Ghost brought his wrist to his mouth, and Helia watched with gross fascination as his fangs lengthened. He cut the fabric there with the edge of one before sinking it into his artery, and blood pooled on his skin before he slid the vial up to catch it. It was a slow process, the drip of blood into the glass, and Ghost couldn't help but peer up at Helia in the meantime. The way she'd leaned forward showed her interest, which was better than leaning back in horror or disgust, he supposed.

"My magic will keep this alive for a day or so," Ghost said, dropping his wrist to allow the skin to heal as he stuck the stopper in the vial. "If you give it to Stone, it should repair any surface injuries. It is best that he not be seriously injured through. I do not know how his body would handle such a thing with our connection broken." Ghost paused, lifting his dark eyes, and Helia stiffened as she sensed his shift in mood. "If I might, could you please not share information about the nature of my physical forms nor the requirement of this blood to heal Stone? I cannot stop nor forbid you, but doing so will put me in danger."

"If your secrecy is important, I will not share anything about you to others." Helia accepted the vial before fidgeting with her fingers and brushing her curls over a shoulder. Ghost waited patiently for her to speak, knowing she was having difficulty coming up with words for a vampire assassin such as himself. "Could you do it like this?"

"Do what?" Ghost asked, not following her line of questioning. It was also difficult to read her when she kept her eyes pinned to the ground at the right of her feet.

"Would it be enough to use my wrist?" Helia asked, but Ghost crunched his eyebrows lower when he still didn't understand. "The idea of an unknown vampire with its fangs on my neck is daunting to say the least, but you have been completely calm and respectful. If you want my blood, I would give it... if you could use my wrist."

Ghost was glad his fangs were already at full length from opening his artery when the meaning of her words finally penetrated. The quick movement as the desire to taste her surged through his body might have frightened her. Ghost had to close his eyes and constrict his air pathways so he didn't pant her scent in as he imagined what she was offering. The prospect of drinking from her had titillated him, but he'd assumed she'd turn him down flat and not revisit it. A low purr forced its ways through his throat despite it all, and his shoulders sank from his inability to control himself properly around Helia.

"You're like a cat," Helia said with a chuckle that had Ghost's cheeks darkening. "I have never spent time around any vampires, but both you and Stone make that noise when you're swooning."

Helia crouched to match his height, resting her chin on a hand and offering the other one out to him with a crinkle of her lips that showed her trepidation. The last thing he wanted to do was drink her blood if it would frighten her.

"If you do not wish my fangs on your skin but are still willing to give your blood, I am more than happy to accept licking it from your fingers."

"I will punch you directly in the face, Ghost." Helia's face reddened and the surge of flame magic had him laughing so hard that he fell out of his crouch onto his behind on the asphalt.

Having spent so many years alone in the dark, such merriment had been lost to him, and he couldn't stifle his amusement from the way her expression had pinched in. Even her ragged sigh did little to hamper his euphoria as he looked up to her with a wide smile. Surely, it was not a good idea to tease her, yet the tepid fear had faded.

"Here I was hoping Stone's innocence was the only thing making him a blatant flirt, but that was too much to ask for, I guess," Helia tried to glare at him, but it faltered when she faced his open and friendly smile. It had been so long since he'd felt emotion of any kind. "You want it? I'm not gonna ask again, perv." Helia bobbed her wrist off her knee, and Ghost tried to put himself back together.

"I would accept it with relish, Helia Cinder." Ghost found a way to roll a single hand into a bow between his now crossed legs, and she huffed air in annoyance.

"You know I'm not royalty, right? You don't have to do that bowing thing. Maybe your master likes it, but I' not really into that."

"My master also abhors it. Near threatens to break my knees sometimes," Ghost said with a smile, lifting a hand and accepting her wrist.

The touch silenced Helia, and she stiffened as she watched him. For her to allow him her blood was something he'd never imagined, considering how prickly grand mages were. Most of the Cinders had never been bitten even in battle, so their blood was pure and unclaimed by any vampire. Giving hers over to him in that state meant more to him than he wondered if she knew. Either way, he would accept it, and he trailed his fingers up and down the front of her forearm to ease her nerves until she did as he was and sat right on the ground.

"You needn't watch if it pains you. It is a quick and fairly painless process," Ghost flicked his gaze up to her wide open eyes as she watched his every movement.

