By the time that Aurélie woke up again, Étienne had managed to clean off the dried blood on his clothes and body, while tending to the wounds on his neck. He had changed into comfortable clothes and slept for several hours sitting in the armchair, still holding tightly onto his companion’s hand. When he woke back up, nighttime had fallen once more. The colour on Aurélie’s face had not returned yet and her breathing was still shallow. Étienne’s mind was still a little hazy from the hours before, a sinking feeling weighing heavily on his chest. He had not meant to lose control of himself while Aurélie offered herself. To see her in such a vulnerable state and the damage he had done to her was something he would never be able to forgive himself for. 

Yet, as he thought back, her scent and taste still left him hungry for more. The moment his lips had touched her neck something clicked inside him, throwing his world upside down. Anger rose in his chest when he thought of someone like Duke Delacroix restricting her or harming her, while the thought of her laughter or smile made his knees weak with joy. 

Then there was the taste. The warm and rich nectar of her lifeforce enveloping him. Compared to other humans, her blood was strong and pure. Sweeter than anyone else’s he had tasted, foreign and mysterious. Yet among the mysteriousness of her blood, the taste of something familiar lingered behind. It drove Étienne insane that he could not quite put a finger on what it reminded him of. 

A soft groan escaped the companion’s lips, causing Étienne to quickly jump up. Aurélie’s eyes fluttered several times before she managed to fully open them, the soft blue in them darting around from side to side before falling onto Étienne’s worried expression. 

“How are you feeling?” he asked, grasping her hand with one of his, while checking the temperature of her forehead with the other. 

“Heavy,” Aurélie whispered. “Heavy but also lightheaded. Are you alright?”

“Do not worry about me,” Étienne said, sitting back down and averting his gaze. “I have healed.” 

Several moments of silence passed between the pair before Étienne sighed. 

“You should not have let me drink from you. I lost control and harmed you.”

Aurélie looked over to him, his head in his hands. “You could have died, Étienne.”

“You should have just given me something from the Duke’s reserves.”

Aurélie sat up, specks of silver cascading down her vision. She shook her head and closed her eyes for several seconds, before opening them again. “No. I would offer myself up a thousand times before you touch those reserves.”

“But why?”

“Clara suggested not to open them and I do not really want to know why. There are barely humans left in the area, Étienne. Does that not concern you?”

“I could have killed you, Aurélie,” Étienne retorted, anger beginning to brew deep within him as he looked back up at her. 

“If it meant sparing you from drinking whatever the Duke has in his reserves, so be it!” Aurélie said, her voice rising slightly. 

Étienne sat up, glaring down at his companion. “Do you really think so little of yourself? Do you really believe I would allow that?” He watched as she leaned to the side, a new expression on her face. In all the times he had snapped at her, teased her and witnessed others talk down on her, she had never showed anger or annoyance. This was different. Her face was flushed and her eyes narrowed as she looked over at him. 

“I am living in a world where I am the weakest person. I cannot live as long as you do or serve you the same way my fellow companions could. I am a nobody in the eyes of almost everyone here, where everyone looks at me ready to pounce when you are not around or looking,” she began, her voice raised fully. “I cannot help you in the same way that the others can so this was the only way I could help you and make sure that I did not lose you!”

“You could have died!”

“But I am alright!”

“No you are not! Look at you, you are almost as pale as I am!”

“What does it matter?”

“What does it matter? Everything matters!” Étienne snapped his jaw shut and looked off to the side, trying to focus on anything that could take his mind off the argument they were having. His mind wandered back to the previous morning and guilt washed over him as he recalled her stumbling towards the bathroom earlier.

Her weakly clutching at him while he carried her back. 

Her head pressed tightly in the crook of his neck. 

Her overwhelming scent clouding his mind and soul. 

Her lying there, not moving and barely breathing. 

It drove him insane that she could care for herself so little. He thought back to her lying in the sheets soaked by his blood, a cold dread washing over him as he imagined it being her blood instead of his. 

None of that mattered to her?

