Chapter 5
The cab pulled up in front of the brick building where Donnell had lived for the last five years. Kieran hopped out and pulled his bags out of the cab, already having learned that trying to help Donnell out was a no-no. he looked the place over. It was at least a hundred years old, and had graceful lines and white stone facing around the doors and windows. “Hmm, I like this,” Kieran remarked to him as he came around to join the mage on the sidewalk.
“So do I,” Donnell admitted. “I’ll be sad when I have to move again.”
Kieran nodded. “It sucks when you have to leave a place you like because people are starting to notice that you don’t age,” he said sympathetically. “I’ve had to do that at least five times now. Bet you’ve had to do it a lot more than I have, huh?”
“Many times, yes,” Donnell agreed. “It gets very old very fast.”
“Anyway, show me your place. We‘ll get your tree set up,” Kieran remarked.
Donnell shook his head but led the way into his building, choosing to take the stairs as he always did. He never got winded, and he didn’t like small spaces. Kieran had enough energy that he easily kept up with Donnell as they made their way to the third floor where his apartment was. He produced his key and opened the door, handling the awkward bags over his arms deftly.
His apartment wasn’t big, but it was warm and well furnished. Donnell had collected many antiques over the years(although they hadn’t been antiques when he’d first bought them), and they sat on the polished wood floor on top of an Aubusson rug that had been a favorite of his since he’d first purchased it in London almost two hundred years ago. He heard Kieran take in a long breath. “Wow, this place is wonderful!” the mage exclaimed. “Somehow I thought you’d have a cave full of dark furniture - with blood red walls,” he said with a grin.
Donnell sighed but said nothing as he led the way into his living room. Kieran stopped in front of a side table full of carving. “This will be a perfect place to put your tree,” he enthused, running his long fingers over the smooth surface of the top. He turned around to retrieve the wire Christmas tree, carefully setting it on top of the table. “There!” he remarked in satisfaction. “Doesn’t that look great?”
Donnell lifted a brow. “It looks well enough,” he conceded.
Kieran nodded. “Let’s get it plugged in so we can see the lights,” he said happily. He produced the cord. “Is there a plug anywhere nearby?”
Donnell came over to point to a plug near the baseboard behind the table. Kieran stretched down and plugged in the little Christmas tree. Instantly all of the tiny lights began to twinkle red, green, gold, and white. “Ah!” he sighed, straightening up. “isn’t that pretty?”
Donnell had to admit that the little tree did look very pretty on his table, the star on top of it a soft mellow golden light. “I’ll have to get you some gifts so that you can set them around it,” Kieran remarked to him.
“You needn’t do that,” Donnell told him, faintly exasperated.
He grinned. “Of course I need to. You’re my friend. Its Christmas,” Kieran pointed out. “We’re going to celebrate the holidays in style this year. The whole shebang. You’ll love egg nog,” he added, his grin widening.
The vampire just stared at him, wondering what he’d gotten himself into. He had the sneaking suspicion that Kieran meant to see that he had a Merry Christmas will he or nil he, and that all he could do was go along for the ride. The wild, crazy ride.
Donnell opened his front door to see Kieran standing there grinning at him in greeting. The mage was carrying a bag slung over his shoulder, and he was dressed just as wildly as he had been yesterday. He wore another skirt, along with a green Christmas sweater that had a cavorting Rudolph on the front. A length of patterned cloth was acting as his belt today, and the ends of it were trimmed with glittering beads. A sprig of what looked like mistletoe was tied up in his long hair. “Morning, Donnell!” he chirped. “Can I come in?”
The vampire scowled at him as he stepped back. “Would it stop you if I said ‘no’?” he demanded sourly.
Kieran considered this question as he stepped lightly past Donnell into the apartment. “Maybe,” he replied at last. “But I’d do my best to change your mind,” he continued cheerfully.
Donnell rolled his eyes. “As you say. What now? Do we go and see Santa? Shall I sit on his lap and ask him for toys?”
Kieran chuckled. “That would be adorable,” he mused. “But no. I thought maybe we could just hang out here today. With that in mind, I brought a bunch of stuff,” he removed the bag from his shoulder and held it up triumphantly.
Donnell looked at the bag warily. Kieran opened it and reached inside. To his amazement, the mage began to pull an amazing number of things from the not-very-large bag. This included all kinds of foodstuffs, Christmas decorations, wrapped presents(all of them small enough to go around the little tree on the side table), DVDs, a laptop computer…
“Just how large is that bag?” the vampire exclaimed at last.
