Chapter 13: Mixing Blood

"I'm not–"

"Hmmm, if I'm mistaken then you'll have no problems giving your blood to the mistress when she demands it at night,"

"They can also drink out blood, the difference is that our blood is more bitter and harder to swallow compared to that of humans," Misha explained with a smirk slowly spreading on her face.

"On second thoughts, I don't even have to wait that long. I could just go out and tell them that you're human, what do you think they'll do. It'll be like tossing a big piece of juicy meat at a group of starving people," Misha spoke in a small whisper.

Rye was scared, and she couldn't help it. She could pretend and try to bluff her way out of it but that might piss Misha off even more.

"Shiya is a name given to a true born with wings, it means flight. A half-born like you would have gotten something more despicable like Zhaya, which means Fall." Misha slowly explained, in a way that showed Rye's mistake.

"Because I don't have wings?" Rye asked, stating it more as a fact than a question.

"So I'll ask you again, human? What are you doing here?"

"You know why!" Rye responded with a long sigh no longer seeing a reason to keep things hidden.

"I escaped from the Slave Tower," Rye confessed with hopes of getting Misha on her side.

She could already imagine the amount of information she would be able to get from her.

Misha on the other hand instantly shook her head with an incredulous look on her face that conveyed that she thought Rye was lying.

"You escaped from the slave tower? THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!" Misha declared like it was the ultimate truth.

Rye instantly explained everything to her in the lowest tone she could, while looking around to ensure that no one was close enough to listen in on their conversation.

"Intruders! So you're actually from the latest batch and you're not from our world?" Misha asked in confirmation to which Rye vigorously nodded her head.

For a few seconds, Misha simply stared at her without saying a word, and Rye stared back until her curiosity won and she could no longer keep quiet.

"I don't know anything and all I know is that people like me are food and we're being killed," Rye explained, "They're doing the same to you too right?" Rye gently asked, not wanting to ruffle Misha's feathers but simply looking for someone to empathize with her situation.

"Yours is worse! Every human is a slave. The only way you could ever avoid it was if you made it into the Goddess' Temple and that's impossible,"

"Goddess temple?" Rye asked, her eyes brightening a little at the thought that there was a temporary way out.

"For you, it'll be better if you were to continue pretending to be a Santor. I could teach you to draw your brows and I'll teach you the language as long as you promise to leave," Misha directly told Rye, who wasn't the least bit surprised to hear Misha's request.

It was obvious that her presence in the village alone was enough for Misha to want her gone.

"If you help me! I promise to leave," Rye swore, knowing that as long as she had enough information to protect herself, the more distance she put between herself and the tower the better it would be for her.

"I'm prepared to—" Rye said, wanting to say more only to be interrupted by Misha who unexpectedly stopped her from speaking by covering her mouth with her hands.

"We've said enough here! Moreover, I'm sure the master is waiting," Misha interrupted, picking up one of the buckets before turning around to head back inside.

Rye instantly followed her, worried about the problem Misha had mentioned about their mistress asking for their blood.

"Wha-what about that problem?" Rye asked in a low whisper indirectly asking about it in a way only Misha would understand.

Misha promised to help her and although Rye believed her, the only way she would feel convinced was if she saw Misha go beyond words and take action.

The thought of her humanity being discovered scared her beyond words, knowing that the moment Krella found out, would be the moment she would be chained down as a slave.

As kind as Krella was, the fact remained that to them Rye was nothing more than a blood source that could keep them healthy and young forever.

"I can solve that problem, all you need to do is follow my lead!" Misha responded, indirectly telling Rye not to do anything suspicious.

The first thing they did was show themselves to Krella who was satisfied to see Rye in a cleaner dress than the dirtied one she previously wore.

"Show her how things are done and also get dinner ready," Krella instructed Mish who instantly nodded to show that she understood what Krella meant.

"Misha will tell you how things are done," Krella informed Rye before dismissing her.

They had barely gotten back to the kitchen with the door firmly shut behind them when Misha turned to look directly at Rye.

"Shiya, we'll prepare dinner first before we deal with other matters," Misha informed her, indirectly telling her not to bring up the things they discussed.

Rye wasn't impatient and cautious enough to know that all it took was one person finding out that she was human and her life would be ruined.

Together, they both made efforts to cook dinner for the entire household which consisted of Krella and her two male children, Jaius and Jario who were as lazy as Krella was hardworking.

Dinner was served first and Misha and Rye also quietly sat down at the servant's tables with other servants.

Rye gobbled down everything on her plate until there was nothing there, unable to help but look greedily as the remaining food on their Mistress table.

