Hadiin

He barely saw her go, his own anger and emotional fragility making him shake. A thought popped unbidden into his head: that he was sorry he’d paid her out. Should have just kept the money in his account and left her broke. He tried to ignore the more mature voice in the back of his head that knew that ripping her off that way would have been utterly wrong.

Embarrassed by the attention that he was getting, he pushed his way past people in the street and took the first turn, just wanting to get away from her, from everyone. He wandered. He had yet to explore the town of Belleville. Not that he cared to right now. Mostly, he just let his feet carry him in random directions and felt sorry for himself.

It was with some surprise that he found himself strolling behind the inn he’d stayed at the previous night. His feelings had had time to cool down and his self-loathing was rising up something fierce.

An officer of the Watch stood behind the inn, taking notes as a man on a ladder cleaned blood from where the female assassin or thief had gone down early this morning. He didn’t recognize the officer from the night before, so perhaps it was someone only assigned the case today.

Seeing this as a way to distract himself, he sauntered over. “Hey there. You investigating the theft from last night?”

The officer barely looked up. “I am.”

“Any leads? Will you be able to get the money back?” he asked in earnest. Because he could really use that gold.

The officer actually snorted and chuckled. “No.”

“Really?”

“We’re not even going to investigate. There’s no point. By all accounts, it was a pro assassin or rogue that hit that couple. Damn fools for carrying around that kind of coin without protection, just asking for that kind of attention. Money’s gone. Guy who did it is probably already back in the big city, spending it.”

“What about the woman? The one who fled?”

“Probably dead somewhere, given how much blood she left behind.” He gestured towards the man cleaning the wall.

“Are you going to search for her?”

The officer sighed. “Look, this isn’t my first time with something like this. The town watch simply doesn’t have the resources to conduct in-depth investigations for every little crime that comes up. Now, if one or both of the ice cream couple had died, it might be a different story. We’d probably put a little more effort into it. But we honestly wouldn’t come up with anything. We’re guards, not investigators. And the underworld runs dark and deep, even in a mostly peaceful town like this.” He flipped his notebook closed, tipped his helmet to Hadiin and strode off. He called over his shoulder. “Everyone lived. Dumb bastards should just consider themselves lucky and leave it at that.”

What an…underwhelming yet probably realistic appraisal of the situation. It was so realistic, in fact, that Hadiin couldn’t even bring himself to get mad about it. Actually, he couldn’t help but chuckle. “He’s right. I should consider myself lucky.” Then he even laughed, slumping up against the corner of the factory opposite the rear of the inn and sliding down to sit on the ground. The laughter did him good, sweeping his bad mood out of his heart until only remnants remained.

“Well, this is probably why rich people have bodyguards and stuff, right?” He shook his head at himself. Then he thought of Marian. “I’m such a resoundingly poor-mannered fool.” He leaned his head back against the wall.

And felt something tacky.

He looked over his shoulder and saw a red stain, now with marks from his hair in it. Was that more of that woman’s blood from last night? Curious, he stood back up and looked for more. To his surprise, he found some in a street running away from the inn. He lost the trail in the next intersection, but after canvassing the area for about twenty minutes, he picked up a few more specks of blood at the entrance to an alley.

He wrinkled his nose at the smell. Rusted cans and old, battered crates filled with refuse were stacked up close to the street. Residents and business owners from nearby probably dumped whatever they no longer wanted just inside the alley out of laziness rather than disposing of it properly or going further in so it was actually hidden.

He carefully stepped past a couple of garbage piles, scaring a rat into scampering under a mouldy old blanket. The alley wasn’t that long and looked like it took a turn up ahead when it came up against another building. Something soft squished underfoot and he refused to look down at it. He didn’t want to know what it was. Then he came around a stack of rotting lumber and saw a body.

She lay on her side, unmoving, her eyes closed. There were holes in her tights and jacket, blood on the ground and wall behind her.

Guess she hadn’t gotten very far after all. If only the Watch had put in at least a little effort they could have gotten this much. He knelt on one knee and bent to see her face. His brows lifted. She was remarkably pretty, fine featured but with full lips. Feeling like it was something you did when you came across a body, he reached down and tried to feel a pulse on her neck. All he got was cold fingers.

