17. Changes
Ravenna glanced upward, to the lowered golden head, the eyes set on her wrist, then to the steady hands holding her arm fast. She was lying down on a table close to the apothecary section of the wide knowledge trove which consisted of his library and ruined laboratory.
A sharp hiss filled the space when Adrian poured a clear liquid over the open gash. His gaze flickered momentarily to hers before drifting back to the cut. The dagger had been sharp, and her nerves had been strained at the time. Thus the wound was deep, and as the pair reached the castle after an endlessly silent trek, the dhampir took Ravenna straight into this area to mend it. We would not want you succumbing immediately after such an honorable feat, he had said derisively. But in truth, Ravenna had sensed an eerie sort of unease reaching from him, along with the distracting sound of his heart and the feel of him, so warm and tense against her. In his arms at the time, the woman had completely and shamelessly leaned into him. And the silk of his bare neck against her temple was still etched into her mind, as was the beating of his life, pulsing through her with an intensity Ravenna had never experienced nor felt before.
"What type of alcohol is that?" Ravenna asked presently as the blond placed the bottle aside.
"A strong regional moonshine. It should prove a good enough disinfectant," he replied, reaching for a thread and needle placed aside.
It was true. Though a largely forgotten piece of knowledge nowadays which few but healers and scholars were privy to, the ancients had been known to resort to alcohol for the cleansing of wounds. And he knew of it, of course he would know of it. His mother had been a physician after all.
"Now, its use will be twofold," Adrian continued blankly, meeting her eyes again and handing her the bottle which Ravenna took with her other hand, rising into a seated position. She regarded the transparent liquid with a critical eye. "I must sew this, and we have nothing to numb you with, so drink."
Warily, she complied. Ravenna coughed her heart out after the first burning sip reached down her throat and poured its fire into her stomach, mellowing her limbs. She did not partake in alcohol and thus her body had little resistance to speak of. She made a face, "Disgusting."
"More, Ravenna. This will hurt," Adrian urged as their eyes met.
There was a sudden sizzle ringing in her ears when she now stared into those golden orbs and though Ravenna saw nothing in their depths, she somehow felt it all. His lips had touched her skin, she had offered him to partake of her blood... and it had transformed him, if only momentarily, into someone much more ruthless, merciless and no less deadly. It was the great proverbial behemoth in the room, but none would speak of it. She had never been as frightened of anything before, not even when gasping for breath under a night creature's hold. Nor had she ever been as damnably excited. The thought caused immediate distress. What... what is happening to me?
"I have never done this before, mind you," Adrian broke the silence, finally looking away. "I have only ever seen my mother do it," he took the needle and thread, also placed into a dish with alcohol.
She could not do it properly herself anyway. Ravenna nodded in understanding, taking another swig of the moonshine. It tasted terrible but its numbing effects were already making themselves known. Just then Adrian placed a hand to her shoulder applying only a little pressure, urging her to lie down again. She startled, and as drawn by an unseen force their eyes met again. When had his become so dark? The shade of them was no longer light gold, no. His irises were now a reddish copper as they bore into hers. Ravenna swallowed and slowly reverted to her horizontal position, still unable to look away. And apparently neither was he, for the beam of his eyes still burned into her.
His lips, on her skin... What in God's name is wrong with me? the woman averted her gaze to the side.
As hours wore on since their return Adrian appeared to have regained himself, though Ravenna did not know nor understand his kind well enough to properly ascertain this. Though his drinking of her had seemingly been a deeply hidden and covert curiosity - if she were to judge by how the incubus had used it against her - the reality of it had been quite different, and in circumstances she never could have imagined. It had hurt immeasurably, it had been harrowing to feel her life force draining from her body. And when he ceased the unseen link had snapped, leaving her dazed, confused and... and... wanting? Part of her felt ashamed that she should think of him in this manner, knowing how troubled his mind and spirit were.
But try as Ravenna did, whenever he touched her now her body craved more pressure, more of him, more, more, more... Her skin would burn, her heart would rage. A sharp sting woke the woman from her unsettling colorful array of guilty thoughts. He had begun to stitch the wound. Her eyes strayed unbidden to his deathly white face now strained in concentration, to his furrowed brow, the straight set line of his mouth. He was even paler than usual. If she did not know better and under different circumstances, Ravenna would think him absolutely adorable, an apprentice attempting his trade for the first time. Gods, she had nearly lost him. Ravenna shook the offending thought away. Yes, she was undoubtedly somewhat unhinged, delirious even... she must be. How could she lose something that was not even hers?