"Yeah, no. I'm going to stare at you the entire time."

"Afraid if you look away that I'll take your whole arm?" Ghost smirked, and she narrowed her eyes.

"Something like that. Just do it so I can get some sleep tonight."

The defeated groan only drew Ghost's smile further, and he had to avoid looking directly at her to remain calm. It was difficult to drink anything with a wide smile, and the more he talked to and watched Helia, the more he realized how completely wrong about the Cinders he was. The heirs had strayed from the engrained animosity of their father, and it was a good change with the new world of alliances blooming before them.

Ghost brought her wrist to his mouth, and he kissed the skin of her palm as he caressed her artery with his thumb. It desensitized the skin as he pressed and stroked, easing the vein into better view, though the heightened pounding of her heart was making that painfully easy. The fascination in Helia's gaze when he barely peeked up at her had his own blood pumping strangely. Humans had given him blood willingly since his change, but as a transactional trade for the protection Talamayas gave the nomads in the desert.

No one had ever wanted him to taste their blood, and positioning his fangs over the vein as he arched Helia's wrist made him feel lightheaded. It was like a dangerous high as he shifted his focus to her eyes, though she did not notice him watching her. All she saw was his fangs as they split her soft skin, sinking deeper to widen the source of her blood as he sealed his lips around her wrist and sucked.

Sweetness flowed into his mouth, and Ghost reached his free hand across the pavement, unsure what he was looking for until warm fingers met his. Ghost was sure he was imagining it as Helia slipped her fingers between his and entwined their hands as he swallowed a small draft of her essence. It would weaken her to drink greedily, and he was not taking from her out of hunger. This was a bond, and he squeezed Helia's hand in return as her eyes finally met his. A gentle blush colored her cheeks, and her eyes were soft as she searched his for something.

Ghost couldn't say for what, but he wanted to know. He wanted to know Helia's every thought, every dream, hope, and desire, and he wanted to make them real for her. Seeing her through Stone's eyes had filled him with affection and love for her, but it had all been beyond a veil of doubt and dreams with their damaged connection. None of it hit as hard as the way she offered herself to Ghost, even held his hand as he drank from her, and watched him as if he were something interesting, exciting even.

Not like he was a monster.

Ghost traded his fangs for his thumb, and he had to let go of Helia's hand to wipe his mouth on his forearm. Before he could think of a way to stanch the flow of blood, Helia already had an adhesive gauze patch, one end in her free hand, the other in her mouth as she tore it open.

"I do this a lot," Helia said as she noticed the raised eyebrow, taking her hand back to run the bandage around her slender wrist. "Bandage mages when they get injured abruptly, I mean. Not give vampires handouts. You, um, didn't take that much." Helia rubbed her arm nervously as she tucked it back into her mage attire.

"I was not drinking to slake thirst," Ghost said simply, closing the space between them as Helia stood. She backed to the wall from his proximity, but it gave her no more than a few inches that he closed by leaning his face to hers. Helia searched him for meaning, but he was a hard man to pick apart if his kept his expressions calm. That, and he couldn't tell her what he was thinking if he tried.

Ghost had no idea what was going on or what he was doing.

Desire was an emotion he'd never had to contend with, to struggle against so that he didn't crush the delicate creature who had command over him. Helia was strong physically as a grand mage, but her emotions were sheltered from loss while also tainted with the curiosity of youth. Such a thing led to a path of discovery that enriched life but could also drag any human down, and Ghost wanted to protect her. Taking her blood when no one else held claim bonded them, connected them so he could sense her location no matter how far, as well as gave him the right by vampire law to defend her from any aggressor.

Ghost pressed his forehead to Helia's as Stone did, feeing her warmth against his cool skin until it rose to match her fire. If she intended to visit the spell depository before returning for slumber, then this was the end of their time together. While he wished he could remain at her side, he would not be welcome in the Cinder territory, and Helia needed no protecting. Sleep, she needed sleep, since she'd been getting so little working double duty to train and care for Stone.

Ghost glided his fingers down her face to directher attention there as he closed the space between them. Warmth grazed his lipsin the barest touch as he tread them against her soft skin, and then hedisappeared from her sight. Helia took a step forward to search the alleyway,and Ghost watched from up a building with an ache in his chest. "Goodbye untilthe morning sun rises and I gaze on you through different eyes, Helia Cinder."

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Word Count: 1962