I did as Vienne had requested, and when I returned Marcel was sitting up. Only a small smudge of blood and an empty bag gave testament to what he now was and what he had done. Marcel's eyes were disturbingly red, and I watched him as closely as he watched me. I handed him one of the bags and he took it, a slight tremor rocking his hand and his movements slow and jerky. I watched as one of his fangs pierced the bag and he began to slurp.

He repeated the vile process on two more bags, and I hid my unease. I wanted to leave, but I took the spot next to her again instead. For as much as she was maintaining her relaxed image, I could tell she was tense.

I couldn't say exactly what was going on in her head, but it was obvious she was not entirely comfortable with what she was doing. She had been resolute about never turning anyone, so this had to be as strange for her as it was for the rest of us.

After finishing feeding, Marcel looked up. "I finally understand why you like him, Mistress, he smells great."

I glared at Marcel to cover my unease. "Don't even think about it."

"Don't worry, I won't. You're her territory." I was torn between relief and irritation at the description, but if it kept his fangs away from me, I would not argue the point because I didn't want to have to kill him.

"That's not the only reason I like him," Vienne told him. "Honestly, all humans smell that good, even when they also smell terrible. But anyways, Jamie is also stubborn and brave and rebellious, which I find very appealing."

"Hmmm. Not really my thing."

"You're missing out."

Irritation welled inside me at being discussed like a hunk of meat, but I hid it.

Marcel shrugged, but it was oddly clumsy and slow, as if he had forgotten the workings of his own body. "But blood is amazing. Was it like this when you fed off of me?"

Vienne smiled. "Even better. Just wait until you try blood from the vein."

He glanced at Vienne. "I'm looking forward to it."

"Just don't forget what Connor said. You're only allowed to feed directly from willing humans. Forcing a human is going to lead to a death sentence on this side of the fight. After all, we're the good guys... Goodish guys... Perhaps slightly less bad guys...? Either way, we're going to have at least some standards."

Marcel nodded, his movements still oddly stiff and jerky compared to how he moved before. "I haven't changed my mind on any of that. I just feel strange."

"You'll get used to it," she assured him. "I recall it was terrifying to wake up trapped in my cold and stiff body. The craving... But I promise it gets much more tolerable with time. At a certain point you won't even really remember what you've lost."

Marcel seemed to be thinking, staring off into the distance. I had not noticed how much he had moved when he was alive, until now he was so lifelessly still. I did not notice it as much with her, because she had never been another way.

But Marcel was different. He had been alive, but now...he was something else.

"Do you need more blood?" she asked him.

Marcel seemed to pull himself out of whatever he had been thinking. "Need? I don't know, but I want more."

She sent me a pleading look.

"I'll get more."

"Thank you, Jamie," she said, and I left the room, secretly glad to have a momentary escape from the awkward stillness.

It didn't take me long to make my way to the kitchen and back, carrying a couple more blood bags. Was the amount he was drinking normal?

Marcel was speaking when I returned. "I feel off, but it's not that bad. I don't feel like running around killing oth—humans or anything." I handed him a bag.

"As long as you feel like yourself..."

"Don't worry so much."

An expression of discomfort ran across Vienne's face at his words before she hid it with a calm smile. "You're right. There's absolutely nothing to worry about. I have everything perfectly well in hand, as is to be expected. I like when things get shaken up around me."

I listened with half an ear to her plans for him while Marcel drank the rest of the blood with a nauseating enthusiasm, and considered leaving, but then Vienne took the conversation in a more interesting direction.

"Well, we may as well go to the training grounds and start getting you familiar with your new state, Marcel. It should only take a small amount of time to acclimate yourself, and since you were such a capable fighter before, I don't doubt you'll soon be able to defeat a vampire many times your own age."

Marcel grinned, and I was glad to see that his desire to kill bloodsuckers had not been diminished by becoming one. Maybe this new strategy would give us an edge. "I'm looking forward to that."

"I'll help," I volunteered. The opportunity to be able to punch Marcel's irritating face without holding back at all was too irresistible to pass up. My fists practically begged for that satisfaction.

Vienne smiled widely at my words. "That sounds perfect, Jamie. But perhaps just before dawn? Marcel has a distinct advantage over you in the dark of night."

