CHAPTER NINE

Pushing Boundaries

There had been no vast improvement in Warren’s behaviour. He was still quiet and stuck to his routine religiously, but at least he hadn’t gotten any worse. Karou had started eating breakfast again, and a few mornings a week, he’d joined her at the kitchen island. While she ate her toast, he ate a light lunch. There was usually a newspaper between them, but she supposed he was making an effort.

Their evenings were the same as always. Warren would sit in one corner of the couch, drinking scotch, smoking cigarettes, and pretending to watch the television. While Karou would sit in the other, curled up with a cushion, pretending that she didn’t know he was watching her.

One evening Warren wouldn’t find Karou snuggled up in her usual spot, and seeing as he was trying to be friendlier, he thought that ought to concern him.

Stepping out into the courtyard, Warren put his nose into the air to track the direction Karou had wandered. The options were limited. The Compound's main building was the only place to go from the unit.

As far as any onlookers were concerned, Warren was taking an evening stroll. Although, every so often, he’d sniff the air to detect Karou’s scent. Because her scent was unique enough not to muddle in with the cacophony of other scents around the Compound, Warren managed to make it to the tavern following her trail without putting his nose down to the dirt.

Warren checked his wristwatch as he entered The Brass Lantern; it was nearly ten-thirty. Karou was out much later than usual, but it made sense why when he found her amidst the crowd, surrounded by her friends. The gaggle of the Compound’s youngsters were drinking together and generally having a good time. Warren knew what a good time looked like, even if these days, he didn’t stray too far enough from work to indulge.

Now that he knew where she was and what she was doing, he considered turning around and making his way back to the unit, but a thought popped into his head; why not stay for a drink?

With a beverage acquired, Warren took a table and quietly enjoyed his whiskey. It was a refreshing break from sitting at a desk with a planner or laptop in front of him, though he supposed it wasn’t quite as comfortable as the evening routine he’d gotten used to.

Discreetly, he stole glances in Karou’s direction, but once she noticed him, she met his eyes almost immediately. Raising her hand, she beckoned him over to the table where she and her friends congregated, but Warren merely shook his head in refusal. He didn’t want to sour her evening with his inadequate social skills. Or worse, embarrass her in front of her peers.

Stubborn to a fault, Karou wasn’t taking no for an answer, so with a wine glass in her hand, she made her way over to his table instead. A toothy smile spread across her face when she sat down without being invited.

“Hello, you.” The vivid peachy colour in her cheeks was clearly a side effect of the wine. Still, it suited her otherwise pale complexion, especially in the tavern’s dim and cosy lighting.

Warren’s eyes smiled upon her arrival, though his lips remained static. “Good evening,”

“Have you come to take me home because I’ve stayed out too late?” Karou giggled, sipping at the remnants in her glass. Her tone revealed she was giddy, if not slightly drunk.

“No, I’m not your father, Karou, but I tracked you here to make sure you weren’t up to mischief.”

“Oh, well, I haven’t been too naughty.”

“I think your friends would like you to go back to their table.” Warren tried to ignore her comment’s insinuation and nodded across the room at the group she’d abandoned. They were all looking her way, one more so than the others. Warren knew the boy, a member of one of the elemental families that had taken asylum at the Compound a couple of years ago. Since then, he’d hit puberty and his stride with women. He seemed interested in Karou, but he was a little more delicate when it came to expressing his attraction, unlike Ebon, her last love interest. Perhaps that was why she hadn’t noticed him.

“They’ll be heading back to their units soon, so there’s no point...” Karou wafted her hand, finished her wine, and lounged back in the bench seat with a contented sigh.

“Not quite yet, it would seem. One of them is heading this way...” Warren watched as the elemental boy stood up and walked toward their table.

“Uhm, hey Karou… Everyone is gonna head back home now but d’you wanna have one more drink with me? Uh, alone?” The boy put forth his proposal with a level of confidence that Warren found commendable. Respectfully, Warren didn’t look at him; he didn’t want to put him off.

“Actually, I think that was probably my last drink-” Karou started, only to be interrupted by Warren.