Her eyelids flickered and he snatched those fingers right back. A pair of red eyes blearily tried to focus on him. “Oh hey,” she mumbled.

“A-are you ok?” he stammered. It was a stupid thing to say, but it had been reflexive. The voice in the back of his mind had enough self-awareness to chide him. You can say that now? Here? Why didn’t you say it to Marian earlier, you idiot?

Those full lips, painted candy red, smiled up at him. “I know you. I watched you with your girlfriend. She’s really hot.”

“She’s not my girlfriend,” he protested. “In fact, she left me.”

“Aw, that sucks. But you’re not dead. Good for you.” Her voice wasn’t exactly sympathetic. She closed her eyes for a long moment and wavered as if dizzy. “Say, you wouldn’t happen to have a healing potion, would you? I’m kind of dying here.”

“You must be kidding me. You tried to rob me!”

“Sure. But I wasn’t going to kill you. Just sneak off with the loot. Come on. Just one little healing potion. I’m having a hard time moving on my own. And my wounds stopped healing themselves.” She looked at the ground next to herself where a red stain had spread. “See? Blood everywhere. Pretty sure most of it is mine.”

He stood up and stared down at her. Healing potion? He should just call the Watch. Or leave her to die. He debated that for about fifteen seconds before he finally strode off down the alley.

He had to ask for directions but was eventually pointed in the direction of an alchemist shop. The inside of the shop was only about four steps in any one direction, the shelving units and counter made out of rich, red wood.

A man with wild blue hair and spectacles looked up from where he was mixing something in a pot over a burner behind the counter. “Afternoon. How can I help, sir?”

Hadiin took in the array of bottles on the shelves in a variety of glass bottles, some as small as a thumb, others large enough to hold two or three cups of liquid. Colours ranged all over the rainbow. Some sparkled, others looked like they had motes of darkness floating in them. He cleared his throat. “Good afternoon. I’m looking for healing potions.” His negativity had ebbed enough that he felt his good manners return and felt more at home in himself because of it.

The man eyed the holes in Hadiin’s clothing. “Ah. Of course. Low, mid, or high grade?”

“What’s the difference?”

“High will probably bring you back from a body full of the worst wounds, if you haven’t lost too much blood or damaged the brain overly much. Mid grade will cure a good beating and a bunch of nasty cuts or maybe one serious wound. Low is for small wounds, the kind of thing you keep around the house for accidents.”

“How much?”

“Fifty silver for low, five gold for mid, and twenty for high grade.”

Hadiin paled. That was expensive. He only had ten gold to his name. He recalled the woman being hit with arrows and being stabbed. But also that she was a vampire. Maybe he could get away with a low-grade one? Then again… “I’ll take a mid-grade one.”

The man pointed him to the shelf to his right. “Blue bottles on the left. Medium ones.”

“What if there is a lot of blood loss?” he asked. “Is there a potion for that, too?”

“There is. Two shelves down. The deep red ones. Two gold for the low grade.”

“Two?” Who would have thought potions were this pricy? Maybe he should open an alchemy shop and get in on this.

“But don’t take blood regen potions at the same time as the healing potions. You have to wait at least a half hour. Take it at the same time as the healing potion and it won’t do anything. And you’ll screw up the healing potion and make yourself sick. Too soon after healing and the potion still won’t work. Have to give your body time to absorb all the magic from the healing potion before the blood regeneration potion goes into effect. Got it?”

“Yes. Thank you.” He reluctantly picked up a single blood regen vial. He felt like he needed it. He was still light headed from last night.

And there went a huge portion of his remaining funds. Just like that. For some stranger who’d tried to rob him. Ah well. He wasn’t going to let it get to him this time. He hustled back to the alley hoping the thief was still alive. Even if she wasn’t, at least the potions were a good investment. He chugged the blood regen as he went. It was incredibly nasty. Apparently, taste was not something anyone bothered with when creating magic potions.

Turned out she was still breathing. Also that, apparently, vampires did that. Breath, that is. He tipped the healing potion into her lips.

