06 Blood Ties by Mari Mancusi

Author:Mari Mancusi
Language: es
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9780425241363
Publisher: Berkley Trade
Published: 2011-08-01T05:00:00+00:00

15

After plopping down a huge tip for the waiter, the three of us exit the restaurant. (And are subsequently chased down by said waiter, who hands me back my extra yen. Turns out the whole tipping thing in Japan is not done. In fact, it can be seen as a sign of dishonor. Weird, huh? Personally, if I were him, I’d just take the money and run. Especially after having to deal with my annoying twin sister. He earned his money that night, big-time, just for not spitting in her drink.)

We say our good-byes to Rayne, who jumps in a cab to cut west across town and get back to Shinjuku and her luxury hotel. Jayden and I, on the other hand, are back on the subway, heading toward our little ryokan. Rayne did offer to try to get us a new reservation at a nearby Best Western, I but figured it was easier to just stay where we are at this point. Besides, I have to admit, the place is growing on me. Like a cozy little nest for just the two of us.

Jayden sleeps for most of the subway ride and then listlessly shuffles down the main road toward the ryokan. I study him worriedly as we stop at a crosswalk. Under the streetlights, his skin looks almost translucent and the hollows under his eyes are as deep as the Grand Canyon. When we get back to our room, he plops down on the futon mat in exhaustion.

“How are you feeling?” I ask worriedly.

He looks up, trying to put on a brave face. “Fine.” “You don’t look fine. You look terrible.”

“Thanks.”

I climb onto my own futon, propping myself on my side with my elbow. “You know what I mean,” I protest, poking him playfully. Just a small tap, but it nearly knocks him over. My teasing face sobers. “Seriously, Jayden. Are you going to make it ’til tomorrow?”

He rolls onto his back and stares up at the low ceiling. “I don’t have any choice, do I?”

“I don’t know. Maybe I could try to catch you a rat or something. They’ve got to have rats here, right? Even though, to be honest, I don’t know what they’d eat, the streets are so freaking clean...”

“I don’t want a rat, Sunny.”

“A cat? Though I think they might be sacred here. Or lucky. I guess it’d be lucky to find a cat to feed you...”

Jayden manages to throw a pillow at me.

I sigh. This sucks. And I can’t even feed him my own blood, because the whole syringe/blood bag thing is back in England.

Unless... “Jayden,” I say softly.

For a moment I think he’s already fallen asleep. Then I hear a quiet. “Yeah?”

“What about my blood?”

“I thought you said you were too low.” “I feel much better today. I think I can give a little.” “But we don’t have the syringe.”

“I know but... what if you took it the old-fashioned way?”

His eyes widen. “I couldn’t. I mean, remember what happened last time? And here there’d be no Magnus to save you.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.