Give Me Blood

Chapter 20: Take Me

Previously on Give Me Blood:

"Wait! Please. You can't kick me out because...because I'm engaged!"

There is always a way.

"Congratulations. I hardly see why that would be of any relevance to this trial."

Even if that way is treacherous, exhausting, unbearable. I've made it this far tolerating worse things.

"I'm engaged to a vampire. We can't be separated. We are blood bound."

~~

"Who exactly are you engaged to, Ms. Russo?"

If this was the only way.

"William Crowley."

I'll take it. 

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I'm nauseous. I'm always nauseous in the aftermath of my hunting missions. The throbbing, incessant kind that doesn't stop until I've had a cup of bitter liquor and some sleep. And even though getting tried in a courtroom full of bloodsuckers wasn't exactly the same as a typical hunt, it still drained me to my core. Naturally, now, all I had the energy to do was silently sit through the bafflement of the Council and the ensuing negotiation of my sudden confession.

I'm glad that I'm nauseous because it means that the worst is behind me. It means that I've succeeded.

He doubled down on my bluff. Thanks to him, I get to stay here.

My eyes gravitate towards William, who was standing between myself and an angry vampire who hasn't stopped yapping since the door closed to the study room back at the cabin.

"You're a real psycho. You know that, right?" Jake hurls another insult my way.

"You've said enough. Take a breath." William spoke, concern laced in his dark brows. The same face he used to convince the judge to let me stay (with stipulations, of course). He was an exceptional actor.

"I'm not even close! What were you thinking? Do you even understand what you said back there? You're going to drag Williams's reputation through the damn sewer—and for what? To save yourself from being put in time-out for killing someone, do you have no shame? Then again, you kill newborns before they have a chance to blink, so I'm not that surprised."

"Jakob."

"What William! Did I say anything wrong? And don't think that I forgot about you. Have you finally gone nuts? Has the stress carved a crater into your brain? Why would you play along with a deranged lie like that? What are you going to do when she leaves? What if she stays? She doesn't even have the slightest idea of all the tradition and training required when marrying a clan leader! What will you do when the Council finds out you've lied to them?" He shouts, which was not doing my nausea-turned-headache any favors.

"If you wail a little louder, we'll know the answer." I sigh, sitting down on one of the softly cushioned armchairs, and massage my temples.

"Shut it, hunter! We—our entire clan—are screwed. Royally."

"This was the only way for her to stay here with the verdict. It was a smart move." William attempts to calm him for the twentieth time.

"Are you serious? Smart? There are other skilled hunters out there, William! Why are you risking your position over a viper?" A viper? I hadn't heard that one before.

"This is my final warning. Do not speak about her like that ever again. She is not a target for you to release your frustrations on. She's an asset. Do you know of anyone else with as much experience killing X-types as she does? There is no one else. We need her."