Chapter 101

Chapter 101: Chapter 101

The Vampire’s fear of taking too much blood was downright irrational, but when Kath’tan thought of the other things Dulce was convinced would harm them, he could see a pattern.

"Then let’s return," Dulce grudgingly agreed, although he was confident he could convincingly pretend to be asleep.

"I’ll carry you inside," He said bluntly, improving at making demands for what he wanted.

This time, Dulce was easily pliable. Kath’tan could easily carry him by his neck, he wouldn’t be a burden to the Demon, and they did now have an intimate relationship. "Alright," He agreed, sitting down to take the drink he agreed to.

He only intended to take a little, feeling like more blood was wasted on him when he had only just fed but he missed the slight unsteadiness in Kath’tan’s movements - the Fiend had drunk a lot.

The Fiend’s mixed blood was powerful enough at its usual but now that several jugs of ale ran through his veins as well, even his little sip was enough to knock him out.

Kath’tan caught the Vampire who fell against him, perhaps he should find out the dangers of giving a Vampire too much blood, before he fell deeper into his strange obsession.

He had promised to carry Dulce inside but for hours he remained seated on the marble bench, the sleeping Vampire in his arms. He didn’t drink any more ale, his eyes a deep shade of magenta in the red hue of the night.

He eventually rose to his feet, gathering the Vampire even closer as he strode for the castle. The banquet would still be ongoing but Zazrel and Tarraz would have left, as well as the few other nobles.

The majority would still remain behind in the ballroom, eating, drinking, dancing until the sleeping suns woke.

The first sight he saw as he approached the castle was a stumbling noble and his impatient friend. He ignored them both and walked right into the castle, even if he didn’t want to keep carrying the Vampire around - which he did - he wouldn’t warp with him while he was in a trance.

Pale hair was scattered over his chest, partially obscuring Dulce’s face. He avoided the wing where the ball was being held, uninterested in being stopped by anyone for whatever reason.

Soon, Kath’tan was opening the door to his room, to the purple hovel he had lived in all his life. He placed the blood-drunk vampire on the bed, going through the motions of taking off his boots and his cloak.

When he straightened up, he weaved slightly on his feet, the first time he had done so since he stood up. Kath’tan turned away from the bed to take a bath which sobered him up a little.

Dulce didn’t have to sleep through the night, the Vampire didn’t even have to sleep at all but he couldn’t pass up on the chance to feed him more of his blood, especially so that the Vampire could retain the color in his skin for a while longer.

Kath’tan didn’t get into bed after his bath, warping out of the room to address the true reason he had gotten Dulce blood drunk. He stepped out of nothingness into a large hall, candles burning despite not a single soul being present.

The library was unfamiliar to him, he could count the number of times he had been in here, and coincidentally, they had often been on banquet nights, due to the notable lack of Fiends visiting at that time.

His reading comprehension was rudimentary, completely self-taught. After he understood the basics, he focused on his physical abilities, no one wanted to listen to him speak anyway, training with weapons did him more good.

But now he was back here, for a rather self-absorbed reason. He walked past several rows of ceiling-high shelves, heading to a section of the library that he knew of but had never been to.

As fledglings, the explicit section of the library was restricted to them so the custom of sneaking in to steal books on erotica and erotic techniques was fairly common.

Kath’tan had been drawn in by the almost rite of passage but he knew better than to participate, no one wanted him to and he knew from past experiences that they would have turned him in to the stern librarian out of spite.

He wasn’t a fledgling anymore but it still felt strange perusing the restricted section. He pushed the thoughts of his past away, they couldn’t be further from the reason he was here.

It was so easy to forget the foolish Vampire was ancient, and with the memory of his past lost, it was easy to view him as only a few hundred years old. But their kiss had reminded him with a sting, a sting to his pride, he naturally had to remedy that.

So he had put Dulce to sleep so he could peruse bawdy texts to better kiss the Vampire. How ridiculous... Yet it didn’t stop him from warping back to his room with an armful of books to read while Dulce slept.

As he did, he could better understand why Dulce enjoyed this boring pastime, reading through the night while they kept him company in his room. He could hear the Vampire’s gentle breathing next to him, his pale hair splayed over the purple sheets, the flush to his skin alluring.

Kath’tan dedicatedly read through the night, returning the books to the library before the first rays of sunlight fell over the city. He warped away from the library, with intentions to return the next night.

They had spent most of the night in the garden alcove and he read painfully slow, so he had barely gotten through a thin book before he had to return them. It would perhaps be easier to keep them in his room but Kath’tan would prefer to be stabbed through the heart than for Dulce to find his questionable stash of books.

The Vampire was still blissfully asleep long after the sun came up, and Kath’tan was content to watch him sleep, his peaceful expression twisting into a scowl when a knock rang against his door.