of his hands away and held the glass up under his neck to fill it.

"Did you think I would let you just come back to
my
city without punishment?!" Jared was shouting so loudly that his voice rang off of the bare walls. "You bastard. You murderer! You'll bleed out, just like she did!"

The world was going black around the edges. It would take Casimir longer than a human to die like this, but he
would
die, once he was out of blood. Swaying, he fell to the ground and tried to crawl.

Lilin grabbed him by the back of the shirt and lifted him completely off the floor. Without ceremony, she carried him out the door, to the lake, and dropped him on its shore. Kicking him, she forced him to roll onto his back, and threw the goblet of blood into his face. "Enjoy your dinner."

Desperately, Casimir licked at his own blood, trying to get any of it back inside of him. Barely any of it landed in his mouth, but it was just enough to close the hole she had made. It didn't matter—he had lost too much overall and couldn't move. If he could crawl to Inaho's den, maybe she would help. He dug his fingers into the dirt to pull himself forward, then stopped, his near-empty veins icing.

One of the flesh monsters was coming towards him. Slowly, it rolled across the surface of the lake, its mass catching a fish as it leapt clear of the water. Before Casimir's horrified eyes, the creature absorbed it, meat, innards, and even bones melting away inside of it until there was nothing left.

Letting out an airless groan, he groped for his pockets, but he didn't feel a match. If he could get under the water, maybe… But it was already too close, and traveling closer with every desperate, fading heartbeat. Casimir shoved his toes against the ground and pushed as hard as he could, rolling away.

The world went black, and he found himself suddenly looking at the sky. The wet, squelching sound of the flesh ball was just behind his head, and he didn't have the strength to roll away again. Desperately, he looked around, trying to find anything that would buy him more time.

A flash of light nearly blinded him, and he weakly threw an arm over his eyes to block it out. A pair of hands closed around one of his ankles, dragging him through cold mud and tall grass, and when he stopped moving, he let his arm fall away. By the light of the burning creature, he could see Mikki kneeling over him.

"Holy shit, you're covered in blood!" he whispered. "Is it yours?"

Casimir tried to say that it was, but his vocal chords were too damaged to make a sound. He made a gesture for Mikki to leave before he got caught here.

"Good thing I followed you," he muttered, pulling the knife from his belt. He hesitated, then slashed his palm open, pressing his hand against Casimir's open mouth.

Desperately, Casimir licked away the taste of metal, hands clamping around his wrist with all of his remaining strength. It took everything in him not to bite, but to run his tongue over and over the slash, until some of the pain in his throat receded, and he could speak.

"We need to go," he croaked. "They'll find us soon." With Mikki's help, Casimir stood, leaning heavily against his thin frame. He was dragged back into town but forced Mikki to stop at the restaurant they'd eaten at just hours before. "I need to rest."

Mikki kicked the door open—the place had been trashed while they were gone, tables overturned if they weren't outright missing, the front window shattered, with scattered flatware on the floor. He turned a chair right side-up and pushed Casimir down, sitting on the table beside him. "Are you gonna make it?"

"I don't know," he admitted. "I need blood. I need a lot of it."

"So I don't have time to go out and get you a hooker." Mikki scowled and then took off his turtleneck. "All right, get it over with."

Casimir gazed at him, uncomprehending. Curious, he looked at the scarring on Mikki's chest; a half-circle under either pec of ragged lines with thick, raised scar tissue near his nipples. It must have been from where his breasts were removed. Whoever had done the surgery was a butcher.

"Stop staring and just bite me, all right?" Mikki demanded, sounding more uncomfortable than annoyed.

Casimir swallowed hard. "I'm afraid if I do that I won't be able to stop. I… accidentally killed someone before when I was starving. I didn't mean to. But I was badly injured, and she offered her blood to me, and I…"

"So that's why the other vampires are pissed off at you. You did something stupid, but you didn't do it on purpose." Mikki twirled his knife between his long fingers. "Remember, you didn't think you could stop yourself before, and you did. Same thing goes: if you take too much, I'll stab you."

Casimir licked his lips; they were sticky with drying blood. "It would be easier if you sat on my lap."

Jumping off the table, Mikki did just that, legs sprawling off to one side. He hooked an arm around Casimir's neck and held a knife in his other hand, head turned to bare his neck.

He rarely went for the neck. It was so dangerous, with thin skin and thick veins, but the blood would come quicker. Casimir was shaking as he put a steadying hand over Mikki's heart, to keep himself conscious of the beat, and sank his fangs in.

Mikki gave a strangled cry, gripping a tight handful of Casimir's thick hair. "Fuck," he gasped, feet sliding noisily against the floor.

Casimir could barely hear it. The hot rush was as sweet as an orgasm, and he wrapped his other arm around Mikki to hold him close, rocking him as he sucked harder at the vein. He knew by now the narcotic in his bite would turn the pain to something closer to pleasure; he felt Mikki switch the knife from hand to hand.