Kieran paused in retrieving things from it to glance up at him. “It's as large on the inside as I want it to be,” he explained. “Like Mary Poppins’ carpet bag. It's magic,” he went on.
“I see.” Donnell watched as Kieran finished pulling things from the bag, then set it on the floor. He scooped up the presents and took them over to arrange them around the little tree.
“I bought a whole bunch of gifts last night,” he said over his shoulder. “It was great fun, trying to find things that you’d like.”
Donnell’s brows lowered. “I never asked you for gifts,” he pointed out acerbically.
“Yep, I know. But you never asked me to hang out with you, either; and that didn’t stop me,” Kieran pointed out happily.
The vampire sighed sharply. His new friend was very irritating in many ways. Kieran laughed and finished putting the presents around the base of the tree. “That looks great,” he said, stepping back. He directed a pleased look at the little stack of gifts, then turned around to meet Donnell’s eyes. “Don’t you think so?”
Donnell shrugged. “if you think so, then it must be so,” he said indifferently.
Kieran mock-pouted at him. “Killjoy,” he teased. “Anyway, you can’t bring me down. I’m having too much fun. Hey, I brought lots of food with me. I thought you could try some of it if you wanted. But if you don’t, I’ll eat it all myself. It takes a lot of food to keep me going. Partially because my magic needs tons of fuel. Anyway, I left breakfast until I came over. Do you want to try a cinnamon bun?” he asked in a wheedle.
Donnell shook his head. “It's too early to lick your buns, Kieran,” he replied in exasperation.
The mage stared at him, then burst out laughing. He doubled over, helpless in his mirth. “Oh, God!” he chortled, wiping at his eyes. “Man, Donnell, that was funny! See, I knew you had a great sense of humor somewhere under that morose facade!”
The vampire gave him a haughty look. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said coolly.
Kieran grinned. “Sure,” he said easily. “Anyway, I’m going to eat even if you don’t want any. I’m starving.” he picked up a Styrofoam take-out container from the table and snagged a little package of plastic utensils as well.
The mage looked at him. “Can I sit on your couch? Or do you have a kitchen table I can eat at?”
Actually, he didn’t. Donnell seldom went into his kitchen, and all of his cupboards as well as the refrigerator were totally bare. What use would a vampire have for a kitchen table? “You may sit on the couch,” he said grudgingly.
“Thanks,” Kieran went on plopped his long form down on the couch, stretching out his legs as he opened the container. “Mmm, scrambled eggs, sausage, and hash browns,” he said. “With wheat toast. My favorite breakfast. There’s this little restaurant near my place that has great breakfasts. I don’t cook much for myself - I’m not very good at it. I’d be dining on burned stuff all the time if I didn’t eat out. I bet it’s a lot simpler for you, right? Although I’m kind of curious about that whole thing. Do you suck people’s blood out like you have a straw or something?”
Donnell grimaced at this subject. “No,” he replied. “I puncture the skin with my fangs, then suck the blood out like a person trying to suck snake venom out of a wound. After I’m done, I lick the wound to make it heal faster. There is something in my saliva that helps to close the puncture holes quickly. It takes no more than an hour to leave a simple bruise that could be explained by them having hit their forearm or wrist against something.”
Kieran paused in taking a bite of scrambled eggs. “Forearm? Wrist? What, no neck biting?” he asked.
Donnell shook his head. “That wouldn’t be sensible. The victim might start to question why they have what amounts to a hickey on their neck when they cannot remember how it got there or who gave it to them. Whereas a bruise on the arm or wrist could have happened without them being aware of it, as people often run into things strongly enough to leave a light bruise, but not enough to make it hurt much at the time.”
“Sensible, definitely,” Kieran said admiringly. “That’s logical thinking, Donnell. So do you like hypnotize them so that they don’t remember you feeding off of them?”
“I compel them to forget, yes,” Donnell said, walking over to sit down in a chair near the couch. “And as I don’t take more than a cupful of blood at a time for my nourishment, I don’t hurt them in any way. But I loathe it, just the same,” he went on, his voice full of disgust. “I feed on these folk without their permission. I’m like a leech.”
Kieran gave him a sympathetic look. “Well, it’s a good thing that I came along,” he said, returning to his food with a vengeance.
Donnell’s brows drew together. “What do you mean?” he asked in puzzlement.
