Of course, of – The strigoi mumbled, clearly distracted. Without even looking, he plucked out one of his fangs, still stained with my dried blood. A new one grew in its place instantly.
I accepted the gift and stuffed it into my pocket.
Why did you even need it if you're so ready to part with it now?
He waved me off, lost in tortured contemplation, and then clipped the tip off a cigar with a little guillotine. I shrugged and walked toward the spot where I'd first opened my eyes in this layer of reality. Hopefully, the same wormhole would get me back. Probably.
Okay, truthfully? I had no clue how to return. Nobody ever taught me how to perform operations across world Layers, so now I had to channel my inner natural philosopher and try to dissect reality itself.
Sure, I could just brute-force it—beat Noah into opening a portal for me. But I was way too tired for that. Fighting a creature whose power I didn't fully understand seemed like a garbage idea. Not very heroic, I know. But I never signed up to be some legend anyway.
I brought you here to I hoped we might reach a shared conclusion, or at least an astonishing hypothesis—the kind that springs from the collision of two highly intellectual minds. – He called after me. And you couldn't have just invited me here? I get it—you can't stay outside the Wall too long or the whole world hunts you down. But during our first meeting, you could've just asked for help instead of dragging me through Obscurity, throwing me into horror shows, and setting your portal- tagged minions on me.
As I said all that, I turned my head slightly—and my neck was suddenly caught in a vice-grip of ice-cold fingers.
The strigoi had teleported in front of me. He stared into my eyes—those amber orbs without pupils—his hawk-like nose split like it had been slashed open, and just below, his mandibles peeked out… like some goddamn insect.
I was officially losing my mind.
No, I couldn't! – hissed the creature, its teeth still stubbornly human- shaped (a detail I mentally noted with surprise). – If I had, you would've lost the sacred rage that fueled your journey.
You would've been robbed of the paralyzing fear when you first met the horrors of this land, and the joy when you reached this promised zone I handcrafted to fit my needs.
To hint that I'm just a lowly bloodsucker—that was your biggest mistake. I feed on far more refined delicacies: your feelings, hopes, pain and joy, disappointment and shame. That's when people truly open their minds to me—and I always take a peek. With or without your permission.