Once he was done, he withdrew the needle and pressed a piece of cotton against the puncture. “Hold that,” he said. Alexander pressed his thumb to the piece of cotton as he watched Manlius turn back to the table cluttered with candles and incense sticks.
“Why does Brett need more blood?” Alexander asked, following him. “Did he find something?”
“I don’t know,” Manlius admitted, his gaze fixed on the vials of blood he’d just collected. His brows furrowed. “He didn’t say. Maybe… he wants to run more tests.”
Alexander watched him closely.
“But you’re worried.”
“A little.” Manlius said thoughtfully, the lines on his forehead deepening. “It’s probably nothing. Let’s just wait and hear what he has to say.” He gave Alexandra an assessing look. “In the meantime, if you feel any changes you come to me immediately.”
Alexander nodded. They fell silent for a moment, both deep in thought.
“When I was… out,” he began hesitantly. “What really happened?”
“What do you mean?”
Alexander cleared his suddenly tight throat, his gaze dropping to the floor. “Why…Why did you save me? Why didn’t you just kill me?”
Manlius turned fully to face him then.
“We lost a lot that night,” he said finally. “We couldn’t afford to lose one more. When Boaz suggested it… I thought he was out of his mind. But it worked.”
Alexander stilled.
“Boaz… was the one who suggested it?” He knew he’d saved him. But he hadn’t known that he was the one who suggested they save him.
“Yes.”
The simple word was like a hard punch to Alexander’s gut.
Manlius stared into space as if he was relieving the moment. “We were all afraid you’d wake up and attack everyone again. But Boaz…” He shook his head incredulously. “He believed you could heal yourself. He was the only one who did. He even gave you his blood to keep you asleep. He made the biggest sacrifice.” Almost to himself he said, “It couldn’t have been easy for him. Believing in something that might not have worked. He had no way of knowing you’d come back… like this. And still, he kept going.” He turned to meet his eyes. “He must’ve been terrified when you finally woke up. I know I was. But by some miracle it worked.”
“Yeah…” Alexander said, though the word felt hollow in his mouth. “I should get going.”
“Right.” Manlius nodded, already turning back to his table of candles. “I’ll send this off to Brett. He’s probably waiting.”
Alexander didn’t respond, he turned and walked out of the house. Manlius’s revelation shook him to the core. After everything he’d done to the werewolf, he felt a sickening guilt. He’d treated him like nothing. Like a blood slave he could use any time he wanted.
And all this time… Boaz had been the sole reason he was even standing here.
Why the hell had he done it?
Now, they were bound to each other in ways Alexander couldn’t explain. The werewolf was his lifeline. He couldn’t survive without him.
“No,” he said under his breath, shoving the feeling away. He disappeared into thin air and appeared a second later inside the cave. The sound of swords striking against each other was like music to his ears. Alexander folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the stone wall to watch the young vampires sparring in the middle of the cave.
“They’re getting better,” Greer said, striding towards him.
“Yeah,” Alexander replied distractedly, his entire focus on the sparring vampires. “Move your feet!” he barked suddenly.
The two vampires jerked in surprise, their focus breaking instantly. One stumbled, and suddenly they were tripping over each other, their swords swinging wildly almost slicing off a head.
They scrambled apart, breathless and wide-eyed.
Alexander exhaled, shaking his head. The rest of the cave erupted into laughter, the tension dissolving just as quickly as it had formed.
“You startled them,” Greer chuckled as if he couldn’t help himself.