August 5, Wednesday
I really hope Kyton's not a mind reader. The only thing worse than my blood-sucking dreams from last night would be if he somehow saw them in my head. They're too embarrassing to share, even in a diary no one will ever read.
I planned on researching what's wrong with me today, but last night, Grandma said she wants me to help Kyton with chores. The housekeeper's not coming until tomorrow, so Kyton's still in charge of them. Maybe I can sneak some reading while he's busy cleaning.
***
Shuddering, I forced myself to look in the bathroom mirror. After my dreams from last night, I expected to see some ugly hag, but my reflection was disturbingly normal. My numerous freckles, blue eyes, and pointed canines were the same as always. No, that wasn't exactly right. There was a dark speck on one of my incisors.
I leaned forward and picked at it with my fingernail. When it came off, a blue spot stood out on my pale finger. A memory of sweet blood clouded my thoughts. Licking my lips, I contemplated getting more. It wouldn't be too hard. After all, a walking blood bank was living in the next room over.
What was the matter with me? I shouldn't be thinking like that. Shaking myself, I started the sink and splashed water in my mouth. My stomach protested. It wanted more blood, not water. Splashing wasn't enough to get rid of the taste. I pulled out my toothbrush and scrubbed my teeth until the bottom half of my face was covered in foam. The taste was still there. I brushed some more. I kept brushing until my gums started bleeding.
Slamming my toothbrush down on the counter, I forced myself to stop. It was just a memory of a taste. Brushing wouldn't clear it away. There had to be some cure for my problem, but I wouldn't find it in here. I could always try and look it up on the internet. Only, Grandma once told me that anyone who posted about magic on the internet was probably a total fake because "real" witches didn't mix technology and magic.
I snuck out of my room and down the hall to Grandma's lab. She had tons of books on potion making. The cure was probably in there somewhere. But if I didn't know exactly what cure I was looking for, I would probably never find it. Grandpa's magizoology study, on the other hand, had whole bookcases filled with medical textbooks. Grandma said a lot of them had lists of symptoms to help you find magical diseases when you didn't know their name.
Unfortunately, Grandpa's study was off limits. Even my grandparents didn't want me going in there, for some reason. If I had to guess, it was probably for the same reason why Grandpa made Kyton swear not to talk to me about magic. He must think I was a total dunce or something. What harm could I do in his study, knock over a few bookcases?
I knocked on the door, just in case he was already inside. It was only eight in the morning (and the middle of the summer), so I didn't think he would be up yet. Getting in and finding a book on blood-related diseases would be easy.
"What'cha doing?"
I spun around and snarled at Kyton. The noise made both of us pause. It was animal-like, and I made it without thinking.
Kyton eyed me like he'd just poked an angry bear. "Morning to you, too."
I took a deep breath, trying to calm my speeding heart. "You scared me."
"I noticed." He opened his mouth again, but a door creaked behind me.
I turned around to see Grandpa standing in the doorway to his study. He stood a few inches shorter than me, but he always seemed taller. It was something about the way he stood--head up, spine straight, shoulders back. There was also a twinkle in his eye, something that bordered between reprimanding and mischievously curious.
"Lillith, may I help you?" he asked in a low, thought-out tone.
"Nah, I just wanted to say good morning." I gave him a quick hug. If I wanted his books, I would have to try again later, when he was out riding his pegasus familiar.
"Good morning. Now, if you don't mind, I have a few things to take care of before breakfast." He nodded at his study.
"Of course. Have fun. See you later."
As the door closed, I shot an annoyed look at Kyton. I hadn't heard or seen him at all when I left my room. His wings were probably healed by now, so he must've been using glamour to stay out of sight.
"How long have you been following me invisibly?"
"I wasn't invisible, just quiet. You seemed preoccupied, so I didn't say anything." He chuckled. "You ready to get started on breakfast?"
"Sure."
As he turned toward the stairs at the end of the hall, I shook my head. There was nothing like being cooped up with a walking desert bar to start my day off terribly.
Once we arrived in the expansive kitchen, Kyton took two flowered aprons off a hook by the door and handed one to me. I put one on. So did he. Well, someone wasn't insecure about his masculinity. Then again, fairies were supposed to be into flowers and stuff. Maybe flowers weren't feminine to him. They could be manly.
