The tiny hairs on the back of Luna's head stood on end.

The vampire, with his twelve-year-old appearance, made him as innocent as vulnerable as a child, but Luna knew otherwise.

His gray eyes swirled with wisdom and age as if he had witnessed the rise and fall of several civilizations without the tiniest bit of interest.

How ancient was this vampire?

Suddenly, he tilted his head, slowly blinked, and crouched down.

"Hello, love." His voice was low, and he had this Scottish warrior accent which made him sound older than he looked. "Glad to see you're still breathing."

The desire to kiss his bow-shaped lips intoxicated her senses, filling her thoughts with lust. She fought the urge to reach out and trace her fingertips along his jaw--to grab him by the neck and kiss the life out of him.

She fought the urge to—-

Oh, goddess.

This was a kid standing before her.

No kissing kids and certainly, no kissing of males.

This must be the famous hypnotic voice that vampires used to control people, make them do their bidding, or to make them their victim begging for them to suck their blood.

She had to snap out of this haze.

Luna needed to concentrate.

"As the Vampire King's general, I wonder if His Highness would allow me to taste such an exotic creature?"

The vampire boy plucked some hair strands away from her face and held her chin up, gently inspecting her ears from side to side.

When he saw the blood trickling from her ears, his dull gray eyes flashed crimson and his fangs lengthened.

She pinched her lips together as she curbed the urge to scream.

Luna stared back at him, wild-eyed.

"I want to lick that blood off your face." The boy said softly enough that it made Luna shiver. "But I can't. Not yet."

Luna's gaze swept over him once more, and she found him swiping his tongue across the tips of fangs as he licked his dry lips.

He clenched his fists as if fighting a compulsion that is unfamiliar to her.

As she sucked in a breath, Luna felt her dark desires sizzle to life despite her condition.

His piercing gray eyes oozed seduction and danger. "I'm here to help, but there's something you have to do in exchange."

Luna nodded desperately and the painful effort made her moan.

"Please," she gurgled.

Save me first.

"Here." She saw him grab something out of his pocket.

It was a small fancy vial with red liquid inside it.

He removed the cork, drank all of its contents, and forced her to open her mouth.

His lips hovered above hers.

The next thing Luna knew, he had pressed his lips against hers, transferring the red liquid to[through] her parted lips.

The liquid was thick, warm, and sweet.

It became sweeter the more she swallowed.

Mmm.

She swallowed, taking comfort from its warmth and sweetness.

She was still so caught up in her enjoyment of the liquid that she did not notice that there wasn't anything else to swallow while her lips remained pressed against the vampire's lips in a kiss.

The vampire boy forced his tongue into her mouth.

Alarm rang through her system.

She could feel that the bleeding had stopped and enough strength had returned to her limbs for her to push him away.

He didn't budge at first, so she bit his lip hard, which made him stop mauling her lips with his fangs.

"Ouch. What did you do that for?" He touched his bleeding lip and scowled at her.

She watched in fascination as his bleeding lip formed a small white scar that gradually shrank until it was completely gone.

"Sorry," she said, feeling even more of her strength return.

What was in that red liquid she drank?

Food for the gods?

Ambrosia?

Herbal medicine for vampires?

Suddenly, Luna thought that her head had exploded into tiny fragments as a sharp ache pounded her temples.

Beads of sweat dotted her skin.

Her stomach pricked and burned as if she had swallowed a thousand poisonous needles.

"Don't panic. Give your body some time to adjust to the King's blood."

The pain grew stronger with each passing second.

Her joints felt swollen and she had trouble drawing in a decent breath.

It was as if she had broken all of her bones and something had stitched them back together again in fast forward.

She felt bruised and sore.

"You will live in the castle as the Vampire Kingdom's property. There is no escape. If you attempt to leave the confines of the barriers, the poison you have ingested will do its rightful job and ruin your system." The boy said solemnly as if he was praying for her death. "Follow my advice, love...If you want to live a little longer, that is."

+++

Edited By: RedPandaChick