“I don’t think one more drink would hurt Karou. I’m sure this young man would even walk you back home after.” Warren looked between the two youngsters, trying to encourage the situation. “Am I right?”

“No, I’m fine. I don’t want another drink. I’d like to go home now. Warren, should we go?” Karou stood from the table and smiled at the boy in false sympathy. “Another time, though, yeah?”

Before anything else could be said, Karou was skipping out of the tavern leaving the would-be Romeo looking chest fallen. Her rejection had taken the wind right out of his sails. Warren raised his eyebrows and sucked his teeth by way of apologising for Karou’s let-down and followed her outside.

Out in the open air, Karou staggered away from the tavern and into the woods. The wine and fresh air combined had gotten to her and left her lightheaded. Rested against a tree trunk, Karou pressed her fingertips to her lips, giggled and confessed, “Ooo, I think I’ve had a little bit too much.”

Warren rolled his eyes and dryly remarked, “it would appear that way, yes, and you don’t even like what you’ve had too much of. You need to find something to enjoy drinking if you’re going to continue,” And didn’t stop to aid her; he’d already started walking back to the unit through the trees.

Trotting up to Warren’s side, Karou tried to keep up with his long stride as she wanted to get back to the unit as soon as possible and flake out on the couch or even go straight to bed.

“I don’t know what else to try instead, and I couldn’t imagine sampling everything.”

“Then I guess you’re stuck drinking vino.” Warren quipped. He held open a door for her and allowed her entry first, and together they strolled through the Compound’s main lounge. A corridor later, he said, “Karou, you have figured out that that boy back at the tavern has a crush on you, right?”

“Yeah. I have…” Karou nodded indifferently. While waiting for him to open their front door, she leaned against the outer wall and grinned up at him, mulling over what to say next. She continued with her explanation, “I guess it’s nice to be noticed for once, but he’s a few years younger than me and, apparently, not a great kisser.”

“And you’re an expert on kissing now, are you?” Warren goaded and crouched in the hallway to unlace his brown Derby’s.

“No, I’m not, but I at least want to practise with someone good at it,” Karou replied distractedly. Warren watched Karou fumble to remove her shoes and simultaneously fight to escape her jacket. Much to his disappointment, she left her things strewn about the floor near the door.

“Tsk, so untidy.” He tutted. These days, it had become second nature to put Karou’s belongings away for her because she certainly wasn’t likely to if left to her own devices.

Humming to herself, Karou moseyed off to her room sooner than Warren expected, but she re-emerged, having changed into her pyjamas. Actually, she was in the process of pulling a camisole over her head when she padded barefoot towards the couch. Warren got an eye full of the lacy underwear she was wearing.

Hmm, that’s nice. His demons leered, regardless of how guilty he felt. Now that she was clambering onto the couch, she looked at him expectantly, and he realised that he had been staring.

“Am I a bad kisser?” Karou’s head tipped to the side as she gathered her hair over one shoulder.

“I-… don’t think I ought to be the judge of that. What is it with you? You always ask these kinds of questions when you’ve had too much to drink.” Warren blew out a breath, hoping she wouldn’t become a handful before bed, but he’d thought too soon.

“Duh! I’m not brave enough to ask you for another kiss without a little help from liquid courage.” Karou giggled and sat back on her heels. The way her eyes were gleaming in the dim glow of the lounge’s lamp was almost cat-like, and she was poised as if she might pounce on him at any moment.

“Is that what you’re doing right now?”

“Yeah, I’m asking for another-” Unashamedly, Karou nodded and set down onto all fours to crawl over the leather towards him.

“You already know the answer...”

“You said that I had no idea what you could do to me, and I said we could find out.”

“I meant that I’d try and be your friend...” Apprehensively, Warren’s palm rubbed over the lower half of his face, subconsciously shielding his lips from her as he tried to think of a way to disarm the situation.

Karou disarmed him instead, “No, you didn’t.” She confidently called him out on his lie, which didn’t stop her from prowling towards him.

“Karou, don’t make me put you back in that cell. You’re intoxicated and testing my patience.”