She practically sucked the opening of the vial, desperate for the liquid. After it was gone, she gasped and then let out a long sigh. With a smile, she was finally able to sit up on her own and lean against the dirty alley wall. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. I don’t suppose you have some gold on you to pay for it?” His lips curled up in a bit of a smile.

“I would, but some homeless guy already pilfered everything I have. My bag of holding. My knife. And now I’m poor. But I’ll pay you back. I just have to go home and get the money.”

He laughed. “Sure, sure.”

She tried to rise but immediately gave up. “Ugh. Too weak. I need blood.” The young woman seemed resigned about that fact.

Seeing that she wasn’t about to get up anytime soon, he sat opposite her and leaned against the other building. “Me too. But I already spent gold on a blood regeneration potion for myself. I’m not about to get you one, too. I can’t afford it.”

“Yeah. Sorry about that. That guy last night was a jerk.” Her eyes twinkled. “But I meant I need to drink actual blood. Vampire, remember?”

He raised one brow. “You’re just throwing that out there? Aren’t you worried you’ll get staked or something?”

She waved the idea off. “You already knew. And you saved me anyways. I don’t suppose you’d give me some of your blood?”

“Ha! I’m just getting it back now. Assuming the potion is working. I rather think I should hold onto it for now. I need it too.”

She made a pouty face. “Pretty please? Just a little bite and suck?”

“No. I’m afraid not.”

Her lower lip protruded further. “You don’t want me to suck you off?”

“Ha! Not with those teeth. Sorry.”

“What if I offer to help you find the assassin who took your money?”

He sighed. “Tempting. But I’m coming around to thinking it might be impossible to get that back. Especially without…Marian’s help.”

“You aren’t much of a fighter, huh?”

“I’m a merchant. I use charisma as a weapon. So no, I can’t fight worth a damn. But I shouldn’t have to. I chose to be a merchant specifically so I wouldn’t have to go around swinging swords and what have you.”

“Yeah? How’s that working out for you?” she teased.

“Pretty well up until I lost everything. Though, to be fair, only because someone else was there to swing a sword for me. Well, burn them to death with her magic.”

“So now you’re alone and weak. Welcome to the club.”

“Yeah? What’s your story?”

“Do you care? You did good helping me. I appreciate it. But you don’t have to stick around. I’ll pay you back the gold for the potion.”

“How do you make money? Are you an adventurer? Or just a thief?”

“Not just a thief. I have funds; don’t worry.”

“Forgive me if I don’t believe you. I bought the healing potion assuming I’d be out the gold permanently. I couldn’t bring myself to just let you die.”

“A merchant with a heart? How rare.”

“And you’re a vampire thief.”

“Technically, [Vampire] and [Thief]. Different classes.”

“You’re dual class?”

“That I am.”

“So how does that work? You have to split your experience between them, right?” he guessed. “So you level at half the speed?”

Her sigh was downright dejected. “Vampire isn’t a regular class; it’s a monster class. It doesn’t level. It comes with innate abilities but I have to drink blood to use them. My thief class can level. Unfortunately, being a vampire, I can’t exactly register with the adventurer’s guild and take quests.”

“So you have to go solo forever. Or join some kind of thieves guild?”

“Never,” she swore. “I have my reasons. Besides, I may be a thief but let’s just say my values don’t entirely line up with the guild’s. So, yes, I suppose I’ll always be solo.” She seemed slightly down at the idea.

“So what are you going to do? Find some way to give up one of your classes? Cure the vampirism?”

“I don’t know.” She straightened and tried to reassert her pride. “I’m not giving up on myself. Sure, life is hard now because I might have been foolish. But maybe being a vampire has upsides in exchange for a lifetime of loneliness. A hundred years from now, I might be a powerful badass.” She tried to smile, but it was bittersweet and didn’t really reach her eyes.

He couldn’t help but think of what a life she’d lead. “Are there are ways of levelling faster? Rare items that grant experience boosts maybe?”

She nodded uncertainly. “Maybe. Can’t afford any right now though, even if there are. I heard a rumour that there are rare classes that can support others and boost their growth or something. But I think it only applies to elite classes. Probably royalty.”

“I wonder if I could do it.”

“Oh? Are you a king?”

“Not yet. But I will be.” He twirled his moustache and felt more of his regular nature return.

