“Tristan, you’ll have to be patient with your bride, here. My mother and my wife both were fiercely independent and stubborn. It was a point of contention in my parent’s marriage as well as mine. You need to feed her regularly and you need to feed from her regularly. She’s still gaining strength so needs a daily feed for the next few months, at least. This has to happen even if you’re in a squabble. It might not be easy if you’re in a squabble but it’s necessary. I tell you this because the squabbles happen often in the early days.”
“How often? Feeding?”
“At least daily, if possible, but she could last three, four, or five days, maybe before feeling withdrawals. In six months, try skipping a week, if you like, to see if she has any tolerance for that. But don’t go longer than a week for at least ten years or you could both begin to feel effects of withdrawal and you now know how she’ll react to withdrawal. Years from now you’ll have longer tolerances, a month or longer if needed, if there’s a reason for you to be apart that length of time. How often are you feeding now?”
“Four to seven times a day,” Kyla answered.
Sergey chuckled, “Honeymooners.”
Kyla giggled. Tristan was still being wary but then he smiled with dimples.
“Have at it. It won’t hurt either of you. Sasha?” Sergey redirected his attention, “Today your brother gave me some of your backstory with respect to Kyla’s brother. When you fed from him the first several times, did you augment those feedings with other blood?”
“No,” Sasha replied hesitantly.
“Then you should know that since you only consumed his blood and did it consecutively over that time, Kyle Kelly is bonded to you. Not the same depth of bond of Tristan and Kyla but your brother filled me in on our walk today, said you fed on him consecutively at his throat for a few weeks while he was unconscious. Since you fed on only him, that tells me he’s bound to you.”
“Yes. It was before, before I could stop myself and then I started using a test tube as I started to feel less, you know, driven by urges.”
“It’s quite possible he’ll wake if you feed direct again.”
“What? Really?” Kyla asked.
“Sasha, as you’ve only just recently informed me of the power of Kyla’s brother’s blood, I didn’t know or I would’ve imparted this information. He was unconscious when the process began but he became your bonded enchanted liege but he was unconscious so would’ve gone into withdrawals without direct feeding. If your liege is in withdrawal too long, a comatose-like state is possible. It’s as if they’re putting themselves on ice awaiting their vamp. They might expire without the proper care but you’ve been caring for him. If you feed at the source rather than bleeding him into a tube, it’s possible he’ll wake.”
The room went wired. It made sense.
“How do you not know this?” Kyla accused, “Sam told Tristan about our bond, didn’t you, Sam?”
Sasha shook her head innocently, “I’m not well-versed on the whole enchanted human / vampire bond. Dr. Constantin didn’t enlighten me. I led a very sheltered life before I escaped.”
“I didn’t know all of what’d happened with her and Kyle before she left,” Sam defended, “Only bits and pieces. We’ve been getting reacquainted but I’ve been walking on eggshells because of my being in the middle here. None of this occurred to me.”
“C’mon, man. You’re smarter than that,” Tristan accused.
“Sadly, it appears I am not.” Sam looked stricken, “Sorry, Sash. I only knew a little about the enchanted bond. I didn’t keep anything from you on purpose.”
“So if she feeds from his throat, my brother could wake?” Kyla turned back to Sergey.
“It’s not a given. I don’t know why he was unconscious when she fed on him initially but it’s possible that her lack of contact feeding is what is keeping him asleep.”
“Oh my God. I’ve bonded him to me. What does that mean?” Sasha looked like she’d been given a terminal illness diagnosis.
“Absolutely. It means that he’ll want to feed you. He’ll fight anyone else who tries to feed on him. If anything happens to him you’ll mourn him greatly. You might go rogue unless you find a suitable replacement.”
“Is it crazy that I want to wake up Dr. Constantin right now to tell him this?” Sasha asked, “I pored over notes that Sam got me. It makes sense. He should’ve woken up within a short time after the last experiment, apparently.”
“You’re not waking Adrian up,” Sam informed.
“He’s here?” Sergey asked.
“He’s daggered and in the boathouse. Tristan brought him here,” Sam answered.
Sergey got a sadistic look on his face that chilled Kyla’s blood.
“You’re not waking him,” Tristan told Sergey.
“We’ll talk later. I’ll explain our history. But no, I’m not waking him without your permission.”