I snorted. Otherworlders were weird.
Kyton moved around a wide work table stretching the length of the kitchen. Pots, pans, and a variety of utensils hung from hooks above it. He collected several measuring cups and a mixer attachment. Humming an upbeat tune to himself, he opened the cabinets below the table to pull out a mixing bowl and an electric mixer. After dumping them on the table, he went back into the pantry.
When he returned, his arms were full of flour and sugar bags, as well as a bunch of spice shakers. He froze at the end of the work table. The look on his face told me he'd forgotten I was there.
"What were you just humming?" I asked, trying to soothe the tension sparking in the air. It probably would've been better if I helped him collect ingredients and things, but his scent was already distracting from across the room. Getting closer wouldn't help anyone.
"It's something my mom taught me." He turned away to dump his supplies on the table, but not before I caught sight of the redness in his cheeks. "A tune from fairy."
"Huh? Oh, you mean Faerie, the fairy home planet."
"Yeah."
He seemed uncomfortable talking about the song, so I wracked my brain for something else to distract myself. Mom and Alice loved cooking, but it had never interested me much. Watching someone else cook was even more boring than doing it myself. I drifted closer to Kyton without meaning to. Gritting my teeth, I grabbed the edge of the work table and silently commanded my feet to stay still. I had to think about something else, anything but his scent.
"So, how come you can touch all this stuff?" I nodded at the utensils he'd collected. "Stainless steel has iron in it, and that burns Otherworlders, right?"
He nodded. "Most Otherworlders, yeah. It's enchanted, so it won't burn me." Working in silence, he measured out ingredients and mixed them in the bowl. He didn't seem to want my help. At least, he didn't ask for it.
After a minute of watching, my feet were inching toward him again. If only I'd managed to get that book on diseases, reading it would distract me. Wait a second, I had an honest-to-goodness Otherworlder standing in front of me. He had to know a lot about magic. At the very least, he should be able to point me in the right direction.
Before I could figure out what exactly I should ask, he took out a glass cooking tray and started laying strips of bacon on it. He put the full tray in the oven before returning to grab an electric griddle from under the table. He plugged it in and started spooning out batter onto it.
"Pancakes?" I asked.
He nodded.
Now was as good a time as any to ask him my questions. "You know how you called me a vampire yesterday?"
Flinching, he glanced up at me. His face was definitely red. "Yeah, sorry about that."
"Well, it got me thinking about... magic and blood and everything." Where was I going with this? I'd better just spit it out. "What do you know about blood drinking?"
"A lot of monsters suck blood." He paused with his spoon dripping batter onto the griddle. "Vampires, sirens, fairy dragons-"
"That's not what I meant. I mean, are there any diseases you can get from drinking blood?"
He spooned out another glob of pancake batter onto the griddle. "If you drink a vampire's blood, you turn into a vampire. Well, you'd be kind of a vampire, but you wouldn't live as long as a true vampire, and you wouldn't be as strong."
I frowned. "That's not a disease."
He nodded emphatically. "It is. My great aunt Wenysthafirellajornasti was bitten by a vampire, but when they gave her specialized antibiotics, she was as good as new."
"Your great aunt what?"
"Wenysthafirellajornasti." He grinned. "I know, it's long. A lot of fairies have names like that. It's traditional. Aren't you glad I'm just 'Kyton?' Two syllables, easy to pronounce."
"Yes, you have a very pronounceable name, but-"
"My grandparents wanted to name me Kytonorasylvenit, but my parents negotiated it down to two syllables because nomahus wouldn't be able to pronounce it." Shaking his head, he grabbed a spatula from a hook and started flipping pancakes. "Hah, they must've forgotten what it was like in nomahu school. I don't think I've ever had a teacher pronounce my name right on the first try. Ever. How hard is it to say 'Kite-on?'"
"Kyton, focus." The words came out sharper than I'd intended, but at least they made him stop talking about his name. "When I'm talking about drinking blood, I don't mean monster blood. I mean-"
"Oh, you think you're going to get sick because you-" He gestured at his shoulder, which was bandage-free. "Don't worry. I'm healthy, and you drank the antitoxin. You'll be fine."
I wished he was right, but I wasn't fine, not in the slightest.
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