Chapter 184: Absolutely No Other Motive

Chapter 184: Chapter 184: Absolutely No Other Motive

Chapter 184: Absolutely No Other Motive

Cyrus Calder studied Vera Sable with a more cautious look than before.

Something about her behavior had finally stopped adding up.

Why had Vera been willing to take so much of his blood from the very beginning?

During their earlier arrangement, she had fed until he lost consciousness. If Cyrus had truly been an ordinary human, that amount of blood loss could have sent him straight to the hospital. If she misjudged it badly enough, it could have become fatal.

Vera was reckless, irritating, and far too fond of entertaining herself at other people’s expense, but she was not an incompetent medical professional.

That left Cyrus with one uncomfortable possibility.

She might have known what he was from the start.

He could not remember exposing his Frostborn identity to her before she began treating his blood as something unusually valuable. He had hidden his white hair, his temperature, and the more obvious parts of his biology whenever possible.

So how had she figured it out?

Was there another Bloodborn ability he still knew nothing about?

More importantly, why did Vera act as though obtaining his blood had become something she could not quite let go?

Cyrus lifted his eyes and looked directly at her.

"Before you drink anything, I have a few questions."

Vera’s expression settled slightly.

"What do you want to ask?"

"When did you figure out what I am?"

The careless amusement in her eyes faded by a small degree.

Cyrus raised the hand wearing the ring.

"And there’s something else. If you only wanted blood, why did you keep arranging trades for it? Why did you choose me?"

Vera answered without hesitation.

"I thought you would be interesting."

Cyrus could understand part of that explanation.

The ring alone could attract the attention of someone familiar with rare-blood artifacts. If Vera recognized it, then his memory loss, missing past, and unusual circumstances would naturally become interesting to her.

That still left the biggest problem unanswered.

"That doesn’t explain why you were willing to take enough blood to seriously endanger an ordinary person."

Vera’s brows drew together.

"You really ask far too many questions."

Cyrus did not argue.

He simply kept looking at her.

That serious expression made Vera feel more cornered than open suspicion would have.

She knew enough about Cyrus from the memories she had already read to understand how difficult he became once he found something inconsistent. He noticed one loose thread, then kept pulling until the entire arrangement threatened to unravel.

Now he had found one of hers.

Vera had no intention of letting him find the rest.

If Cyrus discovered exactly how strongly his blood affected her, every future negotiation would become unbearable. He would know how much leverage he had, and worse, he would probably use it with that same calm expression.

Vera clenched her teeth for a moment.

Then she raised the hand she had cut earlier.

The small wound on her fingertip had barely bled before. Under her control, a single bead of red slowly gathered at the surface.

"I don’t feel like explaining everything aloud."

She extended her hand toward him.

"The answer is in here."

The blood remained balanced on her fingertip.

Cyrus recognized the method immediately.

Vera had already used her blood once to prove that she was not responsible for reporting his job to the dean. Bloodborn blood could carry her own memories and pass them to someone else.

Her meaning was obvious.

If Cyrus wanted the truth, he would have to receive it directly from her blood.

The nurse’s office was not particularly private.

The door was still open, the windows were uncovered, and students were moving through the nearby hallway during break. Anyone walking in at the wrong moment could start another ridiculous rumor.

Vera clearly understood that.

Judging by the faint satisfaction in her expression, she was counting on Cyrus hesitating because of it.

He did not give her the satisfaction.

Cyrus glanced toward the examination beds, took Vera by the wrist, and guided her behind one of the privacy curtains.

She resisted on instinct, but not enough to stop him.

The curtain slid shut behind them.

The ordinary sounds of St. Alder remained audible outside, yet the two of them were no longer visible from the doorway.

Vera looked up at him.

Cyrus raised her injured hand and examined the bead of blood.

He touched it briefly to his tongue and swallowed.

No memory appeared.

Vera’s mouth curved in quiet amusement.

"That method won’t work."