“Hmph, fine. I’ll go to bed. I guess if you are going to kiss me, I should be sober enough to remember it anyway, right?” Climbing away from him, Karou resigned to her bedroom.

“It’s not happening, sober or not,” Warren grumbled.

Liar. His inner devil whispered. ‘He’ had to have the last word.

“What a Thursday…” Warren’s heart was pounding as he slumped, relieved, into the couch. She’d gotten him riled up so easily.

Around four o’clock, Karou was awakened by a sharp stabbing pain emanating from her between her shoulder blades. It spread down her spine, made her muscles quiver, and brought tears to her eyes. Laying down was agonising, but there seemed to be no position in which she could get comfortable. Torment came in waves, and each sting seemed to be from a different location down her spine, though they were all equally agonising.

Involuntary grumbles and groans rumbled past her lips as she paced her small bedroom until she felt the confines suffocating. Then, flicking on the bathroom light, she paced the length of the wet room across the hall and into her room in tireless circles. She hoped that the movement would distract her or ease her discomfort, but it didn’t.

Ow, fuck, it’s never been this bad before.

Warren’s sleep was interrupted when he sensed light coming from the hallway. There didn’t seem to be any immediate crisis, so he took his time coming around and sat on the edge of his bed. Even when he heard a painful groan from the bathroom, he figured that Karou had woken up, possibly feeling ill from all the alcohol she’d drunk. So, when he found her pacing and not hunched over the toilet bowl, he squinted into the light at her as she passed before him.

“What’s wrong?” He asked.

“My back… Hurts.” She managed to stutter past her quivering lips. Crying as she paced, Karou had her arms wrapped around her chest, trying to hold herself together to no avail. She was no longer tipsy; the pain had sobered her right up. “It’s so much,” her breath caught, “Worse than it usually is. I- … I’m sorry I woke you up.”

Warren nodded, acknowledging her predicament; he recognised the look on her face as panic, fear, and pain. “Right,” Was all he said before turning around and disappearing back into his bedroom.

Karou was left wanting to cry harder when Warren seemingly dismissed her crisis. She already felt hopeless in the face of whatever it was that was happening to her.

When he came back into the hallway with his cell phone in hand and suggested, “Maybe I should call the doctor to come and take a look at you?” Karou felt a bit guilty for assuming he was brushing her aside.

“I hate doctors.” She grumbled, “They only ever find more things wrong with me...”

“You can’t spend the rest of your days in this much pain Karou. I know what it’s like to live like this, remember? You’re positive I shouldn’t call him?”

“Yes. It’s so late that it’s early now.”

“Then what do you want?” Warren ran a hand back through his hair at a loss.

“I just want it to stop!” She whined and continued pacing while her eyes streamed fresh tears.

“Are you going to let me give you something to help?” Warren had no choice but to resort to the only solution he had at hand without a healthcare professional’s aid. It was the same way he’d helped her before - drugs.

“Fine. Anything! Hit me. Knock me out. I don’t care. I can’t take this anymore.” Karou wailed, pacing faster in her impatience for the agony to end.

“Karou, just… Stop pacing. It’s not going to help.” Gingerly Warren took hold of her shoulders to steady her. The skin over her shoulders was hot to the touch, more so than usual.

She stopped dead when she felt his cold hands touch her and sighed, “Oh, that might help...”

“I’m not going to hit you to knock you out; I meant pills… I can sedate you so you can sleep through it.” Warren explained and turned her about to coax her into his bedroom, where he kept his medication. “What might help?”

“Your hands, they’re cold. It feels nice.” Karou wiggled her shoulders impatiently, she wanted him to soothe the painful places around her shoulder blades, but by that point, he’d let go and was reaching for the medicine bottles in his nightstand’s drawer. Soon enough, he touched her again but only to take her hand and place three pills in her palm. Karou knew the drill and threw them back, supposing she could ask what they were later.

“Hmm, I’m always cold. Everywhere. At least to mortals,” Warren explained gloomily. “Uh, the painkiller and sleeping aid shouldn’t take long to kick in; you should lie down.”

“Okay, but first, can you put your hands on my back, just for a little while? I don’t mind the cold; actually, it helps.” Karou turned about and pulled her hair over one shoulder, hoping he would oblige.

