-Lucien-

I swirled my last remaining vial of her blood beneath the table, hiding it from my sisters who sat here with me.

All day... All day I'd been going through them, testing them. Having Derryk store them for me to come and retrieve throughout the day to make sure that my first taste of it wasn't just something I was imagining, and testing to see if the effects lasted to some degree even if it wasn't fresh.

My eyes stared down at the liquid as it moved from my leaned-back position in this chair.

I'd never tasted anything like it- never ingested anything like it.

Blood has always helped to a degree. Fresh blood especially.

It'd draw a slight focus to my instincts, enough to make the imbalance shift to something less noticeable.

It'd warm my body a small amount, and fill me with a varying amount of energy depending on where I'm at.

But this...

The moment her warm blood hit my tongue it was like a switch had been flipped.

It was all the effects I was expecting, just so much faster and with much more power that it led me to stagger as I felt it all at once.

I'd never tasted blood that could do all of that and also taste so... fulfilling.

Was it just a side effect of her condition? Something about the pressure of her blood, or the concentration of cells?

If that were so, surely Erik would have noticed that in one way or another.

I cursed myself for not mentioning it to him while I had the chance. The way it enlivened my being just immediately caused me to be protective of it. For a moment I reached that feeling of normalcy, and I wanted to hold onto it.

Not complete normalcy. that wasn't something I think I'll ever be able to achieve, but a few things got me close. Now one more got added to that list.

Even after it was considered fresh, even hours later, its effects still surpassed any other blood by a substantial amount.

It made me think that I may have indeed gotten my money's worth, but this also raised some concerns along with it.

Her blood could very easily become a drug. With drugs come addictions and with addictions come withdrawals.

Her blood was great and all, but it couldn't offer me any sort of permanent relief.

Humans only lived so long, and pets especially. She dies and all that blood gets lost with her.

My body was already struggling with its own shit, I didn't need to get addicted to this kind of constant relief and then suffer the consequences when it was no longer attainable.

So I had to be careful with it.

I rubbed my thumb against the glass, lifting my attention at the sound of familiar approaching footsteps.

Evelyn approached me with her new drink in hand, staring at me with narrow eyes.

The rest of my sisters at the table stayed quiet as she did, pausing the meals they ate.

It was a moderately rare occasion when the four of us happened to be eating at the same time. I guess it was more of a rare occasion that Layla and I ate dinner outside of our rooms, and Adi and Evie didn't eat with dad.

It wasn't in my plans today, but Kira had decided that my room was the place to be ever since this morning, so I left instead.

I kept my eye on Evie during her approach, watching her close the distance, stare a little harder, and then pinch a lock of my hair between her fingers.

"Your hair is getting lighter," She simply stated with a smug grin badly disguised as a helpful one.

I rolled my eyes at the statement that had just been a common fact for centuries at this point.

"Thank you, Evie," I deadpanned, "What would I do without you?"

She laughed a bit to herself, settling back down next to my eldest sister, and taking a sip of her drink.

"I ask myself the same thing all the time," She mused, nudging Adi with her elbow "How long are we giving it before his hair fades to entirely white?"

It started to fade a very long time ago. First becoming noticeable not too long after my second decade alive.

Erik said that it was from stress. The constant stress in both my mind and body from living the way I did.

Never knowing what the next day was going to feel like, constantly feeling painfully overwhelmed by that part of me that can't fit into the rest. Living like the freakshow of a bastard child that I was.

His diagnosis made sense, though I sort of wish it faded faster. The color it was at now was one I could work with, and everything from here to the white we can only assume it'll settle on wouldn't look too bad.

"I'd give it probably around another decade," Adi replied, lacking the malice and mockery Evie had begun with.

Layla decided to just stay quiet, though eyed me with subtle check-ins.

"I'm gonna say a decade and a half just to be safe, but you're lucky that your hair can't get any worse from there. That dark-grey stage for an entire century looked awful." Evie stated.

It's true. It did. Back then I used to at least try to dye it back to black, but my hair grew quickly, and keeping up with it was a pain in the ass, so I just let it be.

It's not like I went to public appearances anyway.

"It wasn't that bad," Adeline tried to convey, "Half the time you could handle even notice that it wasn't black anymore."

She always tried, and that much I could appreciate.

Adi was kind to us. She was the closest thing to an actual mother Layla and I had. The one that took care of us and raised us after our actual mother left, and comforted us after some rather brutal moments with their father.

"It was," Evie doubled down.

"Yeah, no. It definitely was," I concluded.

I found that I agreed with them to an extent, and I'd take this frivolous mocking over how they treat Layla, or moreover how Evelyn treats her.

"How about you, Layla," Evie redirected, causing my sister in question to shrink back.

Both Evie and father can barely stand to look at her for the same reason. She's supposedly a carbon copy of the woman who betrayed and abandoned us all.

