Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 89379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 447(@200wpm)___ 358(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 447(@200wpm)___ 358(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
“What?” I frowned. “That’s not how the saying goes. It’s killed the cat.”
“Dammit,” he muttered. “The spell I cast to learn your language has a few kinks in it. Sometimes I get your idioms wrong. Anyway, my point is, you’ll do well to steer clear of the fucked-up rituals of this place.”
Rituals? Now I really wanted to know. “If that’s true, then why are you going?”
“Because I’ve avoided it long enough.”
“So,” I surmised, “it’s a ritual that prisoners perform?”
He shook his head. “Not specifically. It’s ritualistic in the sense that it happens once a month. Really, Darya, it’s not something you’d ever be interested in attending, so it’s better if you know as little as possible about it.”
“How do you know I wouldn’t be interested?”
He surveyed me briefly, then replied, “Because you’re too smart.”
“And you aren’t?”
“I am, but sometimes gazing upon the beauty of the blade is worth the risk of being cut.”
I threw my hands up. “Okay, now I don’t understand at all.”
“Just take your shower so that we can return to our cells before anyone notes our absence.”
“I already told you, I’m not showering, so we might as well—” A sudden weakness overcame me, and I had to sit down. I felt woozy. I didn’t think I’d ever felt so starved for blood in my life. It didn’t matter how much regular food I ate. The need for blood ached in my veins, a horrible scratchy sensation just under the surface of my skin. Vasilios peered at me in concern and moved to sit beside me on the bed. I bristled at his proximity, and he definitely noticed.
“You’d think I was the one who hadn’t bathed in days,” he commented harshly.
“Can you blame me for being distrustful?” I countered. “You pretended to be my friend for weeks, acted like this whole other person. I’m sorry, but that’s not something I can just forget.”
He held my gaze a moment, some kind of resolution forming in his eyes. “Then I’ll have to work hard to make a better impression,” he said before continuing. “Starting with providing you with the blood you very obviously need.”
I was already shaking my head. “Thank you, but no.”
“Darya, you almost keeled over right in front of me just now. You need to be strong in this place.” He put his hand on my shoulder, and I practically leapt off the bed.
“Don’t ever touch me,” I warned, unable to disguise my genuine reaction to him. If I wanted to complete my mission faster, then I should play along and let him get close. Unfortunately, I wasn’t very good at ignoring my natural instincts, and those instincts told me to keep my guard up around Vasilios.
His gaze hardened, and a chill tiptoed down my spine. I had no idea what he was thinking, but the odd look he gave me made me wonder if I’d made him suspicious. But no, that couldn’t be right. Vasilios was well aware of how I felt about him. In fact, allowing him to put his hand on my shoulder would be far more suspect than leaping away.
“My apologies,” he said finally. “I won’t make that mistake again.” A pause, then, “You have about five more minutes to shower. After that, we’ll need to get back. We can’t be gone longer than half an hour, or someone will notice.”
I glanced once more at the open-plan bathroom and swore under my breath. I would have to give in, wouldn’t I? Not only because I couldn’t stand to stay in my soiled clothes another day but also because it was a small step in pleasing Vasilios, and the more I pleased him, the more likely he was to reveal his secret schemes.
“Fine, turn around,” I said gruffly.
“You’d swear I was asking you to bathe in piss,” Vasilios commented wryly, though I heard the triumph in his voice. He’d won that round, and he was pleased about it.
I made sure he was facing the wall before I quickly undressed and turned the water on. It was a relief just to be out of that dirty, torn jumpsuit. I brought it into the shower with me, figuring I’d wash it and put it back on wet. Being a dhampir, I wasn’t as susceptible to pneumonia as humans were, and wearing wet clothing was preferable to putting dirty ones back on.
I stepped under the spray, and blessedly warm water cascaded down my face and body. It was a convenience I’d taken for granted my entire life. Never again would I fail to appreciate the simple pleasure of getting clean. There was a bar of soap and some shampoo. I squeezed the shampoo onto my clothes and quickly washed and rinsed them, watching the water turn pink as the blood seeped from the fabric. I wrung everything out, then hung each item over the shower railing to dry.