Warren touched her again but not how she wanted. Instead, he grasped her upper arms and ushered her into his bed. “Just lay down. You’ll feel better soon.”

The adrenaline rush the pain left behind rendered her too awake to consider sleep yet, but she did as Warren suggested and slunk down into the sheets. Then, patting the mattress, she invited him to sit down with her. “Come on, just like you did when I had a sunburn that time,” Karou insisted as she turned her back to him and sent her hands back into her hair to ensure it was all gathered over one shoulder.

Warren sighed, defeated by Karou’s tenacity. It seemed that even when she was in agony, she was stubborn. Sat cross-legged behind her on the mattress, he reminded her, “You’re going to have to sleep eventually... I have to be up for work soon,” and tentatively set his hands on her shoulders.

Instantly he could feel how the heat from her skin burned into his palms. Goosebumps covered the skin of her upper arms, which let him know just how cold he was, but what his gentle touch did to Karou convinced him to continue; an involuntary but contented sound hummed past her lips as her head lulled forward. Then, out of the blue, she did something that startled him even more than the sound she made. Karou peeled her camisole off and tossed it aside. She pulled up his cotton bedsheet to cover her chest, settled back down and waited for Warren’s hands to resume without saying a thing.

While his hands gently caressed Karou’s skin, he enjoyed the contact as much as when he’d aided her in administering the sunburn ointment. To touch someone with an innocent intent yet so intimately was the salve to his infliction of solitude. He couldn’t remember another time when he’d done anything like this with anyone else.

The rapid pace of Karou’s heartbeat gave way to a steadier rhythm as Warren stroked the length of her back.

“Is the pain going away? The pills should’ve kicked in by now.” Warren whispered when Karou slowly began to slump sideways. He thought it was probably a good idea to shift her into a sleeping position, but the moment his hands weren’t there to prop her up, she fell backwards and collided with him. Karou discovered that Warren really was cold everywhere when the back of her shoulders met his bare chest.

Many alarming things comprised the situation he found them in, and the innocence of soothing her pain was slipping away. She was a drugged - half-naked young woman lying against his chest in his bed.

Frozen in place, Warren couldn’t help being distracted by the display of skin over Karou’s neck and shoulders. His thirsty eyes examined the way her tendons stretched out beneath her flesh, how her collar bones sat pronounced through her pale skin, and the delicate texture of that skin pleaded to be touched. Content with her newfound sleeping position, Karou sighed, and her sleeping face gave a smile.

Warren ached. How am I supposed to resist you when you look like this?

From somewhere, Warren somehow gathered enough resilience to pull her further into his arms and laid her down to sleep comfortably.

With that hair-raising situation dealt with, Warren sat with his forehead in his hand, hunched over on the side of the bed, recentring. He dozed there for a while because he still wasn’t quite ready to get up. Every so often, he’d glance at the time. Patiently, he waited to time it just right so t when his alarm was about to sound, he could hit the off button. It wasn’t fair to wake Karou barely an hour after she’d fallen back to sleep.

Somewhere between the excuses of just resting his eyes and five more minutes, Warren fell asleep stretched down a slither of the bed next to Karou.

Around eight o’clock, Karou’s eyes fluttered open. While adjusting to the bright morning sunlight, she glimpsed Warren sleeping peacefully, not too far away. Her sleepy eyes managed to focus on the face of his alarm clock just long enough to decipher that he was late going to work and must’ve been sleeping in.

Long moments stretched into minutes as she watched him sleep. He was so still, barely breathing, but by no means dead looking. Karou had discovered quickly that real-life vampires weren’t like the fictional characters that filled mythological lore. Just as he proved right then, he didn’t sleep in a coffin or hang upside down like a bat. Warren didn’t hide away during daylight hours or avoid sunlight. While out in the midday sun, he hadn’t combusted into flames. He ate food daily and took blood only once in a while; he also didn’t seem to have any nasty reactions to garlic or religious paraphernalia. Sure, he was a little colder-blooded than the average person, and he’d ceased to age years ago, but he was a normal person in so many ways that it was easy to forget that he was vampiric at all.