The servants finished first with Rye following after Misha as they waited, clearing the table the moment they were done.

They had just gotten back to the kitchen when Misha began to speak in a low tone, one that would ensure that the Red slaves would be unable to overhear the important parts of the conversation.

"Since you're joining us then today will be blood donation day. Usually it's on the third day of the week," Misha whispered, leaning away to direct Rye to pick up a cup, while she picked up an extremely sharp knife.

A look of alarm flashed on Rye's face seeing Misha close the distance between them.

"It happens once every week. You need to cut yourself and let out enough blood to fill half this cup," Misha explained, turning the handle of the knife towards Rye for her to take it.

"Every week?" Rye asked in a tone that betrayed her anxiety and worry at having to do such a thing.

"When it comes to Red, the price is always blood. Which is why you'll leave before your next monthly flow," Misha continued to speak.

"Monthly flow?" Rye asked with a confused expression on her face.

"There's no way for them to tell that you're human until they smell your blood which they can the second you start to bleed. You'll understand later but right now you need to cut yourself,"

Rye slowly felt drops of sweat pool on her forehead as she hesitated to do so, raising her gaze to stare at Misha with pleading eyes. One that begged if she really had to do it.

"Its fine you don't have to. The longer we delay, the sooner Krella will show up and dig her fangs into you herself. Then your secret will be out and you'll be chained as a blood slave," Misha explained with a noncommittal shrug. She even went as far as to turn around to leave.

"Wa-wait! I'm doing it," Rye hurriedly explained, her hands trembling as she dug the knife into the skin of her wrist, her eyes squeezed shut as she dug deeper.

She ground her teeth together in pain, making sure to position her wrist over the cup. She felt the blood trickle out only to be annoyed to see it slowly trickle to a stop.

Rye wasn't expecting Misha to move closer and grab the knife from her, cutting her wrist, just inches away from her vein, deep enough for her to watch her own blood stream out.

"The more decisive you are, the less painful it'll be," Misha said, grabbing Rye's wrist and placing it directly on the cup to ensure that no drop of blood was wasted.

Finally, Rye felt Misha's grip on her wrist relax and had just picked up a strip of cloth to tie her wound, when she watched Misha pick up the same knife and slice her wrists.

The amount of cuts on her wrists were a little startling but beyond that was the ease with which Misha cut herself.

She quietly watched Misha pour her own blood into the same cup in equal amounts, wrapping up her wrists after she was certain that it was enough.

"Why?' Rye couldn't help but ask in a whisper wondering why Misha would go to such lengths for someone like her, considering how clearly Misa seemed to hate humans.

"Pity," Misha responded, picking up a spoon to mix the blood in the cup like it was nothing more than a cup of tea.

Just before Misha picked it upm Misha tied the wound around her wrist tighter than before before going to the trouble of dividing the contents of the cup into three and mixing it properly all over again.

The moment Misha was done she picked up the tray and walked out of the kitchen beckoning for Rye to follow closely behind her.

Rye had a couple of questions but she knew better than to ask them as they walked through the corridor and headed to the dining rooms where their mistress was waiting.

"Took you long enough," Jario grumbled loudly his entire focus on the cups on the tray in Misha's hands.

Rye wasn't surprised to see how excited they were to drink blood but it was a little disconcerting since the blood belonged to her.

"Don't be so excited. She might be a more humanized Santor, but she's still a halfling. Her blood is bound to be almost as bitter,"Jaius the other twin spoke up with a less excited look on his face, his eyes focused more on Rye who made sure to lower her head.

Misha expertly placed the tray on the table serving each one of them with one cup.

'Thankfully I won't have to do this again until next week,' Rye thought to herself, waiting for them to finish their cups and for her to be able to leave only to hear a loud clatter.

It was the sound of a cup smashing to the ground. Rye had just looked up when she scrambled face in horror.

Jario, the more mature twin and Jarius stood on their feet with bloodlust emanating from their every pore. Even Krella wasn't any different as they all looked at her with red eyes, yearning to devour.

"Never have I ever tasted blood as sweet as this," Krella slowly spoke, her gaze fixed on Rye with her hands balled up into fists. Ryw watched her tighten her fingers in a way that showed how hard it was for her to restrain herself.

"Never in all my years," she sighed about saying more when Jario moved. He was fast, appearing in front of Rye before she could make a sound.

He gripped her clothes and pulled her to him with his fangs slowly protruding out his gums.

'He's-he's going to bite me,'

But He had just lowered his head, when Jario appeared, tossing Jaius to the ground like a rag doll. Rye assumed she found a savior only to take a step back in fear when she saw the way look in Jario's eyes when he turned to look at her.