Sequel to A Vampire Chew Toy
Devin Jace lives in a huge mansion together with six other people, four of them turn furry, one needs to drink blood to survive, and one is a former blood slave, just like him. Most days he’s happy with his life with his vampire boyfriend, Mars O’Ceallaigh, but today he’s arranged a chocolate-tasting evening for everyone in the house, and Mars is nowhere to be found.
Mars has a problem. The guy delivering his blood bags can’t get hold of any, and Mars is starving. He doesn’t dare go near Devin since he’s afraid his control will shatter, and he’ll eat him. In a bad way. Without informing anyone, he sneaks out of the house to try to figure out what’s gone wrong with the blood delivery.
The night doesn’t turn out as Devin had expected, but he does his best to hide his disappointment. Mars never meant to hurt Devin’s feelings, but what is a hungry vampire to do? Eat his favorite person?
“We have a problem.”
“I figured since you didn’t come to dinner. Devin is getting worried.”
Mars winced. He didn’t want to worry Devin.
The door opened again, and Hanna stepped in, cradling a cup of coffee in her hand. “What’s going on? Why didn’t you come to dinner?”
Mars was saved from replying by the door opening again. Rei stepped in, looking sourly, and Mars almost winced. It wasn’t often Rei was in a bad mood.
“Where is Faelan?” He wanted to get started on the meeting.
“Stopped to talk to Devin about the M&M tasting.”
“The what?” Mars remembered Devin chattering about M&Ms this morning, but he hadn’t paid attention. He’d been too focused on hiding being hungry to listen.
Hanna pulled out a chair and sat. “He’s decorated the kitchen. Rei and I helped him get a Christmas tree up, and he’s prepared an M&M tasting buffet for tonight. Faelan told him it would have to wait a little since we were having a meeting, but as soon as we’re done here, we’re to go to the kitchen.” She grinned. “He’d fixed some other chocolate candy too in case Dillon cared to join us. Apparently, he doesn’t like M&Ms.” She chuckled. “Did you hear, Murrie? Dillon doesn’t like M&Ms.”
Murrie grunted and sat next to Mars. Rei pulled out a chair with more force than needed, and Mars grimaced. It didn’t bode well that Rei was in a foul mood. Maybe he’d been dumped by one of his many lovers. Though he doubted it would affect him. He had a string of them, but there was never anyone special. Unless something had changed, of course.
After a few minutes, the door opened again, and Faelan stepped in. He swept his gaze over them and sat on the closest chair, giving Mars a small nod.
“We have a problem.” Mars took a deep breath. “There is no blood supply.”
“What?” Hanna scrunched her nose.
“My contact is out of blood, and there is no way to get hold of any. The blood bank is closed, according to rumor, due to refrigerator failure.”
Murrie rubbed a hand over his mouth. “There has to be more than one blood bank.”
“Not in Hagwall. Or there is the human one, but they don’t hand out bags to visitors.” Not to mention they needed the blood for their hospitals.
“But surely they’re cooperating with other blood banks around the country.” Murrie looked around the table while Mars breathed through another stomach cramp. He needed blood.
“I tried calling them, but no one is picking up, and Eoin, my delivery man, said he can’t get hold of anyone either. It’s been a week and a half since Eoin could stock up, which means we have a bunch of hungry vampires out there.”
Rei gave him a narrow-eyed look. “How hungry are you?”
Mars glared at him and squeezed his lips shut. “I had a few bags in storage, which means I’m better off than many others, but I fear we’ll be seeing attacks soon if there haven’t been some already. Hungry, out-of-control vampires might not think about being stealthy, they might not think about erasing memories, and I fear they’ll snack on humans. Shifters are harder to control, and humans taste better. When logical thinking is replaced by hunger, they won’t be thinking about the treaty, especially not the young ones.”
Murrie cursed softly before taking a deep breath and focusing on Mars. “All this because of faulty refrigerators?”
“Seems unlikely. From what Eoin had heard, someone had unplugged the refrigerators and made sure the backup system didn’t kick in. But it’s rumors. If it only had been malfunctioning refrigerators, they should’ve been able to fix them by now or gotten new ones.”
“How long does it take to build up a supply?” Hanna looked around the table. “Maybe they’re up and running again already but don’t have enough in stock to hand out.” She shrugged. “We could drop by tomorrow to donate. I’m assuming lots of people are traveling this time of year, and few are thinking about swinging by the blood bank. When I’ve gone before, I’ve dropped by without forewarning, and they’ve always been happy to have me.”
“That’s a good idea.” Murrie placed his palm on the tabletop. “We’ll go first thing tomorrow, offer a few pints and try to get a feel of things.”
“It won’t last long.” Mars clamped his lips shut as his fangs buzzed with the need to bite into something. “Four people donating won’t solve the situation.”
“No, but it’s a first step, and it will allow us to see what’s going on.” Murrie gave him a nod. “Now, let’s go to Devin. He’s waiting.”
The rest stood, but Mars remained seated.
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