...Unfortunately, I forgot that I had my voice back, and when his fangs pierce my skin, I let out a small involuntary moan. I quickly cut off the sound and hope he didn't notice.
No such luck. After a few moments of stunned silence, he pulls back to look me in the face. I can feel my whole face on fire and try to cover it with my hands, but he easily pulls them back down.
"Ohh, that's interesting," he purrs. "And what, say, will you give me in return for keeping that a secret from Adrian?"
I'm too embarrassed to speak. All my years as a thrall, never slipping up, and the first time I do is in a situation like this? I've screwed myself over in a way I never saw coming. I struggle to speak. "I-I don't have an answer," I stutter nervously. I'm trying to look anywhere but his face.
He chuckles his low chuckle again. "I have an idea," he says, eyes flashing. "If you let that sound out for me, I'll keep it a secret." He leans into to take another pull of my blood. I writhe in response, but stubbornly stay silent. It's too embarrassing, and I have no idea what I would sound like...or how loud I would be…
"Oh, not going to take it?" he asks. "Lucien would love to know too, you know." He takes another drink, obviously enjoying my discomfort.
When he pulls back again, I force myself to look him in the eye, even though my cheeks are still blazing. "I'm not going to give you anything that would give you an advantage," I say, though my voice is less decisive than I want it to be. But I need to stick by it. I can't let any one of these goddamn vampires have a hand up on me - even if it means letting out such a long-held secret.
"Alright," he chuckles. "As you wish." But he stops drinking, laying down beside me instead. At my obvious confusion, he grins devilishly. "I want you perfectly awake when I tell them about this," he says, pulling me in.
Stubbornly, I push at his chest, trying to regain some distance. But he yanks me in. "Play nice," he says, "and I won't lock your ankles back up."
"Fine," I relent, and he pulls me back against his chest. Despite myself, I fall asleep quickly.
I'm roused rather roughly by someone banging on the door - Virgil, probably. I notice Dante is already gone, and I'm too relieved to realize I should be worried.
My suspicions are confirmed when Virgil marches into the room and pulls me out of bed. He takes my hands and starts marching me to his room, but I protest. "Wait, Virgil. I need to eat breakfast."
He looks towards the main room. "But everyone is going to be there," he mumbles.
I plant my feet stubbornly. "I've barely eaten enough the past few days as it is. I need to take care of myself properly or I'll get sick and die."
His eyes widen, and instead he hurriedly tugs me towards the dining hall. "You better make up for this," he says sourly.
I can't help but giggle in response. "Don't worry. I'm willing to do just about anything for a good book," I joke.
"Oh, is that all?" comes Adrian's voice from the dining room, and I freeze. I completely forgot about last night. Hesitantly, I round the corner to find the other three vampires grinning at me.
"You know what, you're right," I say in a hurry. "I'll just eat in your room." I turn around to leave, but Virgil holds me back.
"No, I want to hear what they have to say," he says. Of all the times-!
"Come, have a seat, little bird," says Adrian with even more sweetness in his voice than usual. "We've prepared a wonderful meal for you."
Honestly, with vampires cooking, I doubt that. I feel myself turning red from the mere pressure of their stares, and try to distract myself with food. At least it's hot. But I can't ignore them for long.
"Virgil, you'll want to hear this," says Adrian, leaning in towards me. I lean away as far as I can and eat faster, wishing with all my might to disappear from this godforsaken mansion.
"Our little bird here," he continues, "well, it turns out she's a rare bird indeed." He strokes my hand and I pull that away from him too. He just giggles in response.
"What….are you talking about." asks Virgil with a dumbfounded look.
"Let's just say she has a taste for our bites."
"What?"
Finally Lucien speaks up with a matter-of-fact tone. "She's a maso-"
I choke on my food and start coughing. Dante and Adrian are both laughing as I sputter, while Virgil looks at me in a wholly new way. A way that I'm not sure I like.
"You're lucky you have her for the day," says Lucien with envy. "I want her tomorrow."
"No way!" cries Adrian. "I don't want to go another day without playing with her!"
At that, I slam my bowl down on the table. "No one's going to play with me!" I shout, a little louder than I meant to. "I have my limits, and that's one of them!" I stand and jab my fork at them as I continue. "I don't do anything unless I want to. So if anyone wants anything from me, you're going to have to ask for it like a decent person!"
There's a few seconds of stunned silence before they all burst out into uproarious laughter. I drop my fork on the table, turn around, and leave with my face burning.
But I only take a few steps into the hallway before Virgil catches up to me. He seems surprised when I go into his room willingly. "A promise is a promise, right?" I say.
He nods silently, pulls out the second book of the series I'd read yesterday, and settles down to....watch me read.
"Aren't you going to read anything?" I ask him. He seems startled.
"Oh. Right…" he trails off.
I sigh and close the book. "Alright, just tell me what you want to know," I say frankly. But he just turns a little pink and looks away.
"I'm...tired," he says lamely.
"Then read a book and take a nap," I say, tossing him the book he'd been reading yesterday.
"I don't want to," he pouts. "I want....I want to talk to you…" he adds shyly.
It comes out of my mouth before I even realize it. "You're adorable."
Finally, Virgil turns more than a little pink and stutters. "You-you - I thought- I, I mean-"
I let out a full laugh, the first I've had in a long time. "Alright, Virgil. Why don't we start somewhere easy. You were telling me about a manga you liked yesterday. Can you show it to me?"
He nods, and roots through his bookshelf before pulling out a trio of blue volumes. He obviously has the special edition, but there's a lot of dust on them. "It looks like you haven't read it in a while," I say. "Want to read it together?"
Again, Virgil nods with a small smile and pulls me onto his lap. At first, he's keeping pace with me, but at some point I realize he's fallen asleep on my shoulder. If things could stay like this, maybe I don't have that much to worry about after all.