In Love With a Vampire

Chapter Twenty Five

Sorokin swept his eyes across the courtyard before making his way towards the little gate at the edge of the palace. He had always found the entrance odd; a mighty castle guarded by a tiny gate that squeaked in the wind and forced vampires to bend while using it. Once he reached the gate, he thought about scaling up the wall and thrusting himself onto the other side. The desire to use his strength and agility to climb over the wall was so overwhelming that he found himself halfway on the wall within seconds of the thought surfacing in his mind. He changed his mind, however, acknowledging that he had to save the little strength he had. Times were hard at the beast realm, he had not fed for a day. After squeezing himself through the tiny gate, Sorokin once again darted his eyes into his surroundings and once he was satisfied no one was watching him, he began walking towards the realm’s most famed tavern. While he walked his eyes and ears remained alert. He used his heightened senses to scout for roaming rodents and unwanted attention. Sorokin was convinced that the tribe’s leader had planted spies all over the realm, it was the only way he could have heard about the rebellion.

As Sorokin neared the tavern, he heard familiar sounds of metal glasses clanking, boisterous laughter, and moaning sounds. When he arrived at the doorway of the tavern, he suddenly ducked avoiding a vampire who was being flung across the air.

“If you cannot pay for it don’t drink it!”

Busty, the tavern’s owner, heaved and snarled at what Sorokin believed was an intruder. The groaning vampire slowly got up and sluggishly made their way to another less famed tavern. Within a few minutes, the poor vampire would suffer the same fate.

“Can you believe these f*****g t***s? Coming to my refined establishment and trying to swindle me? I should break their necks!”

“That would not kill them Busty…”

“Sure it won’t…know what it would do instead? It would put them to sleep so that they can stop sucking me dry!”

Sorokin chuckled before moving towards Busty. He placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it. Busty blushed before swatting Sorokin’s hand away.

“Any word from your favorite student?”

“Nothing.”

“Is that good or bad?”

“It’s good. Nothing means she is adjusting, learning.”

Busty nodded noncommittally. Her eyes were trained on her customers.

“There has been no word from my sister either. But then again this is Maria we are talking about, she is a stickler for rules.”

“That is what makes her a great Hand…”

Busty rolled her eyes before yelling at a random customer to drop a barrel of beer.

“When was the last time you fed?”

Sorokin blinked in surprise.

“Is it that obvious?”

Busty nodded before yanking Sorokin and leading him away from the tavern.

“Aren’t you afraid they will steal more barrels of beer?”

“Nah, Tito will see to it that they do not.”

Sorokin quivered at the mention of Busty’s brother. He was a huge vampire with the ability to knock out anyone with one punch. Sorokin and Busty wound up in a dark alley with no one in sight. Once Busty was convinced that they were alone, she began pulling up her left sleeve.

“Drink.”

Sorokin clenched his teeth and turned his head away from Busty’s exposed flesh.

“I cannot keep doing this to you Busty…”

Busty stretched her hand and placed a finger on Sorokin’s face. She then violently turned Sorokin’s head so that she was facing her. Sorokin had always found Busty to be extremely attractive. She had short, red hair that matched her sensual lips. Her green eyes were cold and piercing, a feature that instilled fear in many of her customers. Unconsciously, Sorokin’s eyes made their way to Busty’s luscious breasts. As usual, she had worn a tight, red, leather top that pushed her breasts upwards. It was hard to look away, it was always hard to look away.

“Eyes on my wrist Sorokin…”

Sorokin blinked owlishly before flickering his gaze to Busty’s wrist. If you squinted hard enough, you could make out two bite marks. If you squinted further, you could tell that these marks were from fangs.

“I can feed, I just need to hunt-"

“Oh shut up Sorokin! We both know this wretched realm has nothing else to offer. All we have is each other. That is how we will survive now drink up…”

Busty pulled Sorokin towards her and dipped his neck so that his face was directly above her wrist. Sorokin stole one last glance at Busty’s determined face before he grabbed her arm and inserted his fangs in the flesh around her wrist.

