“I don’t want to hurt her.”

“You won’t.” Lucien tightened his arms and put his cheek against her neck. “I won’t let you. Gedeyon?”

Gedeyon whistled, and Lucien could hear the boat coming closer. He felt Makeda’s body tense as the human scent approached. Makeda didn’t know it, but he’d ordered Gedeyon to have the humans nearer to the island over the past week as they made preparations to leave for Inaya’s territory. He’d ordered them to come closer to shore, even as he watched Makeda’s reaction. He’d monitored her closely, but he hadn’t noticed any loss of control.

“Lucien.”

“You can do this.”

He heard the woman coming through the trees. Hirut left them and went to greet her friend. They met at the edge of the trees, and he knew when Makeda spotted them. A human wouldn’t have heard the high whine in the back of Makeda’s throat, but Hirut did. Her eyes narrowed on Makeda.

“Calm,” Lucien ordered, letting his amnis flow over her skin as he often did when they slept. He reached out and felt his amnis flowing in her blood. “Calm, yene konjo.”

Her fangs remained long in her mouth, but he felt some of the tension ease. Lucien nodded at Hirut.

“Makeda, this is my friend Yohana. She is the one who bakes the bread for us,” Hirut said. “She’s lived here for many years with her family.”

Yohana was a good choice. Lucien noticed her heartbeat never rose. She was as calm as Hirut. Lucien would think them sisters if they were both human. Makeda’s body was frozen in his arms, but he could feel her blood coursing, the tension in her body. The first feeding would be difficult—there was no avoiding it—but her strength amazed him. The fact that she was waiting quietly and not snarling at only two months old was extraordinary.

“She has three children,” Hirut continued, holding on to Yohana as Lucien held on to Makeda. “And she has offered her blood to you.”

Yohana stepped closer and waited for Lucien to nod before she held out her wrist. Lucien reached for it and held Yohana’s hand.

“Makeda, you’re going to feed from Yohana,” he said quietly. “We won’t let you take too much, but it’s important to learn how to do this safely. Nod if you understand.”

She nodded.

Lucien licked at the human’s wrist and used a touch of amnis to numb it. Eventually, Makeda would do the same, but until she had more control, he wouldn’t take the chance that the human would be hurt. He held the wrist out to Makeda’s mouth and—

The human couldn’t stop the flinch when Makeda bit down and latched onto her wrist. Lucien held tighter. He counted the gulps of fresh blood Makeda took.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

On the fifth, he tried to ease her off. She’d already fed that night. He would never attempt this when she was truly hungry. But the lure of living blood was too much.

“Lucien,” Hirut said.

“She’s fine. Makeda, enough.” He tried to pinch her nose, but Makeda stomped on his instep. He winced and grabbed her tighter. “Makeda, enough.”

She held on, and Lucien could see the concern grow in Yohana’s eyes.

“Makeda—”

“Enough!” The ground jolted as Lucien heard Saba’s voice. Makeda released the human and turned to Saba with her fangs bared. Hirut pulled her friend away and into the trees a heartbeat later. Makeda lunged toward Saba, but before she could reach her, the ground opened up and swallowed Makeda and Lucien both.

Lucien lay silent in the earth until he heard Makeda begin to struggle. He slowly moved the earth around them until he formed a small cavern, smoothing back the earth and removing any rocks that would scrape against her sensitive skin. He scooted toward Makeda and took her in his arms, creating a cradle for her with his body and trying to ignore the blood smeared on her cheek.

She blinked and rubbed her eyes as if she were waking from a nap. “Lucien?”

“You know, that actually went better than I expected.”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Tobruk, Libya

Makeda woke as she did most nights in her new life, with Lucien wrapped around her. She gave herself a moment of peace before she opened her eyes.

Strong arms. A quiet heartbeat. The scent of him filled her senses as his amnis stroked over her skin. His bare chest pressed against her back, and her body heated with his quiet, steady energy.

Lucien surrounded her in the best way. His hold wasn’t constricting as she had imagined it might be. With every moment of her life so strictly controlled, the soft, binding hold he used let Makeda relax when she was with him. He would not let her hurt anyone even if she wanted to.

“Makeda.”

“Hmm?”

“We’ve landed in Tobruk. The others left the plane at dusk. Did you want to try live feeding tonight?”

She’d tried it two other times since the first night with Yohana, and both times Saba had needed to put her in the ground.

“I don’t think so. Not if I have another option.”

He reached behind him to the insulated chest with blood stores. “Here.”

Makeda bit into the corner of the packet and drained the pint of blood before he handed her another.

“That’s the last human blood for tonight, though we have some cow. Inaya will have more at her compound, so you’ll be able to feed before we rest for the day.”

She drained the second pint and sat up to drink the thermos of warmed cow’s blood Lucien handed her. Saba and Hirut had outfitted the plane with low beds and drapes that provided them a measure of privacy since they’d be spending so much time in the belly of the converted cargo plane for the duration of the campaign. The sight of Lucien shirtless and stretched out on the silk-covered pillows made her hunger in entirely different ways. Ways she knew they didn’t have time to indulge.