Kieran waved his plastic fork at the vampire. “I’ll feed you from now on,” he explained cheerfully. “That way you won’t have to take blood without permission.”
Donnell gaped at him. “You’re going to…why would you do that?!” he demanded in disbelief.
“Because I’m your friend,” Kieran replied simply. “I want to do this for you. Besides, it won’t hurt me, will it? You don’t need a ton of blood, right?”
Donnell shook his head, feeling a little dazed. “I only eat once a week,” he confessed. “I trained myself to do it no more than that because I hate it. And I take very little. But still…are you sure, Kieran?”
“Of course I am. It's obvious that you can’t stand having to compel people to let you feed off of them. This way, I’ll be giving you permission and you won’t have to make me forget afterward. I’m sure that my blood will be very good for you, too,” he added with a grin. “Seeing as how its chock full of magic and all.”
Donnell didn’t know what to say to this observation. He felt rather bewildered. He’d only met Kieran yesterday, but already his whole life was being turned upside down! He wondered what the mage’s blood would taste like. He realized that his eyes had fastened no the pulse in Kieran’s throat, and he was unconsciously licking his lips. His body was eager for nourishment; it had been at least five days since he’d eaten. He tried to look away, but he couldn’t seem to.
Kieran glanced up and saw his expression. He paused in taking the last bite of a sausage. “Are you hungry, Donnell?” he asked in concern.
The vampire swallowed heavily, saliva sloshing around in his mouth. “Yes,” he husked. “I’m sorry.”
Kieran shook his head as he ate the last bite and closed the container. “It's okay. I said I’d feed you, right? I meant it. Where do you want to take it from? My arm?” he pushed up the sleeve of the Christmas sweater, baring his left forearm.
Donnell stared down at that smooth expanse of skin, and felt his fangs beginning to descend He couldn’t stop them. He made a small, eager sound as he stood up involuntarily. Kieran held out his arm and waited patiently, just looking at him. He had a reassuring expression on his face, letting Donnell know that it was all right for him to feed. He walked over stiffly, his shoulders hunching as he prepared to feed. Kieran’s arm lifted to offer the wrist to him, and Donnell nearly whimpered as his body made its hunger known.
He grabbed the wrist, sniffing at it to smell the blood running through the veins. A small growl trickled between his lips, and he opened his mouth as his fangs descended from his gums and grew long and sharp. There was no fear in Kieran’s eyes; only fascination. That made him feel better. If he’d scared the mage with his actions, it would have hurt him severely. He already hated what he was - if he’d frightened Kieran, that hatred would probably have become overwhelming. He lifted the wrist and nuzzled his nose over the skin, and heard a small sound. When he looked down into the mismatched eyes, he saw not fear but hunger in them. He might have thought about what kind of hunger that it was, but he was too intent of feeding to be able to think coherently right now.
He bit down delicately on the soft, thin skin of Kieran’s wrist, his fangs breaking through easily. The mage made a small sound of pain, but didn’t protest. Blood welled up in the puncture wounds, and he set his mouth over them eagerly. He suckled at the wound like a child with a bottle, taking it in. The blood spread over his tongue and slid down his throat, warm and sweet and vibrant. Heat ran over his skin, and energy coursed through him. He moaned lowly, his body shaking. He’d taken no more than a few swallows, but he had to thrust the arm away as he reeled dizzily. He fell on his ass, not even feeling the pain as he made contact with the rug and the polished wood floor underneath it. He put his hands to his head as he tried to cope with the wash of energy flowing through him along with Kieran’s blood.
“Are you all right, Donnell?!” he heard Kieran cry anxiously above his head.
He struggled to speak. “I-I’m well,” he managed to say. “Your blood…so strong…the magic…”
“Oh. Here, maybe this will help,” Hands touched him, and suddenly something coursed through him that eased his distress and left only a residual warmth and tingling. “I pulled most of my magic out of you,” Kieran explained. “Is that better?”
“It is,” he rasped. And in fact, it was wonderful. The remaining magical residue was reinforcing the blood that he’d taken in, making him feel energetic and alive and absolutely wonderful. He looked up at a concerned Kieran and smiled, a sudden dazzling thing that took the mage’s breath away. “Your blood is amazing,” he purred.
Kieran just stared at him, then he began to chuckle. “If you think my blood is amazing, just wait,” he said with a wink. “I’ve got other things that are even better.”