 Étienne turned his gaze back to Aurélie, who had opened her mouth once more. He cut her off before she could continue the argument. 

“For Christ’s sake Aurélie. Everything matters because I do not want to lose you!” 

Aurélie fell silent, her heart beating fast as she looked over to Étienne. He had his head once more in his hands, slowly shaking it. When he looked back up at his companion, she had shifted to the side of the bed, swinging her legs over and attempting to stand up. He watched wide-eyed as she stood for a second, before swaying heavily and doubling over. Étienne caught his companion, clicking his tongue in frustration as he gently lowered her to the ground. 

“You should not be standing up,” he said, looking down at Aurélie. Her face had lost all colour once more, and the young woman clutched her head. 

“I have to.”

“You will stay in bed and rest,” he snapped a little too harshly, before sighing. “Please, Aurélie. You must rest and get better. Do not torment me by showing me just how much damage I have done to you.”

Aurélie looked up at Étienne and noticed the painfully sad expression on his face. He looked so helpless and defeated, something she had never seen him display since she started working with him. Her heart sank hearing his soft plea.

“I apologise. I did not know it would upset you so much,” she whispered, getting back into the bed with Étienne’s help. She let him fuss over her as he made sure that she was securely tucked into the blankets and warm enough. Once he was done he sighed, still leaning over her. A moment of silence passed before he spoke. 

“You matter, Aurélie. By the gods you matter more than anyone else in the world right now,” he said weakly as he sat back down in the armchair, shaking his head. “You deserve the world for what you have to live through.” 

Tears welled up in Aurélie’s eyes as she reached her hand out towards him. He gently took it, pressing a kiss on the top of her hand. He could feel her pulse quickening, watching as her face turned slightly red. 

“We are both tired and should get more rest. We can always argue once you are back on your feet again.”

“I do not wish to argue with you,” Aurélie said, closing her eyes. “I am too tired.”

Étienne watched as his companion fell asleep once more, her chest rising and falling softly. He kissed her hand once more, tucking it under the covers. 

***

“Linnington?”

“Yes, Saint-Clair?”

“You have lain with a woman before, right?”

Oliver swiftly closed the book he was reading and looked up at Étienne, who was looking at him with intense interrogation. The book he had been reading was carelessly tossed to the side next to a few of letters he had been working on. Both men found refuge in the library of castle Delacroix, waiting for Aurélie to recover. 

“If you are asking me to give you that talk, I must politely decline. You are well in your twenties and should have already been briefed on those matters.”

“I am not asking about that, you moron,” Étienne scoffed, shaking his head in disbelief. “I am simply asking if you have ever tasted the blood of a female vampire. I know it is uncommon for us to feed off each other due to it literally doing nothing, but I am curious as to how you would describe the taste.”

Oliver let out a deep sigh, placing the book down onto the table in front of him. Out of all the questions that Étienne had after almost dying, he was not expecting this one. Popping his collar and leaning back into the armchair, Oliver began thinking back to the more adventurous encounters he had with the opposite sex. 

“If I had to describe it, I would say it has a very intense and pleasurable taste to it. Very different to the blood of human women. Purer, perhaps?” Étienne’s heart began to sink, thinking back to Aurélie. His mind was still clouded and confused why she had such an effect on him. “Of course the only time we really bite each other is when we are engaged in more intimate moments,” Oliver added.  

“I suppose so,” Étienne mumbled.

“Why are you asking?”

“Just wanted to see if you were in agreement,” Étienne said, quickly picking up the book he had tossed earlier. “I am happy to say that we are.” 

Oliver leaned against his hand, a glimmer in his eye. “You little devil. Here I thought you were true to your companion. Have you been sneaking off with someone?” 

“What? No!” 

“Then how else would you know?”

“I have tasted Celine’s blood, you know and it was not as pure as Aurélie’s,” Étienne quickly retorted, before turning red at the statement he gave. “Not in the same situation with Aurélie though.”

“I would hope you did not bed your companion that quickly after this morning’s ordeal,” Oliver said, grinning at Étienne’s frustration. “But what do you mean by that?”

