Chapter 151: Do Me the Honor

Chapter 151: Chapter 151: Do Me the Honor

Chapter 151: Do Me the Honor

The nurse’s office door was locked.

So were the windows.

With the blinds partly drawn, the room felt dimmer than it had any right to in the middle of the school day.

Cyrus Calder rolled up one sleeve and looked at Vera Sable.

"This should work just as well, shouldn’t it?"

Vera’s attention settled on his exposed forearm.

"No. I want the same place as last time."

Cyrus immediately started lowering his sleeve.

"Then I am leaving."

"All right, all right. Your arm is fine."

Vera gave in so quickly that Cyrus paused.

Apparently blood mattered more than location after all.

He pushed his sleeve higher.

There was no chance he was letting Vera near his neck again.

His arm was safer. If she lost control and tried draining him the way she had before, Cyrus could pull away long before another six-hour nap became necessary.

At least, that was the plan.

Vera sat unusually obediently in the chair beside her desk and waited while he approached.

Her appearance had already shifted.

Ash-gray hair fell over her shoulders, and her eyes carried the same unnatural gold Cyrus had seen in his apartment.

Once his arm came within reach, Vera stopped pretending to be patient.

She grabbed it and bit down.

The movement looked far rougher than Cyrus expected.

Her sharpened canines pierced his skin.

A sharp sting came first.

Then, exactly as before, the pain vanished beneath that strange sensation Bloodborn feeding caused.

Pleasure spread outward from the bite in a way Cyrus found deeply irritating.

His body seemed determined to interpret being drained of blood as something pleasant, even while his mind knew perfectly well what was happening.

He refused to pay attention to Vera’s expression.

Instead, Cyrus watched her throat.

One swallow.

Then another.

Vera initially kept her eyes raised toward him, interested in seeing how he reacted.

That attention lasted very little time.

The taste pulled her in almost immediately.

Ordinary blood, to a Bloodborn, was closer to drinking water than anything worth savoring.

Cyrus was different.

His blood carried a faint sweetness, restrained enough that it never became unpleasant. Vera happened to prefer sweeter things, which made the difference especially obvious to her.

Then there was the temperature.

Frostborn blood reached her tongue slightly cooler than ordinary human blood.

The combination made each swallow cleaner, almost refreshing.

Vera forgot about teasing him.

Cyrus did not.

He watched her throat move four times.

That was enough.

He placed his free palm against her forehead and pushed.

Vera refused to release him.

Her teeth shifted slightly beneath his skin as he tried pulling his arm away.

The sensation should have hurt.

Instead, the strange effect of the bite twisted the pain into another uncomfortable wave of pleasure.

Cyrus’s expression tightened.

Vera swallowed again.

That made five.

Cyrus raised his other hand and flicked her directly in the forehead.

The sharp sound echoed through the nurse’s office.

Vera jerked back.

Her teeth finally left his arm.

She immediately covered her forehead with both hands.

"You flicked me!"

Cyrus lowered his arm.

"What about it?"

Vera stared at him with watery eyes.

He showed no sympathy whatsoever.

They were at school this time.

Letting her drink a few mouthfuls was already more generosity than she deserved.

Cyrus actually regretted holding back on the flick. If he had put more force into it, maybe he could have returned the favor and knocked some memories out of her.

His forearm had already started healing.

The bite marks closed almost immediately, leaving four small red points against otherwise pale skin.

Vera continued holding her forehead.

She had never been treated this disrespectfully.

Unfortunately, attacking Cyrus directly was not a particularly useful option.

Bloodborn were not physically powerful.

In terms of raw strength, some were weaker than ordinary humans.

Trying to overpower a Frostborn boy who had already beaten several people in an alley would accomplish very little.

Vera narrowed her eyes.

Cyrus had already turned away.

He walked to the door without hesitation.

Fine.

She had plenty of things she knew about him.

He could keep acting bold for now.

Vera watched him leave with a smile that had become much less innocent.

Eventually, he would learn to be nicer to the person holding so many of his secrets.

On the fourth floor, Audra Sloane had been waiting alone in the empty classroom.

Her attention kept drifting toward the door.

Cyrus was later than usual.

Not dramatically late, but enough that she had noticed.

Had something happened?

