Jolie bursts into my room, breathless.
"Baby!"
Her eyes land on my knee, the blood soaking through the cotton.
"Oh my God…"
Before I can answer, she pulls out a blood bag from her jacket and tosses it onto my bed like it's the most normal thing in the world.
"Drink it," she says. "You'll heal faster."
I nod, forcing a small smile. "Thanks."
Because it is normal.
Dhampirs live on this.
It's not shocking.
It's not forbidden.
It's survival.
I bite the seal and drink.
The familiar metallic taste hits my tongue.
Warm enough. Thick enough.
It should help.
It should feel right.
But it doesn't.
Like always
The taste turns sour in my mouth almost immediately.
Not disgusting.
Just… wrong.
Like watered-down life.
Jolie keeps talking, pacing the room, trying to keep her voice light.
Why did l do dis and dat
Blah blah
I watch her for a second, then ask quietly—
"What do you think is going happen to Xavier?"
That gets her attention.
She lifts her head slowly. "Don't tell me in a situation like this,all you can possibly think about right now is Xavier"
"Kind of..l mean he was there"
"Depends."
"On what?"
She shrugs. "On Sameen."
My stomach tightens.
"If the captains decide he failed his duty… they'll punish him. Maybe strip his rank. Maybe suspend him. Worst case? They make an example out of him."
" Wait ..they can't be that serious "
"Apparently they can .. she's the heiress, and you'll be surprised to know how the rules here are strict, especially when it comes to a Dhampir novice"
I swallowed,not from fear but from
One- the gnawing guilt that this could actually be my fault.
Two - a solid reason for him to despise me even more .
Three-A fly-away ticket to paradise… and a one-way plunge into Xavier's world, where his glare cuts deeper than any blade, slicing straight through my merciless soul.
Jolie leans back, casual again.
"But Xavier's Xavier," she says. "He'll survive it. He always does."
I swallowed another mouthful of blood again, forcing it down, forcing my throat to cooperate.
Because if I don't drink it, I heal slower.
And slow healing is suspicious.
Jolie finally stops talking, squeezes my shoulder, and leaves.
The door shuts.
Silence.
The moment I'm alone, my body turns against me.
I rush to the bathroom,barely make it to the sink before I gag.
The blood comes up.
All of it.
I cough, shaking, gripping the edge of the basin as my stomach empties like it's rejecting poison.
When it's over, I stare at the dark mess in the sink, breathing hard.
Blood bags never sit right with me.
Never have.
And I don't know why.
I don't crave human blood.
I don't even like the thought of it.
I only take it when I absolutely have to.
When there's no other choice.
But the blood they all survive on?
The blood that's supposed to make me stronger?
My body refuses it like it knows I'm not built the same.
And that truth…
is starting to scare me more than the Strigoi did.