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M O R G A N

We bandaged Poppy's neck and laid her in front of the fire. India tried to call the Doctor, but he wasn't answering his calls. He must be with the Elders, looking for Eli's body. Little did they know Eli had been here. He had stood in this bar and taken a chunk from Poppy's neck.

Poppy moaned in pain whilst reaching for her neck. She was turning a strange colour of grey as the blood haemorrhaged through the bandages we had placed around her neck.

"Keep still," I said, gently pulling Poppy's hand from her neck. "You mustn't touch that. Rupert and India have gone to fetch the Doctor."

Poppy's pale lips parted, and she whispered, "I'm dying. You heard what Erik said. There is no cure for a vampire bite."

"Don't be silly. It's not a vampire bite. It's just a small nick," I said, placing another wad of gauze over her blood-soaked bandages.

A hand reached out and squeezed my shoulder. It was Erik. He knelt beside me and said softly, "My beloved flame, I must speak to you."

"I don't want to hear it. Poppy is going to be fine," I snapped.

"Please, my heart," he pleaded. "You cannot save a dragon from a vampire. There was no such thing as a vampire dragon. Our two essences of blood and fire cannot co-exist within a single living creature."

"Then how do you explain the dead dragon that bit Poppy and then turned into a swarm of bats to disappear up the chimney," I snapped.

"I don't believe that was truly Eli. It was more likely a vampire shapeshifter who had stolen Eli's visage or perhaps a blood-necromancer using Eli's body as a puppet," Erik countered.

"The vampire said that he could save her. He said-,"

"The vampire is a liar. He will say anything to persuade you to the Mad Prince's court," Erik countered.

"But what if he is telling the truth? What if they can save Poppy?"

"My mate, listen to me. In the early days of the war, when my father was alive, the vampires had tried to turn the Dragons against themselves by converting them into vampires. I remember my father telling me of camps the vampires created to experiment on prisoners of war. Sometimes my father and older brothers would raid these camps. They never found any survivors of the vampire experiments. But they did find the bodies of the prisoners of war. The conversion did something to them. Something that my father and brothers dare not repeat."

The finality in his voice was soul-crushing. I gazed down at Poppy and watched her eyes flicker in and out of consciousness. Useless tears started to blur my vision as the hopelessness of the situation became increasingly apparent.

Her injuries were my fault. The vampires had attacked her because of me. If it weren't for me, Poppy would be alive right now. She would be tucked up in bed, alarm set for the morning shift. She wouldn't be laid out on the floor, bleeding to death.

Erik leaned forward and checked Poppy's pulse.

"It won't be long. We should undo the bandage to encourage blood loss. We want her to pass before the conversion starts to take hold," Erik said softly.

He reached for Poppy's bandages to loosen them, and something inside me snapped.

"No," I said, grabbing his wrist. "Don't touch her."

My fingertips started to burn, and for a brief second, I thought Erik was using his dragonfire on me. However, when Erik gasped in pain, I realised that his dragonfire was not the problem. It was my own bright blue flame that was scorching his arm.

I immediately let go of his arm, shocked to see the bright blue flames dancing on my fingertips.

This was my fox flame.

A flame of pure spirit.

"Damn, your flame has some kick," Erik said, almost proudly, through clenched teeth.

He cradled his injured arm close to his chest, eyeing my flaming blue hand wearily. The blues flames flickered a few seconds longer and disappeared.

I stared down at my hand in astonishment.

"That has never happened before," I said.

"Your strong feelings for the girl must have tapped into your protective instincts. I can see you care for her, but the kindest course of action would be to allow her a swift death before India returns with the Doctor. Do not let her suffer needlessly," Erik said.

I shook my head. There was a knowing inside me that whispered from the blank spaces in my memory, telling me there was a way to save Poppy.

"There is something that we can do," I countered. "I just have to remember it."

I took hold of Poppy's hand. It was cold and clammy to the touch. She was close to death. I could hear her breathing becoming weaker and weaker. I needed to do something quick.

