C4 First Bite

I sat uncomfortable in the warm water, hugging my knees to my chest as they soaked every strand of my hair and dribbled water down my naked back. And when I was clean, they dried her and dressed me in a slim red silk dress.

“We only use red,” one of the girls explained. “Otherwise everything just stains.”

My heart stuttered. I would find no comfort from these girls, and the thought of losing my blood the same way the needle had taken to my veins was a chilling concept. I felt sick, and yet famished, having not eaten since the moment we left Nightcrest.

You just have to get through this part, I told myself. Then you’ll be a permanent resident here. You can find Mom.

I took a deep breath as one of the women led me down the hall by the hand. The palace felt much like a fancy hotel, dozens of doors on either side of a long and lonely hallway. An elevator sat at the end and we climbed inside, where they were lifted up so many stories, I wondered if the ride would ever end.

When the elevator doors opened again, there was only one room to enter in the short hallway before us. The consort knocked one time and gently pushed the doors open.

“Go on,” she whispered, and gave me a small nudge.

I stepped inside, my knees feeling weak beneath me. The door closed behind me, swallowing me into the darkness. Then a single match was struck and lit on the wick of a candle. The prince stood in the shadows, using the candle to light another and another.

“My apologies for the darkness,” he said, in that low and uncaring voice of his. “I seem to have a bit of a headache.”

The prince stood before a large, round bed, the silken sheets half-fallen off and soft piano music coming from speakers on the walls behind it.

“Come closer,” he said.

I crept closer, uneasy by the flickering, flowing shadows of the room. I could smell roses somewhere nearby, but as I sought them in the darkness, the prince placed a finger beneath my chin and tilted it up. I was flustered and unprepared for what would happen next, as he dropped a pill into my mouth and placed a thumb over my lips to keep her from spitting it out.

“Swallow,” he said, taking a small bottle of water from his nightstand. As he lifted the mouth to my lips, I turned my head away, keeping the pill tucked in her cheek.

“What is it…?”

“Swallow.” He forced the water into her mouth and I choked down the pill unexpectedly. I tore away, coughing and wiping the wet from my face.

Something instinctual sparked alive within me. What had he just given me? Had I been drugged?

“What was that?” I asked, my voice coarse from coughing.

“They teach you everything in that school. Everything but how to address royalty,” the prince said. He began adjusting his sleeves at he cuffs. “I’ll begin with this: You work for me now. Do not question me.”

He moved closer. I drew out the tiny blade I had smuggled into bra, holding it discreetly in my fist. There was something about the look in his eyes that made my heart rear. I knew what a starved vampire looked like. I knew how quickly they could move once their instincts kicked in. How deadly they could be.

His eyes flickered to my hand and back to my face. “Are you planning on stabbing me?” he said. There was a look of amusement on his face—a slight grin in his smile. “What a first this is.”

I froze there, my stance stiff, the blade at my side. “I’m not exactly experienced in the art if…being bitten,” I muttered back at him.

The prince stepped closer. “You can make it easy. Painless. Or I can take it from you as I’ve done many times before, halfbreed.”

I hesitated. Both options sounded terrible.

“I see,” said the prince.

I knew too well the way vampires could strike like a viper: faster than the human eye could move. But I had not expected the sheer speed of him as the prince advanced. I was shoved, my back hitting the silk sheets, and he was atop me, the little blade held to his throat. I trembled beneath him, not because I was afraid of what he was capable of, but because he was the prince. He was the prince and I was holding a knife to his jugular.

“So what is your plan? Are you going to kill me?” he said above me, his eyes a glinting, glacier blue in the night. I knew that if I tried, I would be killed for my actions. If the prince didn’t do it himself, the palace would.

“Why me?” I asked, not lowering her blade. “You could have chosen anyone—you could have sent someone across the street to purchase a bloodbag for you. Why do you need me?”

The prince touched my neck. I flinched and the blade went tight against his throat. “When you bite a normal being, they either die or they turn. Humans are in short supply ever since they became protected citizens of Silvercity. Factory blood…” I shivered as his nail slid down the side of her neck. “It tastes like sewage. No nutrients. I’d rather drink from the neck of a cow.”

“Then why can’t you do that?” I asked. I knew sooner than later I would have to remove my blade, but I left it there. My hand trembled. “I wanted to become a Vanguard. I never wanted…this.”

“Do you have any idea how lucky you are?” asked the prince. He didn’t seem to fear my blade, rather he spoke against it, the vibrations surely digging the knife further into his flesh. “A room in the wealthiest palace, in the greatest city on Earth. You’ll be protected here. You’ll live in luxury. Are you sure you want to give that up because you’re afraid of a little bite? Where will you get another opportunity like this? Especially as a Daywalker.”

I still did not withdraw my blade. He was right. If I couldn’t make it into the Vanguards, I had very little hope for a future. Half-breeds had a difficult time amalgamating into human society, and there was little place for them among vampires. Most ended up homeless, shacked up in small villages on the outskirts of the city. How would I make a living? How would I find her mother? I cleared her throat. “What about a proposition?”

This sparked somewhat of a laugh from the prince. The length of his canine teeth broke through, sharp and frightening. “A proposition with the prince?”

I swallowed and gently relaxed the blade. “You may have my arm. But leave my neck be.”

“Do you know how long it takes to feed that way?” said the prince. “I think you’re forgetting who I am. For someone like me to drink from the blood of a wrist—”

“Then, I’m sure you can find someone else.”

The vibrant blue of the prince’s eyes faded suddenly. He read my expression, seeking weakness where there was none. Something about the way he looked said no. I can’t find someone else.

“Fine,” the prince whispered. “But feedings will last far longer that way. It won’t be as pleasant for you.”

“And no sex,” I added as the prince lifted off of me.

“I told you, I don’t need you for that purpose.”

“Your consorts disagree.”

“As of late, my consorts have no duty in this palace apart from looking pretty. Don’t listen to them.” He reached for my wrist, and as he did, I jerked away.

“No,” I said. “Kneel on the ground. I want you as far from my neck as possible.”

The prince scoffed again. I knew that how outlandish it sounded to make demands of the most powerful vampire in the country, but for some reason—whatever reason—he seemed to need me far more than I needed him. He glanced around, and when he was sure no one was nearby, the prince knelt. “How demeaning,” he grumbled. “Tell no one of this.”

“I won’t,” I said. I offered my arm and nervously asked, “Will it hurt?”

The prince stared down at my pale flesh—the blue veins stretching like a forest up my arm. He traced them with his fingers—long nails scraping her skin. “Me more than you,” he said quietly. “It’s been far too long since I…broke fast on blood like yours.”

My heart beat nervously in my chest. I curled my fingers into a fist. “Just get it over with. Quickly.”

The prince’s eyes flashed up to my face, blue as the veins in my wrist. Then he leaned in and sunk his teeth into my arm.