"Blood?"
Madeline zoned out for two seconds before blinking her eyes frequently to register her thoughts.
Even though she had already been checked, Madeline couldn’t resist giving herself a second scan to make sure there was no sign of injury that she had and didn’t know she had, but as expected, it wasn’t her.
Her eyes instinctively shifted to Cas’s abdomen, trying to take notice of any sight of blood since he was the injured one amongst the two of them, but there was not a tiny stain of red on the plain white shirt he was putting on.
So where was he perceiving the scent of blood?
The question remained unanswered, and Madeline was more worried for Cassian since he was having a hard time controlling his thirst. She could only hope the scent dies off before he loses the sanity in him that begged to be forgotten.
"Cas."
"It’s getting stronger," he whispered, the urgency to taste blood becoming evident in his crimson eyes. Half alarmed by the sudden footsteps approaching their direction from a distance, he suddenly gasped. "Someone’s coming."
"Someone?"
As if on cue, both of them turned around to see a tall figure wandering in the midnight darkness with a kerosene lantern in his grasp. His walking step was unusually slow, like he had no strength to keep moving, and when his lantern flashed in the darkness, the stranger’s face became more vivid.
"Klaus?" Madeline’s pupils momentarily dilated in shock as she took a step back.
At the sight of him, Cassian no longer cared as his blood-thirsty eyes darted to the left hand of Klaus that was being bandaged, and his fangs immediately bared, ready to attack and sink them violently into Klaus’s arm. But before he could use the opportunity given to strike, Madeline immediately pushed him into the corners of a building after picking their traveling bag, her palm covering his mouth in an attempt to stop Cas from talking.
"Just hold on a bit longer." She whispered quickly in a pleading tone. Her expression froze at the sight of his pupils contracting dangerously into an intense glare, one she had never seen before in his eyes, but even at that, he made no attempt to attack her and tried to stay still.
With her heart racing and keeping Cassian trapped in between the darkness of a building, Madeline stole a peek by peering out into the street, and there, she saw Klaus walking, his movements barely showing he was going to leave soon, and Madeline had the urge to curse, knowing she won’t be able to stop Cassian if Klaus doesn’t move his damn feet and get away from here.
"Argh! Darn it hurts!" She heard Klaus hiss out in pain when he stopped a few yards from the corner they hid themselves, and Madeline pressed herself onto Cassian, meeting his glaring red eyes that told her he won’t be able to stop himself for much longer if Klaus doesn’t leave.
"The things I do in order to ruin Cas’s name." Klaus suddenly laughed at the outcome, finding the end result to be completely worth it as he stood straight. "By tomorrow morning, Cas would be executed, and no one shall speak of him ever again. Instead, I’ll be the new hero of Carmarthen, cause I was the one who revealed his dirty little secret, and I got rid of Carmarthen’s total disaster."
His victorious laughter was subsided by the pain of his bandaged arm as he clutched onto his arm tightly. "Vampires, they like blood don’t they? Yet I see none." His brows knitted cryptically, wondering if he had done his research wrongly.
Unbeknownst to him, Cassian, whose nostril was being assaulted by the scent of his blood, groaned impatiently, barely taking in the things he was saying, but Madeline refused to free him, knowing it would jeopardize their plan of escaping tonight, and everything would fall at bay.
"Just hold on for a bit longer, please."
"It’s Klaus." He whispered harshly when he successfully freed his mouth from Madeline’s palm. "Who cares if he fucking dies? I want-- mhh!!" And Madeline plastered her palm against his mouth again, silencing him and shushing him up before Klaus heard him speak.
"Huh?" Alarmed by the muffling noises he heard behind him, Klaus spun around quickly. He took a quick look at the vicinity with his calculative gaze, wondering where the voice came from, and it made him wonder.
Was a vampire on the loose?
"Who’s there???"
Hearing Klaus’ demanding tone, Madeline flinched at the thought of being caught by him. When she noticed his lantern was being flashed their way, she pushed Cassian deeper into the corners of the building, seeking coverage in the darkness, but a gasp escaped Madeline’s lips when Cas’s glowing red eyes narrowed into a warning slit.
"What to do?" Madeline felt stuck between a hard rock and the corners of this building. If she, by chance, makes the mistake of releasing Cassian, he wouldn’t hesitate to go after Klaus and drain him of his blood, and she was sure he wouldn’t stop until Klaus is dead and dry.
Apart from that, the menacing look in his crimson eyes was already throwing warning signals that he might do something drastic if she didn’t let him go.
She appreciated his effort to control himself, but even when she offered him her blood in exchange, he refused to bite through her palm that was covering his mouth. His rejection made her wonder what the problem might be, and even though he was extremely tempted to bite through her soft cotton palm, he knew he didn’t have the heart to do it, cause he’d be taken a lot more than he had bargained for.
"I’m sorry, this was the only option I could come up with."
Sending her apologies in advance, she withdrew her palm, but before he could speak, Madeline stood on her toes and cupped his cheeks, and before Cassian knew it, his lips were met with softest-looking lips that sent his mind drifting into an overdrive.
His eyes that gleamed with hostility, instantly switched into one of startlement as his pupils dilated visibly.