* * *

“What did you mean? When you said all we have is each other?”

Busty dug her hand in her pocket and whipped out a white cloth. She then wrapped it around her wrist. She let out a soft groan as she tightened the cloth around her fresh wound. Sorokin looked away as guilt bubbled in his stomach.

“Sorokin, the woods barely have animals, the streets barely have rodents. This has left us with only two options…Stealing blood bags from nobles and feeding on each other…”

Sorokin did not know what to say, so he kept quiet.

“A vampire collapsed in my tavern tonight. He was covered from head to toe with rags so none of us had really taken note of his starving condition. You should have seen him Sorokin, he must not have found anything to feed on for I don’t know, months? He dried up, died before any of us could offer him our blood.”

Sorokin remained quiet. He had seen his fair share of starving vampires. He had witnessed his fair share of deaths.

“I went by the wall yesterday at night. They were getting better you know, higher. A pity what the tribe leader’s guards did to them. Fuckers drink human blood, they pulled out so many hearts…I counted fifty dead vampires when I left the scene.”

“Stay away from the wall Busty…it’s dangerous…Sebastian’s guards are vicious.”

They had been slowly making their way back to Busty’s tavern. Once in a while, vampires would emerge from shadows drunk and giddy. Once in a while, Sorokin would spot vampires f*****g against a shadowy wall. Busty came to a sudden halt after Sorokin finished his statement.

“That’s all you have to say? I counted fifty dead vampires Sorokin! Our tribe is slowly depleting and guess what? We are doing it to ourselves!” Talk to the tribe leader, he listens to you-"

“And tell him what huh? Tell him to ask his nobles to share their blood supply? Tell him to share his own blood supply? Or let me guess, you want me to tell him to let the vampires exit the realm so that they can attack humans? Is that what you want me to tell your mighty tribe leader? I have got news for you Busty…Sebastian does not give two flying f***s about the likes of you…as long as he does not directly feel the threat, he will remain in his palace behind closed doors with his blood bags and his whores.”

Busty’s eyes were glassy with unshed tears. She sniveled and cast her gaze to the ground, uncertain of what to say. Sorokin, suddenly feeling like a jerk, gingerly placed his hand on Busty’s shoulder. He then closed the space between them and lowered his head so that their lips were dangerously near each other. Busty suddenly stepped back and wiggled away from Sorokin’s touch.

“Let me be clear…I am not some toy Sorokin…You do not get to use and discard me however you wish. You made it clear to me that you had no romantic feelings for me and I respected that. I have no problem being a friend but that is all I am…the next time you touch me? I will break your arm…”

Sorokin weakly bobbed his head. He had been aware of what he was doing. She was right. He would have used her to forget. To forget that the beast realm was going to s**t. To forget that the woman he loved was on the other side of the wall where he could not reach her.

“I better head back before Tito starts pulling out hearts…”

Busty turned to leave but Sorokin stretched his arm and wrapped his hand around her wounded wrist. She winced, causing Sorokin to retrieve his arm.

“Thank you Busty…Truly. As for our tribe…I promise you this, we will survive. The humans have not won.”

Busty furrowed her eyebrows at Sorokin’s strange words. Sorokin could tell that she wanted to question him further but she did not. Instead, she gave Sorokin a swift nod and used her heightened speed to return to her tavern. Once she was gone, Sorokin c****d his head to the side, perked his ears, and smiled when he recognized a familiar breathing pattern.

“You can come out now Joseph.”

Joseph, a tall, lanky vampire emerged from the shadows.

“Remind me, why can I not have her? You clearly don’t want her…”

“How about you fix your breathing first eh? I heard you from a mile away.”

“What a quick and easy way to change the subject…Anyone see you leave the palace?”

Sorokin shook his head before sweeping his eyes in his current surroundings.

“Well come on. The rest are waiting. We have news from the human realm.”