The Vampire King's Toxic Consort (bxb)

Chapter 32 The Lovers

Kim couldn't come to them for the next couple of days as the streets were fraught with soldiers and police, searching and questioning everyone they deemed "suspicious." Seems like they had to hide in the safe house for a while until things quieted down a little.

Anton was the only one among them whose human form was not well-known in Anthor, so he took up the task of gathering supplies, food, or information.

"Be careful. Don't take any risk." Lucius pleaded before Anton left. The werewolf flashed a bright and confident smile at him, "Don't worry. I know how to navigate these streets."

After he left, Lucius went to the kitchen. Anton bought several jugs of beef blood from a meat shop yesterday. They were not as nutritious or tasty as human blood, but it was better than none. He poured a mug of blood, warmed it up a little, knocked at the door that Dorian was resting in and asked, "Hey, are you awake?"

Dorian had slept a lot during the past two days, but the good thing was that after drinking Lucius's blood, those gushing wounds created by those crucifixion spikes began to heal, though the healing speed was significantly slower than it used to be. Still, a great relief washed over Lucius when he noticed the improvement.

"Come in." Came Dorian's voice.

The room was verging on pitch dark. Heavy, blackout curtains sealed almost all the lights out. Yet the vampire reclined on the bed, reading a book he found on the bookshelf in the room. Vampire's eyesight allowed him to read in darkness, and his dilated pupils became two eerie, bat-like golden orbs.

"Didn't some adults tell you when you were a kid that reading with no light is not good for your eyes?" Lucius bantered as he put the mug of warm blood on the nightstand and turned on the nightlight, "Wait, can vampires get myopia?"

"Only if you are myopic before you are turned."Dorian's smile turned into a grimace as he sniffed the blood, apparently not liking the smell of his dinner.

"I'm sorry...We can't exactly invite people back for you to suck on. Kim is working on getting you some human blood, but she can't come yet. Too much heat on the street. And I will need a few days to recover before letting you drink from me again." Lucius explained regretfully, "but Anton said he had made sure those are coming from very healthy cows."

Dorian chuckled, "It's fine. I was just being a spoiled brat."

The vampire took the mug and gulped down. Blood trickled down his much less ashen and much more lustrous sun-kissed skin and stained the t-shirt collar. Lucius averted his gaze and gulped discreetly, trying not to let himself be tempted. He took up the book Dorian was reading and laughed, "The Dragon Rider? One of my favorite books when I was a kid. It was a classic."

Dorian put the empty cup on the stand, lips stained crimson, "It was my favorite, too. You know, it was published when I was seven, and I was obsessed with it and imagined myself as Jasper, riding the mightiest dragon Ragan and saving the world."

"I didn't know vampires also read human books?"

"Of course we do. Good books are for the world." Dorian admitted with slight bashfulness, "I was devastated when my father told me dragons are not real and that I should 'snap out of it.' I cried and cried and felt my world fall apart."

Lucius felt indignant on behalf of a tiny Dorian, "That was not nice of him!"

Dorian found Lucius's anger-flushed face exceptionally cute. He chuckled and touched Lucius's hand, "No matter. My mother hadn't sworn off her powers at that point. So, to comfort me and stop me from bawling my eyes out, she actually turned herself into Ragan."

"NO WAY!"

Dorian laughed as he returned to that distant memory from a century ago, "She did, and precisely as the book described. Humongous size greater than a small mountain, six spiky horns on her head, green metallic scales harder and more glamorous than diamond, and gigantic wings covering the sky. She let me climb up her back and flew us to the top of Mount Aldiac. When she waved her wings, it was like stirring a storm, and she also breathed fire that could melt anything. If you somehow find a way to reach that part of the mountain, you can still see the crystallized cliff caused by her dragon fire."