Feral Bonds

Chapter 26

Natania groaned, her head felt like it was on fire, her veins filled with sandpaper. She twisted her head, squinting against the lights and could just make out Gretchen and Vincent glaring at each other. Why is he here? "What happened?" she managed to say, wincing at the sound of her voice. Why did everything hurt?

Vincent was the first to speak. "We did a blood exchange Natania, your friend," she flinched at the way he said the word, "didn't understand what she was costing you with her ignorance.

"Why does everything feel so..." wrong, she paused before finishing as it all came back to her, the goblet. "What the fuck kind of artifact is that, Vinny? It hurts." She let herself whine. She'd done plenty of blood exchanges, some almost bleeding her dry, and she'd never felt like this.

Gretchen crouched beside her and gently ran her fingers through Natania's hair. Natania sighed at her touch, but it wasn't much distraction from the pain. Vincent disappeared and reappeared with a glass of water, handing it to her.

Natania sat up and chugged it in one go. She didn't hesitate when Vincent offered his wrist, sinking her fangs in deeply and swallowing a few mouthfuls of his blood. It was just as cold and gross as she remembered.

"Thank you," she said, pushing his arm away and turning to Gretchen. "Are you okay?"

Vincent scoffed. "Of course she's okay," he snarled.

Natania shot him a confused glance. "What'd you do to him?" she whispered to Gretchen, like she didn't know he could hear her just fine. She wasn't sure why he was so angry. "Did you break something?" The vampire was sensitive about his stuff.

"Just you." Gretchen patted her head and Natania frowned.

"Vincent," Natania scolded. "It's not her fault she didn't know how the thing worked. She's just a human who has never had to do one. You, or I, should have explained it beforehand. So cool it and fill me in."

Vincent sighed, but accepted her request, providing her with the information he had already given to Gretchen and adding a little more. He attempted to talk her out of the job, but at Natania's insistence, agreed to set something up. "I'll need a few weeks. It'll have to be worked out through a few people since I don't have any direct contacts with that particular company."

Natania nodded and thanked him for the information. She programmed Gretchen's number into Vincent's phone so he could reach her when he was ready. She refused to carry her own, the hum of electricity was annoying.

"I need to talk to her in private," Vincent said, when they were done, and Gretchen retreated into the other room. Vincent sat beside her on the couch. "Are you really okay?" he asked.

"Getting there," Natania said. She hunched her shoulders. "How is Lily?"

Vincent snorted. "So you do remember she exists. I was beginning to wonder."

"Don't be an ass," she growled.

"One of us has been an ass the last year and a half," Vincent said, narrowing his eyes "and it wasn't me."

"Well, you were an ass for the year before that, so we're even," Natania grumbled. "And I spent six of those months in a dungeon, so you can only blame me for the one year."

"Considering we tried to warn you," Vincent said dryly. "You don't get to pull that."

"Okay, yes, I was a stupid idiot. Are you happy now?"

He laughed. "Maybe. You can go see her yourself, she's at home."

"I..." Natania's mouth went dry. "I can't," she muttered.