“That’s really unsanitary.”

He continued to hold her hand close and allowed his fangs to grow. Her eyes widened and she paled.

“Easy. I’m going to bite my tongue, not you. My blood will coat your scratch and heal it.”

She seemed speechless and afraid. It hurt a bit to bite down but he didn’t do much damage, just nicking his tongue with a fang to cause minimal bleeding. He put her hand against his mouth again, making certain his blood covered her scratch.

Glenda tried to tug her hand away a few times but she wasn’t strong enough to free her wrist. He waited a full minute before he pulled back. Then he turned his head, spitting to be certain he didn’t swallow any of her blood. “See? I didn’t bite.”

“You have really big fangs.” Her gaze locked onto his mouth.

“I’m a big man.”

She lowered her attention to his chest, then shifted her head in another direction to stare at anything but him. “Can you let me go now?”

“No. You’ll try to wipe my blood off and it’s not healed yet.” He focused on her palm, waiting a minute or two, then wet his thumb with his spit enough to rub across the area to clean off his blood. “There. See?”

She turned her head and he watched her face. Shock was easy to read as she got a glimpse of her hand. “It’s gone!”

He let go of her wrist. “I told you. My blood heals. Remember your cut finger? It was a small injury and you’d been injected by that master with my blood.” He sniffed. “I don’t smell any other cuts on you. Do you have any? I’m serious about infection. You’re a species prone to getting ill.”

“I’m good.” She inched over on the rock, almost falling off.

“Don’t fear me, Glenda.” It bothered him that she did.

Her gaze held his. “Could your blood cure cancer and stuff?”

He shrugged. “I’ve never tried that. It’s possible.”

“You really could save so many lives if you donated blood to humans.”

His anger stirred and it reminded him why he didn’t like her species. “And we would become the cows. Or more like rats. Hunted, trapped, and used to death. They wouldn’t care how many of us died to save their own. We’d become extinct. Your kind kills countless animals in laboratories and for what? So your perfume doesn’t give you a rash? So you can see if the drugs you make will kill you? You cause yourselves harm and innocent creatures pay the consequences.”

He stood, storming away.

Chapter Seven

Glen kept replaying his words in her head. Veso had a point. If anyone found out about his ability to heal with his blood, she doubted many people would care if he were willing to donate or not. They’d want to capture him and just take it. She watched him hide the rope and the other supplies they’d brought in bushes around the area, placing them out of sight.

“What are you doing?”

He didn’t look her way. “What does it look like?”

It was a dumb question but she just wanted him to talk to her. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply your life meant less than others. It just came as a surprise and that’s the first thing my mind went to.”

He faced her. “There are billions of humans on this planet and so few of us. We keep our numbers low to hide our existence. Our survival is based on secrecy to prevent your kind from wiping us out.”

She rose to her feet and tried to hide the grimace when her ass and legs protested. “I said I’m sorry. This is all new to me. I’m going to blurt things out before I can think it all through.”

Veso inclined his head. “I understand.”

“Thank you.”

“It doesn’t make it any less annoying.”

She actually smiled. “Probably not. I babysat three kids last summer for a cousin of mine and took them to the zoo. It amazed me what lame things they asked but they were all between the ages of four and seven. He’s a widow and works too much to take them to too many places. I guess I’m like a child to you. Why is that monkey in the tree and why do they put those tigers behind glass so we can’t pet them? Why? Why? Why? That was one word I really came to hate by lunchtime.”

He grinned.

“I’m just so curious,” she admitted.

“I’ll try to be more tolerant of your questions.”

“And the stupid shit I blurt out?”

“That too. If it makes you feel any better, most deadly diseases that kill humans are something that could only be cured if a Vampire turned them into one.”

She opened her mouth, wanting to know why, but then didn’t speak.

He seemed to guess her thoughts. “A small amount of blood can cure injuries that aren’t too severe. Cancer mutates cells, from what I understand, as well as a lot of other human diseases that kill. Genetics also play a big part in most diseases.” He stepped closer. “Humans would have to be completely changed over to combat something like that. Think of a world full of Vampires. They have laws so they don’t turn even their own friends and families. If they all did, the Vampires would hunt humans to extinction just to survive. It would be the end of your world, and eventually theirs, since once the blood was gone, they’d eventually die out from starvation.”

She understood what he was trying to say. “They’d kill all the people, then feed off the animals, until nothing would be left except bugs. Those would be hard to drink from.”

He nodded. “That’s a worst-case scenario. Think of the issues from using their blood to heal. Some would want to cure dying children with Vampire blood. Imagine being trapped in the body of a four-year-old forever. I’ve heard stories of ones like that, and all of them went massively insane. They had to be hunted and killed. They were cold-blooded killers without remorse. They mature in their minds but not in the flesh, denied adult needs because they’re trapped in the bodies of small children. It depraves them until only utter madness remains.”

She shivered, horror movies flashing through her head that she’d seen involving child monsters.

“You’ve had to deal with Vamps while you were captured. Most lose any sense of humanity when they’re turned. It’s in the Vampire nature, so they can feed without remorse, but they’re smart enough to wish to survive. That means following basic rules to hide what they are from your kind. Ones who don’t are considered rogue and killed to protect the others. You believe your world is harsh now? Imagine what it would be like if Vampires ruled.”