“Good luck with that.”

“I wonder if there’s some special skill I could get as a merchant that would help others gain experience. Probably not though, or you’d see merchant adventurers a lot more often.”

“Well, when you’re king, come find me, ok? Don’t forget us little people dying in the gutter. Or undying. Festering? Maybe I’m festering.”

He smiled at her self-mocking humour but took a serious moment to silently consider her. He’d just lost his companion. He could use another. They seemed to get along. And she was beautiful, in a dark and deadly way. Probably more so when she wasn’t covered in blood and dirt and looking like she hadn’t slept in days.

“You’re staring,” she accused him, not unkindly.

“Just thinking.”

“About…?”

“I aim to be rich.”

“All merchants do.” She wasn’t impressed by the idea, as if money wasn’t all that important to her.

“Trouble is, it turns out that I work a lot better as part of a team. And my team just broke up.”

She scrutinized him. “You’re suggesting that we team up? Why would I do that?”

“Your job as a thief is to steal money or take things that can be sold. My role is to make money into more money. Maybe we’d work well together.”

“So you’re going to, what? Employee me? Bankroll me? Do you even have money now?”

“No.”

“This doesn’t sound like a great offer to me then.” So she said, but she looked a little tempted. “Besides, believe it or not, I don’t need the money. Not for myself anyway.”

He wondered what he could offer her to get her to agree. He had a hesitant thought and wondered if mentioning it would be a good idea, or crazy. “How about blood?”

Her brows rose and her eyes focused on him. She looked serious. “You’re going to give me your blood?”

He slowly nodded his head, apprehensive, but perhaps willing to try this. “You’re a vampire. You need to drink regularly, right? If we were in a party together, you could, uh, feed on me regularly. If you wanted to.”

She looked thoughtful but disappointed. “One person isn’t enough for that. Believe me, I know.”

They pondered in silence. “What if I regularly took blood regen potions?” he asked.

Her eyes brightened with interest. “Hmm. That’s not a bad idea, actually. I hadn’t thought of that! Although, you’d probably have to take mid-grade ones. Not sure low-grade would work fast enough for me to feed even every third day, not to mention what it would do to you being habitually low on blood. I mean, I could survive, but not be at peak strength. Unless I also fed on others. Which I…” She looked thoughtful.

“I assume that drinking more blood means you get stronger? Or level up or something?”

“If I could safely feed all the time, I’d become a stronger vampire. Yes…that could be a worthwhile arrangement.”

“And in return for my blood, maybe we could find some way to work together? At least it would be less lonely. I mean, I don’t care that you’re a vampire. I’m not going to turn you in or stab you in the heart with a stake.”

She took some time to think it over, growing more serious. “Ok. This could work. But I have to remind you, I’m not a rogue. I can’t go toe to toe with people in a fight like they can. That guy who almost did you in last night? He was either a rogue or an assassin. I’m not good at fights. I prefer to work from the shadows and stick to taking stuff.”

“I understand.”

“Also, like I said, I’m not doing this for the money. I enjoy being a thief. But a lot of the money I steal I give to people who need it.”

“Like a Robin Hood?”

“Who?”

“A famous highwayman. Stole from the rich and gave to the poor.”

She smiled. “Yes. Exactly like that. But that kind of thing doesn’t exactly mesh well with a merchant who’s trying to make himself rich.”

That was true and it gave him pause. “The reason I wanted to get rich is to buy the crown and become king.”

“Huh. Wouldn’t that be something? We could use a new king.” From her tone, she probably didn’t think his dream had any realistic chance of success.

Maybe it was a childish dream. He frowned in thought.

She tilted her head. “What are you thinking so hard about?”

“I admit that becoming a merchant was a pretty impulsive choice. And I’ve been really focused on the money. Maybe too focused.”

“Is that why she left you?”

“Kind of. Part of it, I think,” he admitted.

“Your girlfriend’s pretty cute.”

“She’s not—“

“I saw you having sex. Watched the whole thing from the balcony. It was pretty hot.” She playfully winked, teasing him.

He banged the back of his head against the wall in frustration. “Maybe I can get her back. I made a mistake. I should find a way to make it up to her.”

