The Final Messenger

32. Bloodlust

If she didn't know any better, she'd say servicing a vampire and getting her face sit on was her life's purpose. But Adria wouldn't take kindly to that, would she?

It seems like almost knocking her out with an orgasm didn't dull her hunger for Niryn's blood. If anything, it awakened it even more.

Niryn stumbles when the other girl forces her chest back to the wall. Her eyes were stirring with the red of wild cherries and blood. There's something feral and primordial about them. This time, Niryn knows what that change in hue means, watching those eyes darken as saliva travels down her throat.

Adria's fangs reveal themselves, unable to keep them closed in her mouth. Milk-white and serrated like a knife's edge, Niryn's breath hitches when they draw near her neck.

"Are you sure?" Adria murmurs. Niryn pauses, then nods. "Stop me when I go too far. Push me, kick me, do whatever you need to. Okay?"

Niryn nods again. So she waits, holding her breath for the first incision between skin and teeth.

But Adria licks her. She lowers her tongue to that sweet spot between her neck and collarbone, and licks again. Niryn shudders. It's like she was slowly savouring her meal before feasting. It was also strangely arousing, the heat of her tongue a welcome distraction from what was coming next.

Then she bites. Niryn hissed. Hard. Tears were forming and she was distantly aware that someone was howling. A hot trickle buds down her neck. Her fangs went deeper than anything she had experienced before. It was tearing her from the inside out, devouring her, greedily sinking deeper and deeper and deeper until —

Niryn laid a hand on Adria's chest. She barely had the strength, it was being sapped out of her through the bite. Adria still kept going a little while, sinking so deep until her normal teeth broke the skin of Niryn's flesh.

But the moment she realised what was happening, Adria flinched and put a hand over her dripping mouth.

"I'm sorry, oh god. I'm sorry!"

Niryn was slumped on the floor. The carpet stained wine-dark, a small pool around her body. That's going to take some explaining, she thinks. Stars swirl around in her vision, creating mini milky ways that swallow everything until her mind completely, utterly blanks.

•••

Adria hushes her, coaxing her to drink water. But Niryn spits it out, the taste of water corroding her tongue.

"Elskan mín, I'm so sorry." Adria sounds close to crying.

"I think I'd rather taste your mouth than this."

Adria lets out a small scoff in the back of her throat and rubs at her eyes.

"You could have died."

Wouldn't that be a way to go.

Niryn tilts her jaw as if to lap up kisses. Adria sleepily opens her eyes and responds in kind, closing their lips together. They drink in each other, the kiss loose and languid. She can feel Adria's tears against her own cheeks, making the sweetness of the kiss diluted with salt.

It startles her, the way Niryn can feel the other chest's heartbeat. Every single sense is so much more heightened. She can make out the outline of every single object in the dark, smell the autumn air whispering through their window, the way leaves rustle and both their hearts leap at the same time. More than that, Niryn can smell the blood stirring through Adria's veins.

There's just the faintest, tiniest desire to taste it. Is this how you feel all the time? Niryn wonders. Except Adria's urge is probably a hundred times stronger. It scares her to think I'd like to taste you all over again.

Honestly, she did not think about the fact that she had to feed on someone after getting "turned." All she had on her mind was that she could live together with her lover and brother forever.

Now that the desire is laying lambent, flickering louder and louder each passing minute, she's not sure what to do next.

Of course, she could feed on herself like Adria. But how long can she keep that up? Not to mention biting herself isn't the most appealing idea.

Adria's eyes have not lost their redness just yet. She still seems drunk, lost in a haze from the high of having just feasted on real human blood for the very first time. She looks at Niryn with a dazed smile, and butts her head against her chest with a giggle.

"What are you thinking, sæta?" Adria asks.

"Nothing. I just... Lydia told me once that Theridion fed on other vampires. Do you think that's possible?"

"Oh? I don't know about that. I've never felt hungry for vampire blood, only you," she hangs on every last word, voice tilting up and down like a child.

"I'm serious," Niryn says with a sigh, and lightly pushes Adria back from bumping into her chest again. "I need to feed on something other than other people and myself."

"Why don't you feed on our kind then? Like that bad man?"

Like that bad man.

"I mean," Adria giggles again. "Why not? There's a lot of us. Maybe I can help too. We can take down all the monsters in the world."

That's... not a bad idea. It's better than feeding on human blood at least, better than letting all those bastards feast too.

A strange thought comes to her.

Niryn stands up, hands fumbling around the desk. She can feel Adria's curious stare burying itself on her back, but she needs to find it.

Ah-ha! Not exactly the cleanest or smallest of sharp objects, but it is something. A pen. Just sharp enough to prick a finger.

"Adria, I want you to do something," she says. "I want you to try my blood now."

That shocks Adria awake out of her drunken state.

"What? I'm not doing that. I almost bled you to death only one hour ago. I can't."

"Try, I need to know what vampire blood tastes like."

"Then taste me yourself," Adria whips back, trying to keep her balance but failing.

"Is it safe? I haven't even grown fangs yet."

"It's safer than letting me feed on you again. I can't. I will never, ever do that again. You almost died," she repeats, voice breaking.

"Okay, uh. Shit. Never mind, we can try some other day. For now, let's just sleep. It looks like we both need it."

Niryn walks up to her and gently takes her hand, thumb stroking it. Adria's shoulders relax like she's melting. When Niryn gives the slightest of pulls, Adria follows into bed with her. They curl up together, with Niryn's jaw resting on her head. When she lapses into sleep, all she can think about is how she's lucky vampires can't see themselves in reflections.

She does not want to know what she looks like in the morning.