“What do you think you’re doing?”, Sadie asked angrily. “Jonathan is part of our team!”

“He was part of our team. Move away from him.”

“No”, Sadie said as sternly as she could.

“Are you blind? That is not Jonathan anymore.”

“I said no.”

Sergeij clicked his tongue and lowered his pistol. “Then this is your responsibility. You need to explain this to the Council.”

Sadie helped Jonathan get up and to the van. Sergeij was in the driver’s seat, Charlotte beside him. Sadie and Jonathan went to sit in the back part they arrived in.

Lightly shaking, they continued their drive back to the city.

“How are you feeling?”, Sadie asked quietly in the dim light of the back part, as if speaking louder would hurt Jonathan.

“Awful.”

“Is there really nothing I can do for you?”, she asked again, reaching out for his hands that he kept on his knees.

“Please don’t touch me.”

Sadie’s hand immediately jerked back, as if she had tried grab the flame of a burning candle.

“There is one thing”, he then said, almost inaudible.

“Yes? Please tell me!”

“No, I cannot ask you for that”, Jonathan mumbled as if it was something very embarrassing.

“Please, Jonathan, as long as you don’t say ‘please kill me’, I’ll do anything!”

“Blood … could speed up the transformation”, he said, his voice getting so quiet that it could barely be heard over the sound of the van.

“Are you sure?”

“No, of course not.”

Jonathan could hear fabric rustling. Sadie was getting out of her trench coat and was rolling up her sleeve.

“Take it”, she said.

“Are you crazy?”, Jonathan hissed in shock, “We don’t know if this will do anything!”

“But there is a chance, right? What’s the worst that could happen?”

“Have you never seen a fledging feed, Sadie?”, Jonathan threatened, unconsciously trying to lean as far away from her as possible.

“I have. But you’re not a fledgling. If you were, you would’ve attacked Charlotte and me on the spot without collapsing.”

“I … I don’t know what to do”, Jonathan admitted as he grabbed his boss’ arm.

“I can’t tell you either but the longer you hesitate, the more awkward this gets.”

Jonathan got up and sat down beside her for easier access. He absolutely had no clue what he was doing. He had of course seen vampires feed off other people, but it was always so gruesomely violent. He didn’t even know if he had fangs yet.