Still, Karou was curious about one thing, but so far, she hadn’t been able to get close enough to discover if that tiny detail of myth was true - did he have a heartbeat? She couldn’t see why he wouldn’t, but her inquisitive side just needed to know once and for all.

Seeing as he was fast asleep, the opportunity to assuage her curiosity arose. All while watching his face to check he hadn’t roused, she wiggled closer. Feeling brave, Karou gently laid her cheek against Warren’s chest. For good measure, Karou held her breath so that she could remain completely still so that the sleeping vampire wouldn’t catch her in the act. She’d never done anything like this before, but she instantly understood why people liked it so much. Although Warren’s skin was cold, it was pleasant and relaxing, like a flipped pillow’s cool side on a hot summer night. How nice it felt to ‘almost’ do something akin to cuddling distracted her from her main goal and caused her to lose focus. That’s when she did something to escalate the interaction without thinking; she placed her hand on the vacant side of his chest. Wide-eyed, Karou glared at her own hand as if it were a traitor. Fearful that her sudden movement might’ve disturbed Warren, she peeked at his face to check that he was still sleeping. Thankfully, he was. He stunned Karou when he adjusted to her presence by moving his arm from under his head to lay it down the bed at her back, cutting off her escape route. Unless she was going to levitate out of the position, she figured she was stuck. Recommitted to her mission, Karou closed her eyes, pricked her ears, and listened. Sure enough, there it was, his heartbeat. It sounded normal, she thought, and like the steady, soothing ticking of a metronome, it lulled her back to sleep.

By the time Nine-thirty came, Warren was loitering at the threshold of consciousness. In Hypnagogia, he didn’t react as volcanically as he might have had he been fully conscious when he registered Karou clinging to him. His body felt awake, but his mind continued to wander. His dreams during this semi-sleep state always seemed more vivid, and his imagination took over the situation and blurred the lines further. Karou suddenly wasn’t just lying there with her head and hand on his chest; no, she was tracing her fingertips up his neck and kissing at his bare skin to tease him awake. Immersed in his dream, Warren didn’t realise that his sleepy moans and mumbles had woken Karou. It was plain to see on his face that he was rather enjoying their dreamland tryst.

“Morning,” Karou whispered. Feeling about the sheets, she sought for her discarded pyjama top, and before he could fully come too, she pulled it over her head to conceal her chest.

“Uh- good morning,” Warren caught a glimpse of her dressing as he woke up and realised the dream he’d been having. He suddenly felt nauseous and confused. Was that real? He flung his hand up to feel over his chest and his neck. No, she wouldn’t do that, would she?

“Thank you for last night. I slept really well afterwards, and it doesn’t hurt anymore.” Karou smiled, hopped off the end of the bed, and wandered towards the bathroom.

To Warren’s paranoid mind, what she said was meant to clue him in that something more than what he remembered had happened. It rattled him.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He demanded to know. Jumping out of bed after her, Warren dashed to the bathroom. His hand grasped around the edge of the door and halted it as it swung closed, which caused Karou to instantly let go of the handle so she wouldn’t trap his fingers. “Karou?” On high alert, they peered through the gap at each other as confused as the other.

“What do you mean? I was saying thank you for the pills and the… back rub...” Karou nibbled at her bottom lip nervously. Now she doubted whether that was all that had happened. She was mildly concerned, but not because she hadn’t already pondered what it would be like if they crossed that line, but because she would’ve been disappointed to be unable to remember it if it had. “D- Did something else happen, Warren?”

“No, I don’t think so, but what you said just now and where you were laying when we woke up spooked me for a second. I thought I’d made a terrible mistake.” If Karou’s memory of the night before matched his, nothing untoward had occurred. That was somewhat of a relief, and that emotion showed on his face when his brows relaxed. “What a ridiculous thought.” He quietly chuckled and brushed off his faint panic by combing his fingers back through his hair while his other hand rested on his hip. Calmer, he retreated away from the bathroom door.