“What class is she?”

“Sorceress. Dragon. Uses fire.”

“Ooh, could be powerful. She high level?”

“Not yet. Same as me. We’re—” He hesitated.

“What?”

“We both chose our classes recently. Like, this week. Our levels are both in the single digits.”

Her eyes widened. “What? How?”

He shrugged. While he was tempted to confess that they were from another world, he doubted she’d believe him. “Doesn’t matter.” He shook his head and sighed. “I think that focusing too much on the money is what got me into trouble. Maybe I need to rethink what kind of merchant I want to be. Honestly, I’m not really driven by the idea of personal luxury. Perhaps our values, yours and mine, don’t have to be so far apart after all.”

“Maybe.” She bit her lip and looked away. Then she sighed and turned back to him. “It would be nice to have someone else that I can trust with the fact that I’m no longer human. It’s exhausting having to hide it all the time. And lonely.”

“I can imagine.”

“I like the idea of having a partner or team. You have Gregor Weesely after you though. So associating with you comes with serious risk.”

“You think he’s the one who sent the assassin last night?”

“I think it’s a very good bet.”

“Yeah, that’s what I figured too.” He tsked. It was not a small problem. She was a thief and a vampire. She could be a powerful ally, even if he didn’t know how yet. What he did know was that he needed allies because he was just not going to make anything of his new life on his own. Plus, the more time he spent with her, the more he liked her. He wanted to be friends.

“Well, life comes with risks,” she suddenly decided, perhaps deciding to return to being cheerful. “Sure, let’s team up. I have no idea how that will work, but you already know some of my secrets so why not? If things don’t work out, we can just go our separate ways. Or I can turn you into Weesely myself. Maybe get some kind of reward.” Her eyes danced.

“I hope you’re just joking about that last part,” he replied. But having found a new partner, he felt energized. “So we try to find ways to help each other out? And I act as your…”

“Portable meal,” she finished. She gave him a sultry, predatory look and pushed herself off the wall so that she could crawl towards him.

He found himself getting all turned on and his breathing picked up. He shifted, his pants growing tight and uncomfortable. “What are you doing?”

“You took that potion, right? It’s been a while. And I really need blood.” She slithered up to his body, her lithe flesh pressing into his.

“Y-you want to drink? Now?” He gulped.

“I’d better see if you taste any good. If not, I’m outta here.” Her face was close to his now. Her skin was warmer than before but cooler than was typical for a human.

He shook his head. “Why am I suddenly so…?”

Her red lips parted in a slender, knowing smile. “Vampire charm. It’s a skill that gets you turned on and gets the blood pumping, making it easier to feed. I don’t have the energy to scare you and chase you down to get your heart rate up that way. Better hurry though. I’m weak and it’s only going to last a few moments more.”

He tried to protest, but her tongue reached out and licked the side of his neck. It sent a shiver down his spine. He couldn’t believe this was actually happening. His heart was racing and he wanted to tear her clothes off as badly as he’d ever wanted to do that to anyone. He was panting, practically salivating.

One of her hands sought out the tent in his pants, the other ran up his chest and her slender fingers and long nails cupped his jaw. She tilted his head slightly and he didn’t resist. He couldn’t. Two pinpricks nipped his neck and he lightly cried out.

Her tongue moved on his skin and she sucked, drinking long and deep.

He started growing lightheaded again and put his hands on her torso to protest. “Stop. Please.”

She pulled out of his neck and licked the spot clean. Then she smiled and kissed him passionately, already looking somewhat recharged and happier. “You taste pretty good. Stay away from garlic and fatty foods and this could work.”

“I don’t even know your name.”

“Call me…Cat. As in cat burgler. Hmm, actually that’s terrible. I’ll have to come up with something better.”

“So that’s not your real name.”

“Not in this outfit it isn’t. I’d like to not have people know my real name in this line of work.”

“Fair enough. Cat.”

“And your name?”

“Hadiin. That’s my real name, by the way.”

“I figured.” She kissed him again. “My little blood slave.”

“Teammates,” he corrected her.

She grinned. “Whatever.”

He wondered just what he’d gotten himself into. And how he was going to explain this to Marian, let alone get her back.