Should she message him?

Audra had already taken out her phone when footsteps appeared in the hall.

Cyrus entered.

The concern in her expression disappeared almost immediately.

"Sorry. Something came up."

"That is fine. You are here now."

Cyrus took his usual seat.

Audra lowered her phone.

A quiet satisfaction settled through her.

Their relationship had undeniably become closer.

Even Cyrus must have felt that much.

He still treated the glamourkin ring as the reason they spent so much time together, but Audra no longer believed the artifact explained everything.

If he genuinely disliked being around her, he could have found another solution.

Instead, he continued coming.

He studied with her.

He asked questions.

He remained close even after classmates started misunderstanding their relationship.

Maybe the ring was only an excuse now.

Perhaps Cyrus had begun liking her too.

The possibility had been occurring to Audra more often lately.

Her approach was working.

If they kept spending time together naturally, there might come a point where she could tell him how she felt.

Unless Cyrus confessed first.

That possibility was even better.

Audra’s thoughts wandered far enough that she almost forgot the book in front of her.

"Ms. Sloane."

She looked up.

"Yes?"

Cyrus turned his workbook slightly.

"Could you explain this problem?"

"Of course. For this one, you should start by..."

A small amount of happiness slipped into Audra’s voice.

She moved closer to the page and began walking him through the solution.

Cyrus listened carefully.

The more time he spent studying with Audra, the more he approved of having her as a friend.

Human kindness really was convenient.

That evening, The Full Moon Lounge was comfortably warm despite the chill outside.

Low music moved through the room while customers settled into their usual seats.

Cyrus stood behind the bar.

"One Sunset, please."

"I will make it for you."

The customer had been coming often enough that Cyrus recognized the order before she finished speaking.

Their daily conversations rarely went beyond this.

She ordered.

He made the drink.

That was usually all.

Cyrus worked through the familiar steps and placed the finished Sunset in front of her.

The regular accepted it, lingering for several seconds.

Her attention stayed on Cyrus.

A question seemed ready to leave her mouth.

She eventually swallowed it and carried the drink toward her usual seat.

From there, she sipped slowly while occasionally looking back toward the young bartender behind the counter.

She was hardly alone.

Several regular customers behaved the same way.

Cyrus paid little attention to any of them.

With no immediate orders waiting, he wiped down a clean glass and let his thoughts wander.

Helena had not appeared today.

Neither had Rhea.

Helena might simply be busy.

Rhea was harder to explain.

Had she gone out of town for work again?

Maybe police duties had kept her occupied.

Or perhaps she really was avoiding The Full Moon Lounge because of what happened last weekend.

Cyrus continued cleaning while serving customers whenever another order came in.

If Rhea was embarrassed, that presented a problem.

He had accepted a ridiculous amount of money from her.

More importantly, Rhea remained useful.

Losing a reliable detective over one badly handled incident would be wasteful.

Maybe he should message her after work.

Nothing complicated.

He could ask whether she was doing all right.

The thought remained with him until Malcolm Baird eventually spoke from nearby.

"You are good for tonight, Cyrus. You should head home."

Cyrus checked the time.

"It is Friday. I can stay longer if you need help."

"The lounge is not busy enough to need you. Get some rest."

Malcolm’s tone left little room for argument while somehow remaining gentle.

Cyrus nodded.

"All right. I will finish putting these away first."

A little later, he changed and left the lounge.

Walking through the chilly night, Cyrus found himself thinking that the Baird family really was unusually considerate.

He had not gone far when a car horn sounded beside him.

Cyrus turned.

A familiar vehicle had slowed near the curb.

The window lowered.

Rhea Maddox sat behind the wheel.

She was dressed in a dark blue police uniform that sharpened her already confident appearance.

Cyrus stopped.

"Detective Maddox?"

"You just finished work?"

"Yes, I just left."

Rhea glanced toward The Full Moon Lounge behind him.

"That is unfortunate. I finally finished my own work and was planning to stop in for a drink."

Cyrus had not even decided how to answer when she continued.

"How about doing me the honor of coming to my place instead?"

He looked at her.

Rhea smiled.

"I will not drink much this time, and I will pay you again."

Then her expression softened slightly.

"I also want to apologize properly for what happened before."