In that short moment, Karou knew what he thought might’ve happened. It was an honest mistake, but his reaction to the possibility left her feeling insulted. The words ‘Terrible mistake’ and ‘Ridiculous’ stuck with her and put more than a dampener on the good mood she’d woken up in.

That wasn’t pretending – he really is a jerk. Ugh, why does it matter to you what he thinks?

Karou turned on the shower. Done stripping out of her pyjamas, she waited for the water to warm up, and in the mirror, she caught sight of her naked body. Standing there deflated, she allowed self-deprecating thoughts to run wild in her head.

I shouldn’t care, but damn, I feel so ugly.

Eventually, Karou drowned her tears in the shower.

‘No man is an Island’. Warren knew the phrase and often wondered if he was perhaps the sole reason it was a lie. He’d never had any qualms about being alone. He’d managed for at least twenty years with no constant companions other than Magnus and Ellis, whom he saw sparingly outside of their short seasonal visits. Yet it was July now, and Karou had lived with him since November. For Eight month’s he hadn’t been completely alone. Every morning he’d pass her bedroom and could take for granted that she was tucked up in her little bed, safe and sound and fast asleep. That morning had been different, though, and that difference plagued his thoughts.

Warren hadn’t bothered to get dressed yet, put any coffee on to percolate or fetched the morning paper to read over breakfast. His life felt dramatic enough since his embarrassing mix-up with Karou earlier without reading about the troubles of the wider world.

While Karou showered, he sat at the kitchen island, overthinking how he’d lost his cool in front of her. He had much to mull over, too much for one person to tackle alone, so flitting back into his bedroom, Warren grabbed his cell phone from his nightstand and dialled the number of the only person he could trust to open up to - Magnus Va Rossa. He was Warren’s greatest confidant, valued advisor, and replacement father figure. Undoubtedly, they shared a familial love, and their bond kept Warren afloat.

“Warren, it’s good to hear from you. You don’t usually call if you’re working. Is there a REDford related dilemma I can help with?” Magnus said, slipping straight into a conversation because Warren hated small talk.

“Uh- actually, I’m not at work, and I’m not sure what I want to talk about is much of a dilemma...”

“Okay. So, if it’s not bad, is it good?”

“I don’t know. I can’t grasp onto a single clear thought, that’s all.”

“Tell me what you’re confused about, and we can go from there, si?” Magnus asked, taking on the role of Warren’s therapist as was often the case.

“It’s about Karou,” Warren admitted bashfully. Falling onto his bed, he grabbed hold of the sheets and brought them near his face so he could take in her scent from them. For now, he didn’t know how that made him feel - that’s why he’d called Magnus.

“Ah, the girl? You still have her living with you?”

“Yes, she still lives with me. I’ve genuinely nowhere else to put her, but I nearly put her in a cell yesterday.”

Magnus gasped.

“It- It’s not as bad as it sounds. She got angry at me and tried to leave the Compound, so I had to show her the other options if she didn’t want to live with me…”

Once again, Magnus’ alarm sounded down the line, but Warren still had something worse to confess.

“The cell didn’t do the trick. So, I-... Oh, God, I can’t believe I did this, but… Magnus, I showed her the blood farm.” Warren admitted shamefully.

As expected, his mentor sounded disappointed, “Warren, manipulation by fear never works.”

“I know that. I’m not sure I actually wanted to scare her. But that’s what’s rattled me; she wasn’t scared at all.”

“Then why have you called me, Mijo? Because you’re tired of having her under your feet, and you want permission to dispose of her?” The Spaniard chuckled darkly.

Warren’s silence on the matter was telling. A second later, Magnus changed his tone and addressed what he thought the issue was. “Or is it that you’re enjoying having her there, and you’re not sure how to feel about that?”

“Hmm, it’s more the latter,” Warren muttered almost inaudibly. “But I do think about the first. I can’t help imagining what it would be like.” Unlike himself, he began to ramble a little, inspired by his mild panic, “I don’t know how I haven’t given in to thirst already. You understand, don’t you? She smells the same to you as she does to me?”

“Si,” Magnus agreed, but Warren carried on.