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The cab pulled up in front of the brick building where Donnell had lived for the last five years. Kieran hopped out and pulled his bags out of the cab, already having learned that trying to help Donnell out was a no-no. he looked the place over. It was at least a hundred years old, and had graceful lines and white stone facing around the doors and windows. “Hmm, I like this,” Kieran remarked to him as he came around to join the mage on the sidewalk.
“So do I,” Donnell admitted. “I’ll be sad when I have to move again.”
Kieran nodded. “It sucks when you have to leave a place you like because people are starting to notice that you don’t age,” he said sympathetically. “I’ve had to do that at least five times now. Bet you’ve had to do it a lot more than I have, huh?”
“Many times, yes,” Donnell agreed. “It gets very old very fast.”
“Anyway, show me your place. We‘ll get your tree set up,” Kieran remarked.
Donnell shook his head but led the way into his building, choosing to take the stairs as he always did. He never got winded, and he didn’t like small spaces. Kieran had enough energy that he easily kept up with Donnell as they made their way to the third floor where his apartment was. He produced his key and opened the door, handling the awkward bags over his arms deftly.
His apartment wasn’t big, but it was warm and well furnished. Donnell had collected many antiques over the years(although they hadn’t been antiques when he’d first bought them), and they sat on the polished wood floor on top of an Aubusson rug that had been a favorite of his since he’d first purchased it in London almost two hundred years ago. He heard Kieran take in a long breath. “Wow, this place is wonderful!” the mage exclaimed. “Somehow I thought you’d have a cave full of dark furniture - with blood red walls,” he said with a grin.
Donnell sighed but said nothing as he led the way into his living room. Kieran stopped in front of a side table full of carving. “This will be a perfect place to put your tree,” he enthused, running his long fingers over the smooth surface of the top. He turned around to retrieve the wire Christmas tree, carefully setting it on top of the table. “There!” he remarked in satisfaction. “Doesn’t that look great?”
Donnell lifted a brow. “It looks well enough,” he conceded.
Kieran nodded. “Let’s get it plugged in so we can see the lights,” he said happily. He produced the cord. “Is there a plug anywhere nearby?”
Donnell came over to point to a plug near the baseboard behind the table. Kieran stretched down and plugged in the little Christmas tree. Instantly all of the tiny lights began to twinkle red, green, gold, and white. “Ah!” he sighed, straightening up. “isn’t that pretty?”
Donnell had to admit that the little tree did look very pretty on his table, the star on top of it a soft mellow golden light. “I’ll have to get you some gifts so that you can set them around it,” Kieran remarked to him.
“You needn’t do that,” Donnell told him, faintly exasperated.
He grinned. “Of course I need to. You’re my friend. Its Christmas,” Kieran pointed out. “We’re going to celebrate the holidays in style this year. The whole shebang. You’ll love egg nog,” he added, his grin widening.
The vampire just stared at him, wondering what he’d gotten himself into. He had the sneaking suspicion that Kieran meant to see that he had a Merry Christmas will he or nil he, and that all he could do was go along for the ride. The wild, crazy ride.
Donnell opened his front door to see Kieran standing there grinning at him in greeting. The mage was carrying a bag slung over his shoulder, and he was dressed just as wildly as he had been yesterday. He wore another skirt, along with a green Christmas sweater that had a cavorting Rudolph on the front. A length of patterned cloth was acting as his belt today, and the ends of it were trimmed with glittering beads. A sprig of what looked like mistletoe was tied up in his long hair. “Morning, Donnell!” he chirped. “Can I come in?”
The vampire scowled at him as he stepped back. “Would it stop you if I said ‘no’?” he demanded sourly.
Kieran considered this question as he stepped lightly past Donnell into the apartment. “Maybe,” he replied at last. “But I’d do my best to change your mind,” he continued cheerfully.
Donnell rolled his eyes. “As you say. What now? Do we go and see Santa? Shall I sit on his lap and ask him for toys?”
Kieran chuckled. “That would be adorable,” he mused. “But no. I thought maybe we could just hang out here today. With that in mind, I brought a bunch of stuff,” he removed the bag from his shoulder and held it up triumphantly.
Donnell looked at the bag warily. Kieran opened it and reached inside. To his amazement, the mage began to pull an amazing number of things from the not-very-large bag. This included all kinds of foodstuffs, Christmas decorations, wrapped presents(all of them small enough to go around the little tree on the side table), DVDs, a laptop computer…
“Just how large is that bag?” the vampire exclaimed at last.
