"Only the Ancients can offer any protection," she murmured with a frown. "Interesting."
"You'll die soon."
"Shouldn't I be dead already if I'm in Hell?"
He shrugged, not nearly as concerned with her life or death as she was. She set the blue water pills on her pillow and stretched back. Her ribs were sore but no longer painful. Amnesia was looking like a good option compared to Hell.
"Now you pay me," Lankha said.
"Excuse me? Pay you what?"
He smiled, revealing fangs among the neat row of white teeth. She shivered, cold inside.
"Blood," he confirmed.
She stared at him.
"Not much. I don't have the appetite of the beast," he said, lifting his chin to the glowing silver eyes across the corridor.
He took her hand gently in his feathery, cool hands and pressed a finger to the inside of her forearm. It fell numb. She said nothing, the world too surreal for her, and turned her head away as he dipped his head. She didn't feel his fangs sink into her, but she heard the sound of punctured flesh. He sipped quietly. As promised, he did not drink long, and she felt him press another finger to the wound to seal the seepage.
Her stomach turned. She didn't know how she could ever eat again.
The beast across the hall roared and threw itself against its prison. The cell wall buckled and bent. She scrambled toward the back of the cell, huddling with Lankha in a corner. She couldn't see what was there but knew it was on its way to get her.
"He likes mortal human blood," Lankha whispered.
"No shit!"
A man in a robe hurried down the hall as the beast battered itself against the weakening cell. The man paused and whispered something in a harsh tongue. The cell repaired itself until it stood straight again. The beast within continued to throw itself at it, ceasing finally when it saw the prison had been reinforced.
The robed man strode away, and Katie and Lankha eased from the corner. She sat on her bunk while Lankha climbed atop his. She stared at the beast across the hall staring at her and soon heard Lankha's snores. He was fed and happy. She shuddered, looking at the tiny scars of his teeth on her forearm.
One day, she'd wake up and find herself on the Metro again.
"Hey, human."
She glanced up. The voice came from a cell down the hall.
"Lunchmeat."