“The scent has embedded itself into every fibre of the unit Magnus. I can’t escape it. That sweet, mouth-watering honeyed scent it’s everywhere. Tormenting me…” Warren had buried his nose into his bedsheets again, taking in the residual scent that Karou had left on them, “What’s worse is I think she would let me bite her. I think she wants me to. I think I want to-…”

“Warren!” Magnus called his name somewhat sternly to pull him from his budding monologue. “Listen, you’re saying Karou isn’t scared of how you harvest REDford’s produce? And she wants you to bite her? Be careful, Mijo; you might have invited a haemophiliac into your home, a masochist even, or worse, a fetish…”

“Oh God, Magnus! She is not a masochist. Ellis is a masochist. I know the difference.”

“Entiendo, but Mijo, I don’t understand why you’re so keen to abstain when, as you say, the Niña smells so divine. If she does fetishise vampires, surely you enjoying her company doesn’t offend her?”

“It doesn’t offend her. It’s just that the small amount of attention I manage to give her isn’t enough, but stop saying that - Karou doesn’t have a fetish. She’s never even kissed any-” Warren stopped himself; he’d been about to lie. “Uhm- actually, I might’ve indulged her in that.”

“You kissed her?” Magnus gasped. “Wait, wait, Warren, this isn’t just about feeding from the girl, is it?”

“She asked me to…” Warren whined his feeble explanation down the line.

“And what? Plenty of women have made passes at you, and you’ve rejected them jus’ like that.” Magnus snapped his fingers and seemed to be speaking reasonably until he got carried away. “Ooo, perhaps she’s a succubus! What if she asks you to do other things, Warren? What if she really is into vampires?”

“Can you hear yourself? That’s crazy but thank you for reducing me to my race again.” Warren grumbled down the line; by now, he was used to Magnus’ melodramatics.

“You didn’t answer my question! Don’t avoid the issue; you called me, remember?”

“She isn’t a succubus Mag’; she’s… young and innocent.” Warren felt sure of that.

“Okay, I’ll trust you on that, but I noticed something about her when I first met her. She has some darkness in her, or at least she has been touched by it.”

“Mhmm, I sense that too. Her parents were insanely neglectful. They abused her and went as far as to threaten her life. She has a vicious-looking scar down her back from one of their attacks. Lucky for her, it was the last they committed before she ran away. None of it has made her bitter or angry; she’s a born survivor.” Warren explained compassionately, though he was betraying her confidence a little by telling Magnus. It was probably not something she wished to be public, but Warren also knew that this information wouldn’t go any further because Magnus was exceptionally good at keeping secrets; he kept a trove of Warren’s, from embarrassments to misdeeds.

“I’ve got to say, though, she has some morbid inclinations. I’m not sure if that’s down to her parent’s influence or if she would’ve always been that way. She asks a lot of questions, particularly about my vampirism, but I think she’s just trying her best to get to know me… Despite my social shortcomings.” Warren quipped; he meant to poke fun at himself, but the amusement was fleeting. Engulfed by his turmoil again, he sighed; “It’s just so difficult being nice to her without overstepping the mark.”

Splayed out over his bed, Warren kept an ear pricked, listening for Karou turning off the shower; he didn’t want her to hear the things he needed to get off his chest. Biding his time, Magnus sipped at his wine; he could tell that there was something more that Warren wanted to say and sensed that at any moment, the floodgates would open. It always took Warren a little longer than most to put words to his feelings, but as he’d aged, he was getting better at it.

“I’m just so frustrated.” He began, “I look at her all the time. I imagine all the things I could do to her. I can’t help myself, and it’s… pathetic! I know it’s wrong. I know what kind of person I am, and she doesn’t deserve to be tarnished by someone like me. She’s so young and innocent. But God, she teases me.”

“¡Ay! Youth and innocence are fleeting things, Mijo. She’s a pretty little Chica, for sure, but I don’t think she’s as innocent as you’re making yourself believe. The way she looks at you isn’t as a child would. You might have a lot of years behind you, but you’re still a handsome man, and she’s a young and beautiful woman. Maybe she looks at you the same way you look at her?

“What do you mean she looks at me?”

“She looks at you the way all women look at you... Race and age aside, so what if you’re admiring each other?”