"I'll be there," I agreed.

She smirked.

"Good night, Vienne, Agro."

Vienne smirked, clearly amused and momentarily distracted from her concerns.

"Night, Little Human. See you in the morning. I'll be gentle," Marcel said, mimicking her expression.

I shot him an incredulous smile and left the room.

* * * * *

I woke with anticipation and made my way to the training grounds as quickly as I could. Vienne and Marcel were visible in the predawn light. Had they practiced all night?

I could feel Vienne's eyes on me as I approached Marcel. When I got close enough, I threw all my speed and strength into a swift punch in his direction. I connected with his face, harder than it had been before, but still with enough give that I didn't really hurt my hand.

"What the hell, Little Human?" Marcel snapped.

I shrugged as if punching him had not been the most satisfying thing I had done since killing Jack. "The only way to beat a vampire is to go in hard and fast and catch them with their guards down."

Marcel did not look impressed. "We're training, not trying to kill me."

"I know. I would have broken your neck and staked you if I was trying to kill you," I pointed out very reasonably. I hoped that my attitude would annoy him, and I was not disappointed.

"I'm going to kick your ass," Marcel said, his voice a half-growl as he rushed at me. He was definitely faster, but I slipped out of the way and he overshot.

"Nice try, Agro." I put more distance between us while he righted himself. Faster, more powerful, but he definitely did not have control of himself yet and I could take advantage of that.

He rushed at me again and I dodged, but he caught me the next time and slammed his fist into my jaw in return. He didn't break anything, but pain immediately surged into the point of contact.

"Watch it, Marcel. You could seriously injure him a lot more easily, now. You've got to keep control when dealing with humans unless you want to be like the vampires we're fighting against." Her voice sounded somehow stern but still amused.

"I'm fine." I wiped blood from my split lip and saw that Marcel's eyes followed my movements with a lot more interest than he would have had before. I frowned at him. "Like this, Agro?"

"Yeah, I do," he agreed. "It's a rush."

I leaned down and wiped my blood into the dirt with deliberate slowness. "Well, you can't have it. You won't be of any use against the leeches if you turn into some blood junkie."

Marcel scowled at me and lunged at me again.

I managed to get out of his way, but he grappled me on the next pass. Marcel definitely had the power and speed advantage on me now that he was a leech, but was obviously taking Vienne's caution to heart about not killing me.

There was something about the fact that they were so overpowered compared to unarmed humans that grated on my nerves. What hope did humans ultimately have against these monsters? This was why we were resorting to the strategy of turning humans into leeches. We were going to have to win by whatever means necessary.

But I would still rather lose than trade my humanity.

I managed to get a couple more hits in on Marcel before he had me completely pinned.

"Alright, you've got me," I admitted. He had all the advantages now so I wasn't surprised that I lost. These young ones were going to be better practice for fighting the enemy bloodsuckers than Vienne was. She was too fast, but with Marcel I could gain a more instinctual knowledge of their movements without risking my life.

Marcel let me up, looking more pleased than he should have, but I let it go.

We fought a few more rounds and I barely held my own against him and all the while the sun rose higher in the sky. If I had been on the rooftop of the residential building I would have been able to see the sun already cresting the horizon, but where we were standing Marcel was still protected by the shade of the natural barrier surrounding us.

Vienne followed the direction of my gaze. "Marcel, you should probably get inside unless you want to start testing your luck in the sunlight already."

Marcel nodded. "Right. I'm getting tired anyways." He turned to me and said, "Good fight," before leaving in the direction of the residential building with a final farewell to Vienne.

Once he was out of sight, Vienne turned to me and moved closer until she was nearly touching me. "Will you come with me, Jamie?"

I could tell what she had in mind and I would have liked to, but there was also a pile of work already waiting in with Connor that we had not completed the previous day. "I'm sure Connor—"

"Will let you off if I say I have need of you."

"I don't want special treatment."

"Then, can you spare a short amount of time? Surely your day doesn't start this early?"

Well, she was not wrong, so I gave in to her and followed her to her private chambers. I shut the door behind us, and she wasted no time in curling her body around mine, soft and enticing in all the right places. My mind was solely on her and what I could with to her.

It was not long before we landed on her bed and I did exactly what I had been imagining.