Vampires, elves, dryads most of them lived longer than the average races like the felines, werewolves, golems. Reaching a centuries old was a given if they didn't contract an incurable disease or weren't killed. One of the most fatal diseases to vampires was actually simple to prevent, that is to not drink the blood of a marked.
A bite mark would alter the blood chemistry of both participants. The bond that was created by a bite would tie the two together. It was more sacred than a wedding vow for them.
Ryker stared at Liv's exposed neck. The sight was an offering, a solution, and an incredibly loaded request all at once.
"What? Are you insane?" Anna's sharp words cut through the tension.
She was vigorously shaking her head no. The dryad knew the importance of the mark, how it'd be unbreakable, how Liv wouldn't be able to bond to someone else. But most importantly Anna was already bonded to Ryker. He was hers. And she was his.
Ignoring Anna, Liv's red eyes were solely on Ryker. Her heart hammered against her ribs like a trapped bird.
"As much as I hate Valerica, we can't disobey her... unless you want us all to die," Liv explained, her voice quiet, insistent and manipulative.
Crossing her arms, Anna turned to her other reasonable friends, "You guys agree with me right?"
"Oh look at the time!" Kael said with forced cheerfulness, checking a nonexistent watch on his wrist, "We were just leaving. Right guys?" He elbowed Rul, who nodded enthusiastically.
"Yeah. Important adventurer stuff. Dungeons to... not enter," the minotaur added, scratching the back of his head.
Even Brock seemed to find a sudden interest in the floor pattern, suddenly wanting to stay far away from this drama.
"Best of luck Ryker," Kael gave him a thumbs up as he and Rul scrambled out of the room. Brock gave him a supportive but uneasy look and followed them out.
"Traitors," Anna muttered to the closed door before a lightbulb went off, "If drinking your blood would give him ice that means my blood gave him healing?" Her head spun with this revelation and the implications that followed.
Liv nodded without breaking eye contact with Ryker, "Probably."
"Ryker you can't. She's your sister!" Anna argued.
"Cousin," Liv corrected her sharply.
"Just try to use healing first before making a big mistake," Anna said, trying to beat Liv's obsession for Ryker's attention with rational reasoning.
She looked at Ryker, pleading with her whole being, "Please...?"
A headache was starting to form from all the drama.
But Anna was right, he should try out healing and then ice magic. That was the safest route.
"I'll try healing first," he said to Liv.
Anna threw a fist in the air in a small victory. She pulled one over Liv. For now.
The older vampire didn't protest or even argue, which was weird for her, instead a grin formed on her face. Her vampire claws extended and she made a small cut on her palm, then she placed it near Ryker's lips.
"Go on heal my wound."
This was her cunning plan. Smelling her blood should make it irresistible for him, not being able to resist bonding with her.
"Wait that's not-" Anna started but she was too late.
Ryker put his hand on Liv's palm and imagined healing her. He pictured the skin closing up. Slowly the blood stopped pouring out but the wound didn't heal completely.
Tiredness assaulted him like he had just sprinted a hundred meters, but there was no pain. His magic core wasn't rejecting the healing spell. But the mere fact he healed her made him smile.
"I did it..." he breathed.
Space magic still seemed too dangerous to him but this was nice. This felt safe, useful.
"He doesn't need to bite you!" Anna declared triumphantly, "He has access to my magic."
She placed her hands on her hips, a smug look on her face as she looked at Liv.
But did he want safe? Living with only healing magic seemed boring to him, seemed wasteful to him. The memory of Dracula's power, that thrill of destructive potential, was a siren song calling to him. Could ice satisfy him? Maybe fire? Or perhaps all of them?
A familiar sound broke his train of thoughts. A mother had entered the room with the speed of a bullet.
"I said five minutes!" Sarah scolded before grabbing Anna by her ears again, "We are leaving now."
The mother-daughter duo left the room with Anna pleading for one more minute. Liv watched them with an amused expression, a smirk playing on her lips.
She turned to Ryker.
Her ruby eyes made him squirm, it was like a predator looking at her prey. She wanted to pounce on him.
He found it unsettling. The last woman who looked at him like that almost made him lose a hand.
"So..." he started, trying to fill the silence.
Hearing his voice Liv's predatory gaze vanished and was replaced with a small, vulnerable smile, her whole demeanor softened as if a switch had been flipped.
"I am sorry for lying," she blurted out, her sudden apology catching him off guard.
He stared at her for a moment. One thing that was certain was that he couldn't live without her.
"I forgive you," he simply said.
"But do you trust me?" Her question was almost a whisper, her eyes fixed on his, searching for an answer.
Instead of answering he closed the distance, and gave her a hug, burying his face into the crook of her neck.
No lies. He didn't trust her again. Not yet.
"I know it's going to take a while," she whispered into his hair, hugging him back just as tightly.
For a long while, they stayed like that, two vampires clinging to each other in the sterile white room.
"I want you to bite me not because of magic but because I want your trust back," she explained as they slowly broke apart.
The vulnerability in her expression was a dagger to his heart.
"I don't need anyone else. I don't want anyone else," she confessed, her voice shaking ever so slightly.
The words were both comforting and terrifying, a declaration that was beautiful and suffocating all at once, a declaration mimicking the heavy rainstorm.
She was sitting in his lap, her weight a gentle reminder of their history, sunlight hitting one side of her face.
His gaze fell upon her neck, the smooth, unblemished skin was an invitation. Would marking her, rebuilt their trust? He knew it wouldn't. The one thing he knew was that he'd care for her for the rest of his life no matter what. She was already his, all that was left was the mark.
"You're too possessive," he said.
His fangs were now sinking into her delicate flesh, drinking her deliciously warm blood, her toes curling from the ecstasy, a feeling they both would never forget.