Page 197 of Eternal Craving

Jacob removed his jacket. “The drawbacks, what are those?”

“Well, you’ve seen one, no reflection.”

“That explains your hair.”

I ran my fingers through my dark locks.

“Just joking,” Jacob said.

I gave a wry smile and gestured to the door. “No sunsets. And dining takes on a whole new meaning.”

“You can’t eat at all?”

I shook my head.

“What else can you do?” he pushed.

“I can seduce anyone.”

“Is that how you trap them?”

I sensed where this was going and didn’t like it.

“You have to kill to survive?” he asked.

“The alternative is to take just a sip. But it results in several victims instead of one.”

“What if they see you again?”

“It doesn’t work like that. We give them one sip of our blood, and their arousal is their reward. Then they forget everything.”

“Are you suggesting that, for us, your blood is some kind of elixir?”

I stared down at my shoes.

“You’re talking of an erotic experience?” Jacob asked, looking amazed.

“Now you understand why Rachel going anywhere near you made me nervous.”

Jacob remained silent for a few moments.

“How do you find your victims?” he asked.

“Take a walk down any back alley and you soon find yourself threatened. I turn the tables.”

“What do you do with the body?”

I let out a deep sigh, not wanting to explain.

He couldn’t hide his horror. “You throw them in the Thames?”

“We’re all faced with complex decisions.” I got up off the coffin. “This is not how I want you to see me.”

He disappeared inside his thoughts. “There are some physicians that bleed their patients. Although I don’t practice this technique, perhaps we could give you the blood that they draw?”

The thought of drinking clotted blood caused a wave of nausea to hit me. Drinking for me was so much more than survival, a sublime sensuous ritual. “Please don’t see me as one of your patients.”

“How would you prefer me to see you?”