Free Bloodguilty by K.M. Penemue Page B

know. It's been a while since I wasn't being chased." Casimir licked his lips, still faintly tasting blood. "I'm not sure what I'm going to do for money, either. I'll go back to raid Jared's home, but that won't sustain me forever."
    "You gonna wander around again?" Mikki asked, glancing at him.
    "I'll figure something out, but I'm going to need time and blood to heal." His legs were shaking; without Garnet and Mikki holding him up, he would've had to crawl back into town.
    "Me too." Garnet's head dropped, and he lifted a hand to push his hair out of his face. There were bite wounds on his wrist, none of them from Casimir.
    "I can—"
    "Yeah, I know you can heal it," Garnet interrupted. "But I really don't want a vampire's mouth near me right now. No offense."
    Casimir grunted his understanding, fatigue draping over him like a heavy blanket. He needed blood, but right now, all he wanted to do was lie down and close his eyes.
    They made it to the Jewel Box and stopped. Mikki had been carrying Adeline's shotgun in one hand; now he handed it to Garnet. "Tell her I said thanks. I'm gonna take Casimir to my place to sleep."
    "I said he could stay in my room," Garnet protested.
    "Yeah, I know, but you can't really work with a half-dead vampire in your bed."
    Casimir let out a weak chuckle. He wasn't going to disagree with that—he probably looked better than he felt, but that couldn't have been saying much.
    Garnet cradled the gun. "All right," he said, sounding relieved that Casimir was going to be somewhere else. "I'll… see you around, Mikki."
    "Yep. I'll run into you again soon."
     When Mikki started walking again, Casimir glanced at his face. "That's the first time I've seen you smile," he said. And he was smiling—it was small and really only at one corner of his mouth, but still a smile.
    "I don't have a lot of reasons to smile," Mikki said, but his expression didn't change.
    The building that Casimir had first met Mikki, where he'd been leaning over the balcony, was where he lived. After an excruciating drag up a weathered staircase, Mikki unlocked the first door at the top and let them both in. His apartment was small: all one room with chipped plaster walls, a kitchen that consisted entirely of a tiny fridge, microwave, and sink, one door off to the right that was probably the bathroom, and a bed on a tall, heavy frame under the window. There was a small lamp next to the bed, but it was off, and the entire apartment was dark.
    With a grunt, Mikki helped Casimir to lie down on top of the threadbare sheets. "How starving are you?"
    "I can wait a little while. I really just need to sleep," he replied, already closing his eyes.
    "Sure." After a pause, Mikki added, "I'm not really home much, so if you wanna crash here for a few days, it's cool."
    "What if you are here?" Casimir asked, pushing his shoes off with his feet so that they fell to the floor.
    "You can move over. Bed's big enough for both of us to sleep." Mikki demonstrated this by lying down next to Casimir, on his side, one of his hands falling limp and resting against Casimir's arm.
    "Thank you." He didn't have the energy to think of where he would go after this, or even where he would find his next meal. His body was collapsing, and his mind was falling into darkness along with it.
    *~*~*
    When Casimir woke up, he could hear talking, a faint sound compared to the strained beating of his heart. He sat up and saw Garnet and Mikki talking near the door. Garnet slipped away from his brother and approached the bed; Casimir gripped the edge of the mattress to check the urge to grab and bite him.
    "Miss Adeline sends a gift," Garnet said and reached into the pocket of his robes, handing him a wrapped pouch that was fairly heavy.
    Casimir pulled aside the cloth: a pack of blood was inside. "Give her my thanks," he mumbled. There was a medical port on one end that he could have drank from, but he bit through the bag, not having the patience to drink neatly. The blood