The council chamber reeked of ink, sweat and lies. Ministers, droning on and on about shortages at the border, about the dwindling blood supply after my raids. Some of them even had the audacity to suggest that we go hunt for humans again like we used to, ages ago. Their voices all blurred into a dull hum beneath the pounding in my skull.
I hadn't slept yesterday, nor the day before. Thoughts of Rosie and our son, Lucien, gnawed at me until there was nothing left but a hollow ache. It wasn't just longing, it was starvation. My body craved them the way my lungs crave air, the way blood calls to a vein.
