Chapter 42

Declan:

Declan jerked awake. His head pounded, and his throat burned with thirst. Worse was the fact that he had a piss like an ox, and his bladder throbbed painfully. Groaning, he got up and went to the bathroom. He had forgotten how good it felt to pee – vampires only had normal bodily functions when they ingested human food and drink, and last night he ingested a lot of it.

He washed his hands and stared at his reflection in the mirror … even though it was night time, he was pale and had deep, dark circles under his eyes. "Ugh--" he belched, tasting nothing but cheap brandy,"--never again."

He shuffled back to his bed where Aster still slept. Just like the night before she probably wouldn’t wake for another hour. He leaned over her, inspecting her closely. He waited to feel something, anything, but there was nothing. He was completely numb. Where his heart should have been was nothing but a big, empty void.

Frowning