The Hybrid

18: Willow

"Where's Beck?" Christie asks as she takes her seat.

I sigh a breath of relief at hearing somebody finally ask the question that had been nagging at me since I sat down for breakfast this morning and noticed his absence. Beck and Bennett are both missing from breakfast this morning which is odd. Bennett, the foody he is, never misses a meal and Beck almost always makes it to the dining room before I do. Judging by the silence of the bond, I can tell Beck isn't near. When he is there's always this feeling like a thrumming warmth pumping and spreading through my body. The closer he is, the more intense it is. But now, there is nothing, no warmth, no buzzing, nothing. The feeling is cold and unforgiving. I try to ignore it, push it down, but without him it's impossible. The feeling only persists and grows with each passing minute.

I've barely been able to touch the food on my plate because of the worry bubbling inside me. The only thing that's kept me from freaking out is that everyone else seems to be behaving as normal. In addition to this, I would know if something happened to Beck. Because he isn't marked I can't feel his every feeling, but I would be able to, at least, feel if he were seriously harmed physically or emotionally. So far everything's been quiet. Still, the curiosity about where he could be has been eating away at me, so I'm grateful Christie has decided to speak up for once.

"He and Ben went on a blood run," The king answers.

"What's a blood run?" I ask, unable to contain my curiosity any longer.

"It's a routine trip the royal guard takes every few months to go and collect a truckload full of blood and transport it here. It's how blood is provided for the citizens of the C.K. that live in the kingdom. Augustus sent Beck and Bennett along this time to oversee the mission," Olivia answers after a moment.

"How'd you know I sent them?" King Augustus asks her, quirking a brow.

She pauses for a moment, her fork dangling in the air before proceeding its journey to her mouth.

She shrugs as she swallows, "Bennett told me last night."

The king narrows his eyes and smiles, leaning back in his seat as he studies her, "I see."

My eyes travel back and forth between the two. I want to comment on their peculiar behavior, but I have other questions that I'd like the answers to more than I want to know why the two of them are acting so strangely all of a sudden.

"Where does the truckload of blood come from?" I ask, hoping I'm not overstepping.

"Our loyalists collect the blood for us so the origin of it all isn't always known to us, but from my understanding, it usually comes from blood banks, hospitals or blood drives. Sometimes they're even able to find humans that know of Vampires and would like to donate themselves to us as living breathing blood bags. That's pretty rare, though," The king says as he passes off his empty plates to one of the many castle staff members.

"Okay," I say, slowly trying to wrap my head around why someone would ever want to throw away their life just to live out the rest of their days as someone else's meal. Then again, I'm not sure that's something I'm even meant to understand. Some people are just really twisted.

"What's a loyalist?"

"God, don't you know anything?" Christie groans which earns her a glare from Olivia, a frown from me, and a chuckle from the king.

"She's allowed to ask questions, Christina. These things are new to Willow," The king says as he turns to me to answer my previous question.

"A loyalist is a human who knows of vampire existence and does what they can to provide for and protect our kind. The responsibilities of a loyalist are usually generational. It starts with one's ancestors and as new generations are born the responsibilities of a loyalist are passed down. In exchange for their help and protection of our secret, we return the favor by promising protection. Most loyalists are of high status in the human world. We are the ones that ensure they stay of high status in their world."