Chapter 118

Tessa’s POV

I was completely numb. I knew Joseph was here and he was talking to Ryan, but I had no idea what they were saying. My main focus was on the fact that Fae had completely passed out. One minute we were talking and laughing, and the next she was complexly unconscious in the arms of Ryan because he drank so much of her blood, her body couldn’t handle it.

I stared at her pale face, and she looked back at me with horror in her eyes. Then, she closed her eyes, and her entire body went limp and it should be the mesmerizing effect kicking in. I was shivering at the very sight of it. She told me that it typically happens when the vampire drinks a lot of human blood. But being a blood slave, she will recover within the day.

But Ryan will keep doing it. Fae will never have a break.

I didn’t even realize when Fae and Ryan left. I’m assuming Ryan lifted her out of the hot spring and carried her away. But I had no idea what kind of things he was saying to Joseph or what Joseph was saying to him.

But when I looked at Joseph, I couldn’t take my eyes away from him. He looked so mad. His anger was directed toward Ryan and when he looked at me, I saw nothing but remorse.

Maybe he felt bad for keeping something like this from me. It was no secret now. He knew that I knew the truth and now he had to tell me everything.

We were alone soon enough, and he came over to me. I saw his lips move, and I knew he said my name, but I couldn’t hear him. I was too numb to hear anything other than the sound of my own heartbeat.

“I…I…” I tried to say’ Honestly, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to say. Every time I opened my mouth, the words failed to leave my lips.

I took in a deep and shaky breath as tears spilled from my eyes.

“How could you not tell me…?” I managed to sputter. “How could you not tell me about the blood slaves?”

I saw the pain and sadness in his eyes as he lowered his gaze, defeated.

“Come on,” he said in a soft whisper. “Let’s get you back to my house and clean up. We can talk there.”

I was too mentally drained and physically numb to argue with him. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to walk through. Thankfully, he didn’t make me walk and he knew I wouldn’t be able to.

He wrapped his arms around my body and lifted me into his arms bridal style. I fit so perfectly in his embrace and his warmth instantly wrapped around me, making me feel a little bit more alive than I was moments ago.

I rested my head against his chest and allowed my tears to fall freely down my cheeks. I didn’t make a sound though. I silently cried as he carried me through the forest and toward his house.

Once we returned, he carried me into his bedroom and sat me on his bed.

“Do you want to take a shower?” He asked, eyeing me carefully.

“I want answers,” was all I managed to say.

He sighed and sat down beside me.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you…” he said slowly. My eyes were locked on his face. “I should have told you the truth.”

“Why didn’t you?” I asked immediately, finally finding my voice again.

“I didn’t want to scare you,” he admitted, meeting my eyes. “I knew it wouldn’t sit right with you and—”

“You keep humans here for the purpose of drinking their blood,” I said sharply, pressing my lips together in a thin line. “How am I supposed to react to such a thing?”

“It’s not as bad as it seems,” he said, running his fingers through his hair.

“Fae passed out in front of me,” I said, more tears pooling in my eyes.

He sighed.

“Ryan is an asshole and shouldn’t have done that in front of you. But I promise, Fae will be okay,” he said gently. “Within a few hours, she will be back to her normal self. But Tessa, these humans knew what they were signing up for when they agreed to be our blood slaves. It was either this, or they remained stuck in their horrid past lives or died at an early age. We explained to them what was expected from them, and they agreed to the terms. We don’t kidnap anyone, and we don’t force them to become our blood slave.”

“Why do you even allow blood slaves if you don’t need blood to survive?” I asked, folding my arms across my chest.

“Some vampires don’t want to give up blood,” he answered. “We can’t make them give it up. We are vampires and wanting blood is in our nature. But we don’t want to pose a threat to humans, so keeping blood slaves is a good compromise. Not all Vampires want one, but the ones that do we don’t judge.”

I was feeling less distraught over the ordeal, but I couldn’t get Ryan and Fae out of my head. He abuses her and it’s obvious to me. But she allows him to do it because of that bond. She loves him because of that bond and wants him to do things to her she wouldn’t normally want him to do.

The very thought was making me feel physically ill but I had to trust that Joseph and the other Elders had this under control.

But still, I had to know.

“What’s the process of becoming a blood slave? Can anyone just become one?” I asked, peering up at him.

Joseph shook his head.

“Not in our tribe,” he answered. “In others, maybe. But we are a bit stricter. If one of our vampires requests a blood slave, we have to do an evaluation on the human they choose. We must make sure their situation is really something they can’t come back from. Oftentimes, in abuse situations, the human has been isolated from friends and family, they don’t work, they have nowhere to go. So, one of the Elders will speak to them about the terms and conditions of being a blood slave and what’s expected of them if they choose to do this. We will give them a contract and go over everything with them.”

He paused for a moment so I could gather my thoughts and process what he had said. Once his words settled in my mind, I gave him a nod to continue.

“If we feel there’s so much more to their lives than what they see currently, we will try to talk them out of this and express our concerns. We don’t want them to regret the situation. Like if they have kids, or if they have people in their lives that love them. If they have a way out at all, we try to make them see that before they make any rash decisions. If they truly want to be a blood slave, we won’t stop them. But the decision is completely theirs and it’s always an Elder that speaks to them.”

I nodded, understanding.

“I see…” I breathed.

“I’m sorry for keeping this from you,” he said softly. “I shouldn’t have.”

“No, you shouldn’t have,” I agreed a little harsher than I meant. The look on his face made me feel a little guilty for my harshness though and I managed to give him a small smile, reaching for his hand. “But I’m not mad at you,” I assured him. “I understand why you kept it from me.”

He returned the smile and leaned down to kiss me on the lips. I missed his kisses today. My entire body warmed from the contact, and I never wanted it to end.

But we were soon interrupted by a voice coming from the front door.

“Joseph? Are you home?”

I recognized the voice to be Anna’s. I raised my brows at Joseph, silently asking what she was doing here, but he returned my look with a shrug.

He stood up and left his room to greet her, I went with him.

Anna stood at the front door, and she smiled politely when she saw us approaching.

“I tried knocking but no one answered. I could smell Tessa here, so I figured you weren’t far,” Anna explained. “Sorry to interrupt and bother you both. But I was wondering if you and Tessa wanted to go into the city for some shopping. Bernard is busy at work and can’t accompany me and I don’t want to bother any of the warriors.”

Joseph looked at me as if asking permission, I smiled brightly.

“Yeah of course,” I said eagerly excited to see the nearby city.

“Excellent,” she said with a bright smile. “I’m going to get ready. I’ll meet you back here in an hour.”

She turned to leave and just before I turned as well, I froze when I saw the mark on her shoulder blade. I hadn’t noticed it before, but maybe it was because I didn’t know about it until earlier.

It was the same mark that Fae had.

It was the mark of the blood slave.