Kieran paused in retrieving things from it to glance up at him. “It's as large on the inside as I want it to be,” he explained. “Like Mary Poppins’ carpet bag. It's magic,” he went on.
“I see.” Donnell watched as Kieran finished pulling things from the bag, then set it on the floor. He scooped up the presents and took them over to arrange them around the little tree.
“I bought a whole bunch of gifts last night,” he said over his shoulder. “It was great fun, trying to find things that you’d like.”
Donnell’s brows lowered. “I never asked you for gifts,” he pointed out acerbically.
“Yep, I know. But you never asked me to hang out with you, either; and that didn’t stop me,” Kieran pointed out happily.
The vampire sighed sharply. His new friend was very irritating in many ways. Kieran laughed and finished putting the presents around the base of the tree. “That looks great,” he said, stepping back. He directed a pleased look at the little stack of gifts, then turned around to meet Donnell’s eyes. “Don’t you think so?”
Donnell shrugged. “if you think so, then it must be so,” he said indifferently.
Kieran mock-pouted at him. “Killjoy,” he teased. “Anyway, you can’t bring me down. I’m having too much fun. Hey, I brought lots of food with me. I thought you could try some of it if you wanted. But if you don’t, I’ll eat it all myself. It takes a lot of food to keep me going. Partially because my magic needs tons of fuel. Anyway, I left breakfast until I came over. Do you want to try a cinnamon bun?” he asked in a wheedle.
Donnell shook his head. “It's too early to lick your buns, Kieran,” he replied in exasperation.
The mage stared at him, then burst out laughing. He doubled over, helpless in his mirth. “Oh, God!” he chortled, wiping at his eyes. “Man, Donnell, that was funny! See, I knew you had a great sense of humor somewhere under that morose facade!”
The vampire gave him a haughty look. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said coolly.
Kieran grinned. “Sure,” he said easily. “Anyway, I’m going to eat even if you don’t want any. I’m starving.” he picked up a Styrofoam take-out container from the table and snagged a little package of plastic utensils as well.
The mage looked at him. “Can I sit on your couch? Or do you have a kitchen table I can eat at?”
Actually, he didn’t. Donnell seldom went into his kitchen, and all of his cupboards as well as the refrigerator were totally bare. What use would a vampire have for a kitchen table? “You may sit on the couch,” he said grudgingly.
“Thanks,” Kieran went on plopped his long form down on the couch, stretching out his legs as he opened the container. “Mmm, scrambled eggs, sausage, and hash browns,” he said. “With wheat toast. My favorite breakfast. There’s this little restaurant near my place that has great breakfasts. I don’t cook much for myself - I’m not very good at it. I’d be dining on burned stuff all the time if I didn’t eat out. I bet it’s a lot simpler for you, right? Although I’m kind of curious about that whole thing. Do you suck people’s blood out like you have a straw or something?”
Donnell grimaced at this subject. “No,” he replied. “I puncture the skin with my fangs, then suck the blood out like a person trying to suck snake venom out of a wound. After I’m done, I lick the wound to make it heal faster. There is something in my saliva that helps to close the puncture holes quickly. It takes no more than an hour to leave a simple bruise that could be explained by them having hit their forearm or wrist against something.”
Kieran paused in taking a bite of scrambled eggs. “Forearm? Wrist? What, no neck biting?” he asked.
Donnell shook his head. “That wouldn’t be sensible. The victim might start to question why they have what amounts to a hickey on their neck when they cannot remember how it got there or who gave it to them. Whereas a bruise on the arm or wrist could have happened without them being aware of it, as people often run into things strongly enough to leave a light bruise, but not enough to make it hurt much at the time.”
“Sensible, definitely,” Kieran said admiringly. “That’s logical thinking, Donnell. So do you like hypnotize them so that they don’t remember you feeding off of them?”
“I compel them to forget, yes,” Donnell said, walking over to sit down in a chair near the couch. “And as I don’t take more than a cupful of blood at a time for my nourishment, I don’t hurt them in any way. But I loathe it, just the same,” he went on, his voice full of disgust. “I feed on these folk without their permission. I’m like a leech.”
Kieran gave him a sympathetic look. “Well, it’s a good thing that I came along,” he said, returning to his food with a vengeance.
Donnell’s brows drew together. “What do you mean?” he asked in puzzlement.