“It’s not regardless of her race on my part. I feel bad about it because of her race and her age.”

“Dios mío! Anybody would think you were raised a Catholic. You have an innate affinity for guilt that I will never comprehend. You overthink everything-” Just then, the line muffled, and Warren could tell that Magnus was talking to someone else in the same room as him while having the mouthpiece of his phone covered. “I’ll have to cut this short, the wife calls... but remember, despite what you think, you’re a good man. You’ll do the right thing.”

“I’ll catch you later.” Warren ended the call without a fuss.

It was hard hiding things from one’s Sire, but Warren had Magnus on his side to keep him as independent and as un-jaded by her as possible. He appreciated how Magnus kept their conversations private from his wife; she was known to pry and use Warren’s doubts against him.

At least Magnus had managed to make sense of some of his thoughts simply by asking the right questions. Warren still didn’t have concrete answers, but at least now, the puzzle was clearer. His confusion surrounding Karou was double-faceted; on the one hand, it was about her mortality and blood, and on the other, it was about her youth and his lust.

“‘A good man’, right…” Warren acknowledged what Magnus had said but doubted it highly.

The call ended at just the right time because the bathroom door opened as he hung up. Thankfully Karou had been too busy in the shower to hear the conversation, so Warren just lay there and waited for her exit. He planned to shower, too, once the bathroom was vacant.

“Warren! Are you there?” Karou called through a gap the ajar door left.

“Yes.” It didn’t take him a moment to appear. “What is it?”

“Can you pass me a towel, please? There aren’t any in here.” Karou asked as she pushed a few wet strands of hair behind her ear.

The door shielded her naked body, but Warren’s focus was on the residual water dripping down her neck and bare shoulder. That sweet, intoxicating aroma he was talking to Magnus about just moments earlier rolled off of her, encapsulated in the water droplets. The steam escaping the hot bathroom behind her warmed her skin as it passed and flooded his nose to add another layer of torture. How could she not tell how hard it was for him not to force his way past the door and devour her? She was tantalising, and he was wholly captivated.

Initially, Karou’s brows rose; she was concerned by the look on his face. “Is something wro-” She started but cut herself off and smiled warmly at him. “Oh, you’re just thirsty.”

“What?” Warren hadn’t entirely snapped out of his trance when he posed his question and was still staring at what little of her skin he could see.

“Your eyes... they’re all dark and thirsty looking, and… Uhm-” Karou tapped her lips. “Your fangs are out.”

“Right. It smells like you in there.” Warren licked over his left fang and realised she was telling the truth; all the while, his eyes remained trained over her jugular. “And my bed too.”

“Well, I just had a shower, and you insisted I sleep in your bed.”

A coy smile pulled at the corner of her lips when she figured out where Warren’s attention was. Dark curiosity and a willingness to corrupt her own innocence intermingled and motivated what she did next. Tilting her head to the side Karou sneakily displayed more flesh to him, all. At the same time, she kept her eyes trained on his face to gauge his reaction.

Warren had undoubtedly noticed her display, so not only did his fangs remain drawn, but his lips peeled back from the rest of his teeth as a low purr-like growl resonated from his chest and throat. Although it was a predator’s threat, it spoke more to his yearning than aggression and left Karou with the notion that he was requesting permission to satiate his desire for her blood.

Karou’s delay, however minute, gave Warren an opening. Instinct took over, and his feet carried him a step further towards the bathroom door. With his hand around the edge of the door, he added a little pressure to push it open, showing he intended to enter.

Certainly, Warren’s sudden advance surprised Karou, but for a second, she thought she wanted him to burst in and take what he wanted. Then, she remembered the sting of what he’d said earlier that morning and became awash with guilt for teasing him and foolish for hoping that he might’ve wanted her for more than blood.

“Wait!” She yelled, “Warren, I’m naked. Remember? I still need a towel.”

Her protest brought him back to his senses. He stepped back from the door, in shock and embarrassed that he’d faltered again so easily.

“I-… Wait, there, I’ll get you one.”

Just like that, he disappeared from view, and when he returned, he barely looked at her as he passed her the towel.