Immortal Lovers {Run 2}

3. Blood-thirsty

"Come on, Kayla," I begged, pacing up and down the nursery lit dimly by Kayla's night light as the little girl screamed in my hold. "Please, stop crying."

Harry burst into the room, his eyelids hooded and his face pale with exhaustion. He thrust a cup at me, but as I tried to put it to Kayla's lips, she turned her head away and screamed as loud as her lungs would allow. I sighed as Harry leaned against the wall and sunk to the floor, holding his head in his hands.

"She doesn't want milk," I said over our daughter's cries.

Harry looked up at me. "Well what does she want?"

I sighed, hoping that it would never come to this, but she had been refusing milk for a few days now. The doctors couldn't work it out, but eventually it dawned on me. "She wants blood."

"She can't," Harry said. "We don't have any."

"Well we're going to have to get it from somewhere," I replied, glancing down at Kayla. She was bright red, her eyes scrunched closed and her fists in tiny balls. "She won't stop crying until we give her some."

"And how do you propose we get this blood then?" Harry snapped. "We swore off of the stuff."

"That doesn't matter anymore," I said. "We need to get some."

Harry scrambled up to his feet. "No, Rosie. We've spent too long gaining our control to go out and hunt again like we used to. It will only get us addicted. Try the milk again. She may change her mind."

I took a step closer to Harry, still rocking our child in my arms which did little to calm her. "She's a vampire, Harry," I said through gritted teeth. "She's too young to have the control we do. And that means we have to make sacrifices. If that means hunting again then so be it."

My husband shook his head vigorously and backed away to the door. "I won't do it, Rosie. I can't."

"Yes, you can," I argued. "You have the control. I know you do. I've been training you long enough. I believe in you."

The man sighed and leaned up against the doorframe. His eyes fell closed and with a scrunched-up face similar to Kayla's he began muttering to himself. He was preparing himself to hunt again.

By the time he opened his eyes, I was stood in front of him with Kayla pressed to my shoulder as I rubbed her back. I smiled up at the man I married and with my spare hand I softly stroked his cheek. "You're ready, Harry."

His tense face softened and he leaned slightly into my touch. "If it means we can get some sleep, I'll do it."

I let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you."

He leaned down to leave a kiss to my lips before disappearing out of the room and down the stairs. As soon as I heard the front door slam shut, I sat down in the rocking chair placed in the corner of the nursery and rocked Kayla as she continued screaming.

*****

Sunlight began to seep through the curtains of the room by the time the front door slammed shut again. I had been drifting in and out of sleep with Kayla pressed against my chest. She had cried herself into exhaustion and finally crashed in my arms. I blinked rapidly at the invading light in the room when I saw a tall figure at the door. His chest was heaving and his fists clenched. I could hear the sharp breaths being forced through his gritted teeth and I instinctively clutched onto Kayla to protect her from anything harmful, but when the figure collapsed to its knees, I knew he was weak.

With Kayla still in my arms, I used my speed to fall to my knees in front of Harry and grip his shoulder to stop him from falling to the ground. I took in his weak form and saw the blood around his mouth and down his chin. The familiar tingle began to bubble up under my skin, but I quickly forced it back down again.