I wish I could have known her to make that deduction for myself, but if the painting father commissions of all six of us are accurate, then I'd have to agree. He'd commission each painting for the main hall of this castle with my mother present, and me with the black hair I was born with.

Evie handled it better than he did, which didn't take much, and left her to just keep quiet during meals where either one was present.

Mom's absence took a very large toll on everyone who was old enough to remember it. Adeline just managed to be the one to hold the rest of us together... as best she could.

"I um- It's hard to say. I think probably a decade and a half like you said-"

"Oh, I don't mean that. I was wondering when your hair was going to start doing the same so our dear brother here doesn't suffer all alone."

Both Adi and I sent her a look. Adi's being a lot nicer than mine.

Laya just straightened, looking towards the table and shying away from our second-oldest sister.

I knew Evelyn's personality and how she dealt with things, and I typically didn't care because I could understand that much, but she sometimes took it too far with Layla especially.

Layla tried so hard to get accepted by her, regardless of the number of times I've advised her to give it up.

"Anyways," Adeline began, trying to simmer down the awkward tension the previous conversation grew, "Dad mentioned that he wanted to have another dinner with all four of us... probably within this week or early next week at the latest."

Now it was my turn to get looked at. An empathetic look from Adi, a quick glance from Evie, and a long, concerned stare from Layla.

They all knew full well what that meant for me.

Every time we had dinner as a 'family', the Lord himself would always have me hang back for a... chat. Or that's what he called it in front of them.

I could feel my body start to lock up and brace just at the mention of it.

"I just thought I'd give a heads up," She finished.

I released my anxieties and stiffness with a long sigh, rubbing my eyes with my thumb and middle finger.

All I could hope now was that the day he did decide to have that meal, that it'll be one that I wake up feeling decent.

Or...

My hand squeezed around the blood vial I still kept hidden.

"Alright, well," I stood, slipping it into my pocket, "I think that's where I'm gonna call it tonight."

I gave some quick, tense goodbyes to my sisters and thanked Derryk for the meal on my way out.

I can only assume Kira already got one for herself.

I went ahead and downed the last vial during my journey back, feeling its previous effects successfully do their job, on top of ridding myself of lingering worries.

There was no point in worrying about what was going to occur between me and him. It was always the same regardless, and I was always left bedridden in recovery the next day.

It was expected at this point. No need to focus on it until it's here.

That didn't stop the gruff growl in my chest with my next breath, courtesy of the blood giving energy to the part of me that hated this.

I just needed to return to the peace and quiet of my room. Maybe I can fall asleep quickly after I finish some things and the blood effects wear off.

That thought got quickly flattened the moment I unlocked and opened my door, spotting the figure that had been hanging around in here all-day sitting peacefully on my chair.

She has a whole ass room to herself, why the fuck does she insist on staying in mine?!

I gave them this kind of space for a reason.

I could already guess this had to do with the phone given that her supposed 'boyfriend' didn't pick up, but it's not like she couldn't hear it ring from her room.

If he hadn't called her back by now, then I don't know what to tell her. I don't know what she hoped to accomplish by calling in the first place.

Those strangely light grey eyes settled on me the moment I stepped in, and she then immediately opened her mouth.

"How often do you get calls?" Her tone was casual, but not enough to hide the fact that there had been a new sadness surrounding her the entire day.

"Practically never," I answered honestly. The only person who ever needed or wanted to contact me that way was Erik.

The rest could just send slaves to do their bidding or some get it themselves.

I walked over to my desk to grab the cup I used to water my plants.

"Okay, so then if the phone rings there's a good chance that it'll be for me?" she asked.

I did hear her say in her little message for him to call her back at my phone number which I found to be a rather bold assumption.

This wasn't a fucking hotel room, but I guess she'll figure that out if he just so happens to call and wake me up from my already limited sleep, and then gets to hear me threaten his entire bloodline.

"I guess," I began, "You mean to tell me he hasn't called you back yet?"

She immediately shifted into a defensive sitting position, picking back up that glare I'd just associated with her face at this point.

Though the sadness in the air that just got thicker told me a different story.

"He's a busy man," She grit through her teeth. Again.

I'm not too sure this man even exists.

Sure, people can be busy, but so busy that he's not the tiniest bit concerned about his girlfriend that went missing? Unlikely.

"So am I. I'm a busy man who's about to get naked in his room and then go take a shower. So unless you'd like to stick around and witness that, then I suggest you head back to yours. If the phone just so happens to ring, I'm sure you'll hear it from there."

Her eyes went wide, but she promptly stood with a grimace.

It took her a few more seconds before she decided to move, cursing something incoherent under her breath as she stomped past me and shut herself into her room.

Finally, some peace.

I let myself relax into it for a minute, looking down at the glass in my hands before executing the plans I'd told to her.

I'll water my plants first.