Kieran waved his plastic fork at the vampire. “I’ll feed you from now on,” he explained cheerfully. “That way you won’t have to take blood without permission.”
Donnell gaped at him. “You’re going to…why would you do that?!” he demanded in disbelief.
“Because I’m your friend,” Kieran replied simply. “I want to do this for you. Besides, it won’t hurt me, will it? You don’t need a ton of blood, right?”
Donnell shook his head, feeling a little dazed. “I only eat once a week,” he confessed. “I trained myself to do it no more than that because I hate it. And I take very little. But still…are you sure, Kieran?”
“Of course I am. It's obvious that you can’t stand having to compel people to let you feed off of them. This way, I’ll be giving you permission and you won’t have to make me forget afterward. I’m sure that my blood will be very good for you, too,” he added with a grin. “Seeing as how its chock full of magic and all.”
Donnell didn’t know what to say to this observation. He felt rather bewildered. He’d only met Kieran yesterday, but already his whole life was being turned upside down! He wondered what the mage’s blood would taste like. He realized that his eyes had fastened no the pulse in Kieran’s throat, and he was unconsciously licking his lips. His body was eager for nourishment; it had been at least five days since he’d eaten. He tried to look away, but he couldn’t seem to.
Kieran glanced up and saw his expression. He paused in taking the last bite of a sausage. “Are you hungry, Donnell?” he asked in concern.
The vampire swallowed heavily, saliva sloshing around in his mouth. “Yes,” he husked. “I’m sorry.”
Kieran shook his head as he ate the last bite and closed the container. “It's okay. I said I’d feed you, right? I meant it. Where do you want to take it from? My arm?” he pushed up the sleeve of the Christmas sweater, baring his left forearm.
Donnell stared down at that smooth expanse of skin, and felt his fangs beginning to descend He couldn’t stop them. He made a small, eager sound as he stood up involuntarily. Kieran held out his arm and waited patiently, just looking at him. He had a reassuring expression on his face, letting Donnell know that it was all right for him to feed. He walked over stiffly, his shoulders hunching as he prepared to feed. Kieran’s arm lifted to offer the wrist to him, and Donnell nearly whimpered as his body made its hunger known.
He grabbed the wrist, sniffing at it to smell the blood running through the veins. A small growl trickled between his lips, and he opened his mouth as his fangs descended from his gums and grew long and sharp. There was no fear in Kieran’s eyes; only fascination. That made him feel better. If he’d scared the mage with his actions, it would have hurt him severely. He already hated what he was - if he’d frightened Kieran, that hatred would probably have become overwhelming. He lifted the wrist and nuzzled his nose over the skin, and heard a small sound. When he looked down into the mismatched eyes, he saw not fear but hunger in them. He might have thought about what kind of hunger that it was, but he was too intent of feeding to be able to think coherently right now.
He bit down delicately on the soft, thin skin of Kieran’s wrist, his fangs breaking through easily. The mage made a small sound of pain, but didn’t protest. Blood welled up in the puncture wounds, and he set his mouth over them eagerly. He suckled at the wound like a child with a bottle, taking it in. The blood spread over his tongue and slid down his throat, warm and sweet and vibrant. Heat ran over his skin, and energy coursed through him. He moaned lowly, his body shaking. He’d taken no more than a few swallows, but he had to thrust the arm away as he reeled dizzily. He fell on his ass, not even feeling the pain as he made contact with the rug and the polished wood floor underneath it. He put his hands to his head as he tried to cope with the wash of energy flowing through him along with Kieran’s blood.
“Are you all right, Donnell?!” he heard Kieran cry anxiously above his head.
He struggled to speak. “I-I’m well,” he managed to say. “Your blood…so strong…the magic…”
“Oh. Here, maybe this will help,” Hands touched him, and suddenly something coursed through him that eased his distress and left only a residual warmth and tingling. “I pulled most of my magic out of you,” Kieran explained. “Is that better?”
“It is,” he rasped. And in fact, it was wonderful. The remaining magical residue was reinforcing the blood that he’d taken in, making him feel energetic and alive and absolutely wonderful. He looked up at a concerned Kieran and smiled, a sudden dazzling thing that took the mage’s breath away. “Your blood is amazing,” he purred.
Kieran just stared at him, then he began to chuckle. “If you think my blood is amazing, just wait,” he said with a wink. “I’ve got other things that are even better.”
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