Étienne thought for a while before sighing. “Aurélie’s blood tasted so different. Almost too pure. I do not know how to describe it. It lured me in and I could barely stop.”

“Interesting. Why do you think that is?” Oliver asked.

Étienne shrugged. “Her blood does not taste like that of a human, but also not quite that of a vampire either. Like I said, it is too pure. Like she has the waters of heaven flowing through her or something.”

Oliver grinned and uncrossed his legs before slapping the tops of his thighs. “Ah. I see what is happening here.”

“What?”

“You, my dear Saint-Clair, have hopelessly fallen for our little friend.” Oliver wiggled his eyebrows, laughing as Étienne began turning red once more. 

“No! I mean, yes but— no— but— oh shut up!” Étienne shouted after his stammering. Oliver cackled and let out a wince after Étienne’s book hit him on the temple. 

“Alright, alright. I will not tease. No need to throw any more knowledge around.” Oliver held his arms up defensively as Étienne picked up the empty ink pot resting next to his letters. 

“But you do know that the blood of your soulmate always tastes sweeter and purer than anyone else’s?” he added, wiggling his eyebrows once more. “Father always talks about how my mother’s blood tastes like as if god himself had created it. And that of royals too. My father and your father apparently drank a few drops of King Renauld’s blood after his coronation.” 

Étienne put the pot down. “What?”

Oliver nodded, continuing. “Apparently the blood of royals tastes very pure. It causes anyone that drinks from it to develop a strong bond with the individual. The same happens with your other half. Both have something that cause the recipient of the blood to protect them and consider their blood ‘pure’. I think it is a natural defence mechanism.” 

“But Aurélie is not a royal. She is very much human,” Étienne said, sitting back down on his chair. 

“Well perhaps she is your other half then. Like I said, there have been reports of those who are meant for each other having sweeter and purer blood than others. Did your father never mention anything about that regarding your mother?” 

“No I have definitely heard about that before,” Étienne said, remembering the conversations both parents would have about the other. He remembered both his father and mother mentioning the purity, something that his mother had asked him before any engagement arrangements with Celine were finalised. It was the final criteria that made him reject her advances. “I suppose it makes sense. My former fiancée’s blood tasted awful in comparison.”

Oliver merely shrugged and picked up the book from his lap again. He flipped through several pages before looking back up at Étienne. “So what will you do now? About Aurélie?”

“I have no idea. You did warn me about what would happen. I just did not expect to feel so much for her. And after this morning I fear that the feelings I have for her grew even stronger. It is suffocating almost. Even just sitting here without her makes me so frustrated. How can her blood make me feel such a way?” he asked, his hand travelling up to his heart. 

“It is not unheard of that humans and vampires mix. Sure, it is more dangerous and one will always lose the other much sooner than usual, but there have been cases.” 

“I should have never drank from her in the first place,” Étienne mumbled after a while, shaking his head in shame. “I put her in danger. I knew I would not be able to control myself. She should have just let me recover slowly.” 

Oliver sighed and stood up, his hands folded behind his back as he walked around the table. “Well you are fully with us now, and for that I am sure she is very grateful.” Oliver put his hand on Étienne’s shoulder in an effort to help calm him. “I bet you that she would not have been able to live with herself if she did not help and something terrible happened. How is she?” 

“Horrible. She looks so pale. When I went to visit her we got into an argument where she stood up and immediately collapsed. I can barely look her in the eyes.”

“Do not fret too much. She wanted to help. I am confident that she will recover soon.” 

“I hope she does. I feel awful.”

Oliver sighed. “Perhaps you should rest some more. You look like you barely got any sleep. Let us wait until Aurélie is better and then we can present our findings to both her and our fathers. The ball is in a few days so we should be prepared for anything.”

Étienne nodded and stood up, also grasping Oliver’s shoulder. “Thank you, Linnington. You rest as well.”

Oliver bowed his head slightly as Étienne left the room. The young Saint-Clair made his way back to his companion’s room, slumping back down into the armchair and watching over her.