Page 59 of Nocturn

“Now Al, do not go scaring our Vessel.” Lord Vaner tsked from behind me.

Al straightened. “Nonsense, Vaner, I have nothing but awe for this woman.” He called me a woman, but he studied me like a specimen to dissect. “Come dear, let us take a look at that red blood.”

He gripped my arm, and I pulled back. He turned back to me, a frown on his lips and his salt and pepper brows cinched tightly together. Another hand landed on my shoulder. The smell of moss balls intensified.

“None of this is a request, Miss Amara.” Lord Vaner’s hot breath seared my ear. I clenched my teeth, withholding my recoil. “You are to do exactly as Al says.”

My pulse jumped, reacting to his threatening tone. This time, when Al urged me forward, I went. He guided me to a seat beside the platform with the various bubbling concoctions within beakers.

I believed the only one to fear was Lord Draven, but Vaner made my blood curdle in a way Lord Draven did not. It was a disgusting heaviness that reminded me of how it felt to be pinned by the guards the first eve I had been accosted.

Al rubbed a square patch across the inner side of my arm, leaving behind dampness. My question was answered when the stinging smell of alcohol reached my nose.

“I have forgotten the needles.” Al snapped his fingers and shuffled away. I peered around toward Lord Vaner. He watched me with an intensity that sent fear skittering up my spine. Nothing good would come of this man.

The invasive thought settled.

I would keep my guard up around him.

“Here we are,” Al chirped, his spectacles wiggling on the bridge of his nose. He set a small, compact case on top of the surface, knocking into an empty beaker. It tipped to the side, and I was quick to straighten it. “Oh, my, quite foolish of me,” he mumbled and patted my arm. “Well done, girl.”

My shoulders instinctively shrunk at the praise, and I was quick to straighten. Now I understood why there were so many bottles and shards of glass littering various areas. He’d dropped plenty already.

He stared at me absently, a sheen shining in his deep blue gaze.

“Not squeamish,” he murmured under his breath, speaking to himself. His smile widened. “Not like many of the Elite bluebloods around here, eh?” He lifted the tube he had been fiddling with, brandishing the thin needle at the tip. “Place your arm here, dearie.” He patted the tabletop.

My stomach turned with nervousness despite having received injections on an annum basis. As all redbloods must. A special faction of officers that carried out orders from the Council Registry would establish a post in every village and inject the anti-viral concoction into every redblood across Sycarious. There was no choice; it was law. Considering there was a registry of all redbloods, it was a very meticulous effort to ensure all of us were vaccinated for the safety of bluebloods, since diseases redbloods could carry were detrimental to them.

The needle entered the inner side of my elbow with a pinch. I gritted my teeth, and my nerves calmed with a puff of breath leaving my lips.

I watched scarlet fill the long tube and slide into a jar. This was not a vaccination; he was drawing blood from me.

“It shan’t take terribly long.” He patted my shoulder. Oddly enough, he made my nerves calm.

“Is it the vaccine?”

“Not at all, dearie, you do not need it twice in one annum.” He seemed to be a middle-aged man, and more suited to be in a library, not wearing an ivory cloak with smears across his clothing.

“All these questions,” Lord Vaner murmured. I startled. He was much closer than before. As soon as I met his intense focus, I turned back to staring at the red dripping into the jar.

My head swam, and I blinked to steady myself.

“Vaner, I have strict control of the girl. You may go,” Al said, grabbing a secondary beaker with bubbling liquid. “You will not want to be present for the screams.”

What?

I bit my tongue. He said it so calmly.

“Perhaps you are correct. I will send a member of the Guard down in case you need assistance.”

Footsteps retreated.

Al set the beaker of bubbling liquid on the surface of the table. As he retreated, the back of his hand knocked into another jar. Upon reflex, I lashed out and straightened the glass, stopping it from shattering across the ground. His bushy brows jumped.

“Well done, girl, well done.”

“I am happy to help.” I searched the mess about the chamber. “If you would accept my aid, I can keep your worktables clean, my lord.” I tacked on the formal address for all Elites. “It will allow you to focus on your incredibly important work.” I relaxed my shoulders despite the wooziness in my head. “There is naught for me to do withering away with the other feeders.”