Present Day:

The quivering fists as my side began to relax, but the hard grip she had on my shoulders stayed strong.

I didn't have the strength anymore to even keep myself up at this point.

This was the second day in a row that she's fed from me, and my body had in no way recovered enough yesterday to go through this again today.

Hell, I'd be surprised if my body has had a full amount of blood in its system ever since this deal was made.

Usually, she'd at least wait one day before coming over to feed from me, and Xander would try whatever he could to make sure I recovered enough to go through another one of Layla's bites.

And by that I mean he would make sure I ate enough and took one of those pills his brother gave him.

But apparently, Layla just killed her last pet and was now fully dependant on a pet that wasn't even hers.

Maybe I should feel lucky. After all, she's gone through fourteen pets since the time she started using me.

My vision started to blur around the edges, my heartbeat slowing down as she took gulp upon gulp of my blood.

or what was left of it.

The only good thing that came out of that sensation was that I became numb to the intense pain her bites caused.

She bit hard, and sometimes, in more than one place.

I had the scars all over my body to prove it.

I didn't even have the energy to make a sound when a shift in her position caused my head to fall back completely.

From here, though, I could see Xander, his fist pressed against his lips with the same uncomfortable and kind of awkward expression he always held whenever Layla had her fangs in me.

His eyes snapped to me for a moment, a tinge of worry in his eyes.

When this deal first started, I thought that maybe the worry in his eyes showed that he cared about me, but I came to my own conclusion very soon after.

He always hoped that she wouldn't kill me. Because without me, there would be no Layla coming to his room multiple times a week.

I was the only thing bringing her to him and he knew that.

Despite how he might try to deny it, deep down he knew.

He also always hoped that one of these days she'd do something else than feed or whip me whenever she came by. He hoped for something more than the agonizing small talk they'd exchange before she'd do what she wanted with me and left.

But then when Nico was around with them she acts as if Xander is irrelevant.

She knew what she was doing, even I knew how much she was using him.

But for some unfathomable reason, he was too smitten with her to see it.

So he just kept giving and giving and giving.

The blur had taken up most of my vision at this point, leaving the only thing left I had to hold onto was my consciousness and even that was slipping.

By now I had become accustomed to the feeling and the effects of blood loss, nothing surprised me at this point.

Nothing scared me at this point.

I knew the pattern well and knew what to expect.

Except when I don't have time to recover between bites, it can get difficult to deal with.

The only thing I don't think I've experienced at this point is death itself.

My breathing had shallowed out so much couldn't even tell if my lungs were receiving air anymore.

I barely even processed her fangs leaving my skin before she dumped my limp body to the floor.

The only fight I had left in me was to keep my eyelids open, but even that would become futile soon.

Layla let out a satisfied sigh as she rose to her feet, "Perfect as always, Alex," she purred in that voice that she knew Xander was a sucker for, "That pet of ours really is something special."

Had I the actual ability to, I would have rolled my eyes.

"Only the best for you, Layla," He responded, that hope for an actual conversation he always carried laced in his voice.

She let out a petty laugh mixed with her still-going purr.

"That's why I like you, Alex," She teased, mercilessly toying with the fact that he liked her, "I'll see you later then." she turned and waved.

"Oh... Yeah," the hope had dried from his voice, "See you."

I didn't hear her step out or hear the door close, but it must have because Xander was by my side within seconds, worry plastered on his face as he fell to his knees.

"Shit shit shit," He repeated, seeing how terrible my condition was.

At this point, I think my mind numbed my body every time things got this bad.

Which strangely enough, they rarely did.

He quickly licked the end of his thumb and pressed it against the still-bleeding would.

Layla never sealed the wound after she was done.

I would be surprised if she even knew how.

But at then end of it all, that fact ended up working great for him.

I peered at his eyes as he locked the small bit of blood from his thumb, watching that light green slowly fall into a deep red.

Xander gently rolled me onto my back, cupping and lifting my head ever so slightly to face him.

I tried to focus on his face, but I was seeing double. Maybe even tripple.

I couldnt really tell.

"Say something. Can you speak?"

His words echoed numerous times in my ears

The smallest sound passed my lips before I felt Xander scoop me up, one arm under my knees, and the other under my torso.

I'd been through this enough to know where he was taking me.

He only took here when my situation was dire.

The door to Nico's room was in front of me within the blink of an eye, the sound of Xander's knocking mixing with the high pitched ringing in my ears.

Nico answered the door, a disappointed glare settling on his face as his eyes switched from me to Xander.

"You're joking, right?" Nico asked.

Xander let out a small nervous laugh, "Unfortunately not. The craving hit hard this time I guess." He explained, taking the blame for my condition yet again.

He always took it.

Layla had asked him never to tell anyone about their little deal with me, and especially not Nico.

So, without a second thought, he listened.

And I've watched the bond between these two be damaged greatly because of it.

And how devastated it made Xander, yet he kept doing it.

In truth, I could count the number of times Xander's fed from me on my hands.

Once every blood moon, the day he got me, and once to intimidate Nico's new pet after Dahlia passed. Unfortunately, that pet passed during the last blood moon.

The blood moon was the only time he wouldn't let Layla near me, knowing that I would undoubtedly die if he were to let her have me during that night.

Royalty or not, being the fourth born, the blood moon affected her the same as the rest of the vampires.

"This is the second time this month, Xander. You can't keep doing this and expect me to keep cleaning up your mess!" He growled.

I barely felt Xander flinch.

"I know but just... just one more time. I'll try not to do it again." He replied, extending his arms a bit to hand me off.

Nico was quiet for a long moment, or maybe it just felt long to me, before I finally found my body in his arms.

"This is the last time," Nico began as he walked me over to one of the couches in his room, "After this, you're on your own and if she dies, she dies. Now go order me the blood. She's going to need a lot."

Xander did just that while I felt Nico lower me onto the couch.

God I was so tired.

"The fact that shes even conscious right now is insane," he remarked.

I took the smallest bit of pride in that, even though I knew I wasn't going to be like that for much longer.

Basically the only thing I had going for me was how long I had lived, and I wore it like a badge of honor.

I'm sure it mattered to no one else, but it mattered to me.

Nico left for a minute to retrieve the supplies for a blood transfusion.

This process was one I was quite familiar with, and I much rather preferred a needle than fangs.

Plus, I had learned that Nico became quite gentle whenever he had to do some sort of medical thing with me.

"Honestly, at this point, I would start looking for another pet if I were you." I heard Nico's voice say.

"What? Why? Is she going to die?" Xander responded, honestly doing well in hiding the panic in his voice.

I wasn't going to die. Not yet and not to her.

"No, Not tonight." Nico said, "But with the way you've been handling her lately, she's not going to last that much longer."

There was a long silence, or maybe it was just my consciousness finally tearing away from me.

It turns out, the latter was exactly what it was.