Gasping, Mikki had a hand between his thighs, rubbing himself through his jeans. He started when Casimir fumbled for his zipper, grabbing at Casimir's wrist. "Don't finger me," Mikki grated. "I don't like anything in there."

Forcing himself away from the bite, Casimir pulled Mikki's jeans open and worked a hand inside. He could feel the hard press of Mikki's clit, wet and aching against his fingers, longer and thicker than a woman would have felt. He rubbed a thumb against the head and was rewarded with a groan, so he drew a slow circle around it. All the while, he licked away the trickles of red, his mind finally feeling clear.

Mikki's dark eyes closed. "Stop teasing and just jack me off," he demanded, turning his head to look at Casimir. Before he could receive a response, Mikki tentatively kissed him.

Casimir was even more careful with mouth against mouth, mindful of his fangs, of Mikki's tongue as the kiss grew deeper. He could still taste copper between them, but he was more focused on the hardness under his fingers, on working them fast, faster, listening to Mikki's breathing rise.

It was Mikki who did the biting when he came. His teeth sank into Casimir's lip, just enough to not draw more precious blood, as he bucked his hips against Casimir's hand. He pulled Casimir's hair, twining it around his fingers, before he collapsed, panting, in Casimir's arms.

While Mikki caught his breath, Casimir licked the wound closed and stroked his dark hair. He was still hungry, but there wasn't enough blood in Mikki's body to fill him. What he'd taken would keep him alive for the moment, and he didn't want to bite Mikki again—the idea felt wrong after that kiss.

Finally, Mikki pushed his hand away, doing up his jeans and getting to his feet. His knees wobbled. "Get enough?"

"I'll need more very soon, but I'll survive for now. Thank you." Casimir forced himself to stand. "I'm going to need somewhere else to stay, too."

"I'll see about that. You can go back there right now, can't you?"

Casimir tongued one of his fangs thoughtfully. "I suppose I need to get my things, yes. Why do you ask?"

"Because I heard some of that conversation with the other monsters—with those vampires, I mean. I wanna hear the story about Olivia," Mikki said with a pointed glare.

"All right," Casimir said reluctantly. "Help me get there, and while I pack, I'll tell you what happened with her."

The centaur wasn't going to let Casimir back up to his room. He snorted and stamped, bellowing that he'd seen what had happened, and that he didn't want that trouble in
his
hotel. It was Mikki that convinced him by saying, "Don't be such a horse dick. He's just getting his shit and leaving."

Apparently, that was reasonable enough, and the centaur stood aside. "You have one hour, or I'm coming after you."

"Can horses climb stairs?" Mikki asked as they headed up to Casimir's room.

"I'd really rather not find out," was his grunted response. His body was fraying. Casimir just wanted to drop onto the bed, but he knew if he did, if he wasn't thrown out and did manage to sleep, he would wake starving to the point of desperation. He sat on the end of the bed instead, trying to ignore the burning pain in his throat and shoulder. "I don't have much to pack. I just need to grab my bag and the clothes on the floor."

Instead of picking up either, Mikki pulled himself up to the open window and sat on the sill. "So, Olivia," he prompted.

Casimir closed his eyes. "Why are you so curious about her?"

"Look, just because I let you play with my junk, it doesn't mean we're best friends." Mikki crossed his long legs. "I want to make sure you're the kind of guy I think you are."

Sighing, Casimir lay back against the bed, letting his tired body rest for a moment. "Olivia was a human pet of Jared's, but she was more than that, really. I told you we were lovers, but I think he loved her more. He was planning on turning her as soon as she got a little older. She was only eighteen, the brain is still developing, all of that."

Mikki pursed his lips but only nodded.

"Anyway, there was a group of hunters in the area, and they ambushed us. I got away—I mean, of course I did—and managed to crawl back. I was bleeding out almost to the point of being empty, out of my mind from it. Olivia told me to feed from her." He closed his eyes. "She was always nice. So I took her up on it, and the next thing I knew… she was dead in my arms."

He exhaled heavily. "I tried to explain what happened to her, and apologized, but he didn't listen. He accused me of being jealous, of doing it deliberately. Maybe I was a little jealous, but like I said, it was an accident. She was sweet. I never would have hurt her. He told me to leave or he'd kill me. And I did, but other vampires have been turning up wherever I go. I have to kill them, or they'll kill me."

"So, what? You came here to wipe them all out?" Mikki asked.

"No, nothing like that. I don't think I could even if I wanted to. They weren't here the last time I came through, but the last one that jumped me said that Jared wanted to talk to me. When he sent his mate after me, though, I knew he didn't have anything good to say. Lilin is the muscle behind his group. So I decided to just leave, but Jared isn't going to let me."