Ceiro gasped and gritted his teeth, fangs lengthening as he struggled against his baser instincts, her touch bringing about a resurgence of the beast within him, fighting to get at her blood. With his hearing so much more sensitive without his sight, her blood pounding through her veins was a sudden assault on his ears, almost begging to be taken. He focused on her voice, falling back on everything he’d been taught as a child and turning down the volume in his head, breathing ragged as he fought the urge to tear into her again. He’d already done that once and it was too much for his conscience.<br/><br/>Taking one last deep breath, words slipped from him, too quick for his mind to sensor.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#0080ff">“Didn't anyone teach you how dangerous it is to touch a blood-starved male like that?” </span>it came out in a hiss, his teeth still clenched, but to his credit he did not move until he’d managed to fight back against what was within him. He slowly reached out and firmly took her arm, but once he sank his fangs into her, his entire body reacted forcefully, latching on to her and drinking in long deep pulls. Despite having taken her blood the other night, half mad from his wounds, he felt ravenous, like he needed her blood inside of him. Starvation could do funny things to a man, making the first blood after fighting the cravings so much more inviting. Or perhaps it was because she was a woman. It would explain why fathers were so protective of their little girls.<br/><br/>Stopping was so much harder than he’d thought, having to overcome this sudden need to take her; all of her. He managed to extract himself from her wrist, pulling back and backpedaling with his arms.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#0080ff"> “You… you have to close it yourself. I’m too… I’m too unstable… I’m sorry…”</span>he could feel her blood rushing through him, finding his wounds and knitting together his broken body once more, helping to heal the damage of the fall. But words whispering in his mind continued despite his efforts to silence them. He could have sworn it was his friend’s voice, telling him to take her… all of her. To drain her dry and use that strength to escape…<br/><br/>His sightless eyes widened, fists clenching in the dirt as his senses flared. Despite having none of his Carpathian gifts available to him, he could feel the evil seeping in around them. His struggles weren’t just internal, something external was feeding them.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#0080ff">“o jelä peje terád*, Valentin.”</span>he murmured, dead gaze locked in front of him, determined, forceful.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#0080ff"> “I know this is your doing. And I will not kill her.”</span>once more his voice came out in a tight hiss. He turned in the direction she had been, listening for her presence to make sure she was still there.<br/><br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#0080ff">“I’m sorry, Marcella... “ he whispered. “The vampire…. He still lives. You should go. Run. Quickly while he is too weak to persue you.”</span><br/><br/><br/><i>Translation:</i><br/>(*sun scorch you.)