Blood Lust

Chapter 5

Hey readers!. So, back in July, I decided I was going to work simultaneously on Blood Lust and editing Dragon Blood. I had a schedule, and I didn't really have a direction with Blood Lust so that monthly timeline would give me plenty of time to figure things out.

That plan has gone to shit and back. I got hired at a new hospital, there are staffing shortages so I'm working overtime, the fourth wave hit, the election happened here in Canada, and now my province is hopefully firing it's premier.

So here's the new plan. I'm taking a break from Dragon Blood. I'm not giving up on it, I plan on editing it fully and making it more cohesive and better. But I'm getting way more invested into Blood Lust now, and I guess I can only work on one project at a time. So Dragon Blood is going on the back burner for now, and the release schedule for Blood Lust is being moved up to weekly. Every Wednesday around 6:30 am MST (ish). 

I'm really excited for you guys to keep reading, I'm sorry that I have to make this compromise, but I don't want to burn out on writing as a whole.

So enjoy Chapter 5 and don't forget to vote and comment!

~

Danika collapsed on her backside and tried to take deep, steadying breaths while her heart slammed against her chest. She hadn't had to work this hard since she was human. Actually, she wasn't sure if she ever had to work this hard.

Her fellow trainees weren't doing much better. Three others had collapsed before her, and the one remaining was only still on his feet because he was leaning over a low stone wall and puking from the intense training. "Corporal Greene!" their lieutenant barked, looking at the male on the wall with a curled lip. "That was pathetic!"

"I'm sorry, lieu-"

"Just look at Corporal Volkov! He didn't have the advantage of the wall, and he still managed to blow chunks a full three feet!" Greene heaved again, and the lieutenant nodded approvingly. "That's better! I want to see a better effort from all of you!"

Danika and the others started to laugh. The effort, the motion against her stomach, and the stench reaching her sensitive nose and very quickly became too much for her to handle. She rolled to her knees and vomited, managing to set a new record for the group at four feet.

Military life. It wasn't for everyone.

In a matter of minutes, the group was back on their feet and running sprints again. Not regular sprints done on a human level, but the type of sprints that used their magic and superior strength to practically teleport the distances.

It was one of those things that movies and television always got wrong about vampires. Yes, they could run faster and longer than humans, but using that level of magic that many times in a row took a lot of time and a lot of blood to do more than two or three times in a row. So soldiers in the Royal Vampiric Special Forces needed to be able to perform the action as many times as they needed to get the job done, and they couldn't risk collapsing from exhaustion in the middle of a situation that would otherwise get them killed.

Time for training, they had. Blood, however, was an issue. Every vampire in Europe was on rations, and the military was no different. If anything, since her promotion to corporal and the move two weeks ago, Danika was getting even less than she used to. A gnawing ache of hunger had become a persistent distraction in her life.

Was this what Kate had been feeling for five years? How did she do it?

Distracted by her hunger and oldest friend, Danika stumbled and slammed into the low wall. Her momentum forced her to do an awkward front flip midair before landing hard on her face. The rest of her group was laughing, and she felt the heat of embarrassment crawl up her face. They were never going to let her live that one down.