Court of blood and fangs

26

After I laid him down on the bed I opened up his tunic to inspect his chest in case of any wounds. I raised a brow when I found his torso scattered with scars all shape and sizes.

When I found no open wounds I looked at his face; his lip was bleeding, his nose too and there was a cut across his eyebrow.

I stared at the blood producing from his busted lip, leaning down I pressed one of my fingers to his lip before pulling back and popping my finger in my mouth where I let my tongue swirl over the nub. Sweet deliciousness coated my taste buds, blooming in my mouth, making my eyes widen.

It was even better than Genevieve's gift. In a quick moment I dipped my head, licking his neck before baring my fangs. I paused suddenly, my fangs brushing against his skin. It took everything I had in me to pull back and step away from him.

"No," I said to myself.

If I did drink his blood I might not stop and I needed to make it to Lagos quickly, I wouldn't be able to do that without him.

I left the carriage using my unnatural speed, running into the woods to find a river to bathe in. I sighed to myself when I found a wide river with a soft flow, the moonlight shining down on the water.

I stripped, standing in the cool air for a few moments before I dived into the cold liquid. I looked around in the dark pool, turning rocks up causing little fish to scatter away. I turned over a larger rock and snapped my hand out into the darkness, digging my long nails into the slimy skin or the eel.

I pushed off of the bottom of the river and came up above the water, putting the eel on the bank and ripping it's head off.

I frowned at the slime on my hand. I pushed away from the bank and floats in the water in content, washing myself and ridding me from the sweat and dirt on me.

When I returned to the carriage Lorcan was still unconscious, mumbling things in his sleep like he usually did. It didn't look like he would be in a very good state to drive in the morning so I would have to close as much ground as I possibly could until dawn.

I didn't pay much mind to Lorcan, instead I gathered the horses again and rigged them up to the carriage again before making myself comfortable on the front and urging them into a trot.

•••

When dawn came I had made sure to park us up in a small clearing. Retiring to the safety of the carriage, I sat at the desk that was nailed down to the floor, taking a look at the map that was pinned to the desk.

"Celeste?"

"Who else would it be," I said dryly, not bothering to turn around to look at Lorcan.

"Yep, it's definitely you," he murmerd to himself.

"Your quite full of yourself when your drunk you know."

He groaned, "What did I do?" I turned around in my chair and watched as he winced as he touched his busted lip.

"I believe you could guess."

"So how did I get here?"

"Me," I answered, standing up and grabbing a cloth before wetting it and chucking it at Lorcan who caught it with one hand.

"All by yourself!"

"Im not as weak as look."

He wiped at the dried blood on his nose, "Where are we now? I swear the carriage was moving just before."

I nodded. "Ive made camp in a small clearing."

"Shouldnt we keep going?"

"Well, it's your job to drive in the day."