"What were they looking for?" Ravenna decided to switch her mind to matters more rooted in reality.
The needle pierced her flesh again, and his gaze snapped to hers as if to determine its effect.
"You have had the pleasure of encountering bounty hunters boasting alchemical enhancements to their bodies. Their livelihood consists of contracts for gold. Mercenaries, if you will. And when desperate they resort to actively hunting creatures of the night to sell for profit to other humans, ones foolish enough to think they can contain the forces of Hell, or else subdue them to do their bidding."
"Then you-"
"I was a fortuitous and valuable catch to them," Adrian supplied. His gaze caught hers again at the words, before trailing to how her dark hair was fanned about her on the table, then back to her face and down to the hollow of her neck. A smile caught her by surprise, dry and brittle though it was. "-would have been," he corrected. "That was very foolish of you," his voice came softer, or she may have imagined it.
A different sort of sting flared behind her rib cage as Ravenna turned her head, a light crimson blush spreading over her cheeks. "You regret it then... that I returned for you." She gritted her teeth and gasped when the needle pierced skin again. It still irked her less than his words had.
"Ravenna," the young woman heard her name, and it came different to her ears than any times before.
When she did not deign to look his way Adrian continued. "I am not at all ungrateful for your successful attempt. I only denounce its worth compared to the risk you took," but there was no admonishment there. Yet Ravenna could not place the emotion coloring his voice, if there even was any.
"That sounds pretty much like ungratefulness to me," she bit, her words slightly slurred. Her belly felt warm and her eyes had become glazed over. "And of the self-righteous sort, at that," she could not help but add.
Ravenna heard a scoff and none spoke again until he was done, cutting the remaining thread with a small pair of metal scissors. He then bid her stand upright and as Ravenna did so, she found him standing close before her. Adrian took her forearm and applied of the mixture she had previously prepared for her other wrist. And Ravenna could not help but watch him as he worked, keenly feeling the touch of his fingers along with the pain. He was very close, standing effectively between her knees as she faced him. This way they stood precisely at eye level. She wondered what it would feel like to bring her legs around him-
Be silent! the woman willed her troublesome mind to cease. Just then his head snapped upward, and their eyes met again. Still holding her wrist Adrian was now in the process of wrapping it over.
What to say? The way his eyes shone was new and no less strange, and why on earth was he looking at her so... so... Hungrily? "Thank you for doing this," Ravenna settled for voicing her gratitude, her mind significantly fogged over and numbed by the alcohol she had ingested. Had she drunk too much?
A line tensed in his jaw, and for a moment Ravenna thought his shoulders fought back a shiver, his grip on her arm tightening so briefly she may have missed it, if she had not been so very aware of him. His gaze sharply flickered downward. "Never again, Ravenna," Adrian voiced, and there was both a plea and a command there. "No matter the peril, no matter my state. Never again."
Ravenna knew what he meant. He was closer, he felt closer. She wanted to bring her legs around his hips, her hands around his neck and... she shut her eyes when fingers tilted her chin upward.
"Do you understand?" Adrian urged, his gaze burning into her lowered eyelids.
"Yes," the woman managed, wanting more than anything for him to cease this, this... whatever it was that made her insides boil and churn and her thoughts so inflamed.
When Adrian released her and stepped away she felt hollow.
"Do you think they knew who you were?" Ravenna voiced another thought. "Do you think they were looking for you?"
Adrian sighed and followed the veiled skies visible beyond the great window. "I do not think so. But they may have sensed my presence owed to the concoctions they use. It enhances their abilities to track creatures of the night."
"Where are you going?" Ravenna asked swiftly when he turned his back on her.
"To the study," Adrian briefly looked over his shoulder at her just as Ravenna stepped off the table and was on her feet. His face was open to her for once, and it appeared as though he pondered and weighed between a number of opposing notions. "If you wish and prefer to rest there instead of the bedchamber, you may come with," Adrian voiced tentatively, and taken aback as she was Ravenna failed to reply until he was already walking away.
Despite her weariness and addled state, despite all that had happened since life had her stumbling into him of all people, in spite of her two mangled wrists and his unusual and oft times contradictory manner-
It was all she wanted presently. "If that bears no trouble to you," Ravenna hastened heading towards him while also wary of his own condition. What did drinking blood after a time of abstinence do to one of his kind?
When she reached his side Ravenna was regaled with another of his wry smiles. It was not the kind which suited him best, but beggars could not be choosers. "Oh you are trouble, Styrian. But of what kind, I have yet to determine."