I crawled to her and placed my hands over her neck. I closed my eyes and tried to quieten my mind. I needed to find that place inside me where my flame lay hidden. I needed to find it and ask it to save Poppy.

Little blue kiss-ass flame, if you can hear me. Please help me save Poppy.

Something replied to me inside my head. It was a voice that sounded and felt like me but was somehow different.

'If we save the girl, Erik will use her to trap you. He is no better than the vampires that captured Ebony. Perhaps, we could save her and kill Erik instead. What do you think? Hmmm?' The voice asked.

'No. We are not killing anyone. We have a big enough body count as it is. We have to save Poppy, please,' I replied.

'Are you going easy on Erik because of the orgasm he gave you with his talented tongue?' The voice responded in a mocking tone.

'I'm not ashamed to give credit where credit is due. Yes, Erik was good with his tongue and gave me one of the best orgasms of my life. However, we are keeping him alive because, unlike some people, I find murder morally repulsive,' I replied spikily.

'I've seen your thoughts, and it's filled with dragon dick. Erik's dragon dick,' the voice added sceptically.

'Look, we can argue about dicks later. But right now, we need to focus on saving Poppy,' I pleaded.

'Define 'save' for me?'

'Little blue flame, this is not the time to be pedantic. A vampire has bitten Poppy, and if we do nothing, she will die either from blood loss or failing to turn into a vampire. We need to stop her from dying.'

There was a long pause, followed by, 'Fine.'

I opened my eyes and looked down at my hands. They were glowing blue. Warmth flowed from my palm into Poppy's skin. I watched in amazement, wondering what on earth was going on.

"I think my flame is burning the vampire essence that is killing Poppy," I mused out loud. "I'm going to save her."

The blue flames engulfed Poppy briefly, then fizzled into nothingness. I lifted my hands and stared at my palms, waiting for something else to happen.

Was that it?

I felt a little deflated. I imagined my blue flame would lift Poppy into the air and heal her in a Disney-esque montage. But instead, she lay on the flagstone floor, still looking dead.

'I thought you were going to save her,' I snapped at the blue flame.

'I did,' the flame countered.

'Did you? Because she looks dead.'

'She's not dead. She is undead.'

'What?'

Before the flame could explain what she had done, Poppy bolted into an upright sitting position. Her eyes opened wide into a strange unblinking stare.

"Poppy?" I whispered.

Her head tilted towards. Her lips were blue.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"No, I'm not okay. Have you seen my dress? It's ruined," she replied, running her fingers over the bloodstained fabric. "No amount of baking soda is going to save it."

"Do you remember what happened?" I asked.

"No, but I had the weirdest dream," Poppy said excitedly. "I stole Eli's body from the funeral directors and brought it back here. I can't remember why I did it, but there was this bird and-,"

"She's clearly talking nonsense," Erik interrupted. "We should check to see if she is a vampire."

Erik dipped his hand into the puddle of blood on the floor, then waved it under Poppy's nose.

"Does this make you feel an uncontrollable thirst for blood?" Erik asked.

"Ew, no. But it does give me an uncontrollable urge to grab a mop and bucket," Popppy said, leaning away from Erik's hand.

Erik rocked back on his heels in astonishment. Judging from his reaction, I guess that meant Poppy wasn't a vampire. But there was something different about Poppy.

She still hadn't blinked yet.

'What's wrong with her?' I asked the blue flame in my head.

'Nothing is wrong... so long as you can control her appetite for raw flesh.'

'What?'

'I'm not a miracle worker. She couldn't live-live, and so she is dead-live.'

'What the fuck is dead-live?! I thought you saved her by burning the vampire essence in her blood.'

'I saved her by refusing to hand her soul over to death. I basically slapped his bitch-ass with my blue flame and told him to find another soul to claim. This means she's alive but also dead.'

'Like a zombie. You turned Poppy into a zombie,' I replied.

Oh my god, my blue flame was a psychopath.