It was only after he had left Santino standing by the sea’s edge that Eric let himself feel the weight of his strained reserves dragging him down. His eyes stared vacantly at the forest floor ahead of where he stood within the trees, white hand braced against a trunk to steady his figure. The younger immortal probably knew the true state of his current weakness. That didn’t mean Eric cared to cause any further worry in Santino if the Italian opted to fret. He’d fix it shortly.
Scanning through the forest, it didn’t take long for him to find his target. A sizable black bear, seeking a meal itself, found itself on a collision course with the vampire. Eric stepped directly up to the creature when it rose on its legs, putting himself straight into the bear’s spreading arms, and the larger animal had no chance when he tucked his face in against the black fur of a throat to strike. His fangs drove deep and the pressure of the creature’s claws against his clothes were merely a nuisance. No matter, that. Skin too hard for such a thing.
Eric sank when the bear did. The size of it alone yielded a feast of blood, hot and thick and just what his body cried for. He took everything it had to give until the beast finally went still with the white-skinned predator draped half above it. Eric rose, wiping the backs of his fingers across his lips, but the hunger had not let even a single drop free to leave a mess.
As he stared down at the fresh corpse, Eric’s hands moved absently up to gather his hair together, pulling it all around to hang down one shoulder. It wasn’t the satisfaction of human blood — not quite the flavor his body craved. Blood it was nevertheless and he felt a thin veil of content already settling over him, quieting that disruptive voice. He’d need to seek more, yes, and with luck he wouldn’t cause too much harm to the next throat he sought.
The fur of the bear was beautiful. When he was alive, leaving such a bounty behind was unthinkable. The fur alone was valuable in that primitive time. All this available meat would have been a feast to get through an entire season before it went too rancid for use. A temptation rose in him to tear the fur off at least. Return it to Santino as an offering to protect the Italian for any other flight they needed to take. He imagined how lovely the vampire would look bundled in the shining fur, almost as inviting to the touch as that dark angel’s mane of black that Santino favored keeping his style.
He didn’t. There wasn’t time. Eric needed to finish sating his hunger and return to the one he had left waiting on the shore.
When he did make it back he found Santino exactly as he’d left him. That figure in black silhouetted by stars, by black velvet sky. Eric moved soundlessly up behind him through the sands until he could touch his hand upon the Italian’s spine. He had promised an embrace. His arms enfolded that other body from behind, clasping their lengths across Santino’s torso to pull him back to his body. When Eric bowed his face down into the juncture of a throat he found himself able to kiss that skin without that same drive to rend it open.
"I tried to cast my net out for any sign of the others. There are immortals within this city strong enough to block me out. I felt their power rippling out over me with mighty energy, just like these waves crashing here. Ancients are amongst our known ones, beloved. Ancients older than myself. Perhaps as old as Khayman or very close."
"Do we take the risk of seeking them out? Share your wisdom with me on this. I will try to protect you against any dangers that arise if you feel that we must find our friends. Tell me what your will is."