Cyrus looked at her without enthusiasm.

"The transfer needs a few seconds of direct contact while the blood is still fresh," Vera explained. "If I could pour it into a cup and hand it over, I would have done that already."

Cyrus said nothing for a moment.

Vera looked far too pleased with herself.

The curtain blocked much of the room’s light, leaving the small space dimmer than the rest of the nurse’s office. Outside, footsteps passed and faded again.

Cyrus finally followed the instructions in the most practical way he could.

He held Vera’s hand steady and kept the injured fingertip at his mouth long enough for the transfer to begin.

Vera’s confidence wavered for the briefest instant.

Cyrus had an irritating face for situations like this. Even when he was doing something entirely practical, his appearance could make the moment look more intimate than it was.

If another girl stood where Vera was standing, she could imagine the effect being substantial.

Fortunately, Vera considered herself completely focused on the important matter.

She wanted Cyrus’s blood.

That was the only relevant motive.

There was absolutely nothing else involved.

Her throat moved slightly.

Then she remembered that Cyrus was still waiting for the answer and deliberately pushed the memories forward.

For several seconds, nothing happened.

Cyrus had nearly decided she was playing another trick when the first scene appeared inside his mind.

He saw himself with a small cut on his finger.

Vera had been close enough to taste the blood, but she stopped herself and treated the injury instead.

The memory shifted.

St. Alder’s physical examination appeared next.

Cyrus watched from Vera’s perspective as blood was collected from him.

There should have been two tubes.

Vera took a third.

She did it quietly enough that Cyrus never realized there had been an extra sample.

His attention sharpened.

The memory continued.

Vera was alone afterward with the stolen tube in her hand.

She tasted the blood.

Her body changed almost immediately. Dark eyes turned gold. Her hair faded toward ash-gray, and her Bloodborn traits surfaced fully.

Then came the more important part.

Cyrus’s blood carried memories.

Fragments of his past entered Vera’s mind in broken pieces. Snow, bitter cold, the isolated village, the black room, the ring, and the presence of people whose faces were not always clear.

There was also enough biological information for Vera to understand what he was.

The answer was Frostborn.

More specifically, he was a male Frostborn.

Cyrus finally understood.

That was when she learned his identity.

It had happened long before he demonstrated ice to Daphne, long before Rhea discovered what his body could do, and long before Vera openly admitted she was Bloodborn.

She had known since the physical exam.

Everything afterward had been a performance.

The vague questions about his condition, the false uncertainty, and the careful attempts to make him reveal information were all games built around knowledge she already possessed.

Even when Vera first offered information about the ring in exchange for his blood, she already knew exactly how unusual he was.

The transferred memories gradually faded.

Cyrus released her hand.

"So the extra blood tube was when you found out."

Vera gave him an innocent expression.

"You agreed to the physical examination."

"I didn’t agree to an extra sample."

"That sounds like an administrative detail."

Cyrus stared at her.

Vera nearly smiled.

Now that he had the answer, another suspicion became much harder to dismiss.

His blood had affected Vera from the first time she tasted it.

He still did not know exactly how strong the attraction was, but it was clearly strong enough that she had spent weeks inventing trades, excuses, pressure, and threats to obtain more.

That information had value.

The only question was how much value Cyrus could extract from it.

Before letting go completely, he pressed lightly against the small cut on Vera’s fingertip.

She pulled her hand back at once.

"That actually hurt."

"Then that’s good."

Vera frowned.

Bloodborn could control their blood unusually well, but apparently they could not switch off ordinary pain.

Her irritation surfaced immediately.

She leaned toward Cyrus, clearly intending to retaliate.

Cyrus reacted faster.

His other hand came up between them and blocked her before she could reach his neck or collarbone.

He had already learned that lesson once.

If Vera got her teeth into a vulnerable area near his neck, the Bloodborn effect could weaken him too quickly for comfort.

Cyrus had no intention of repeating the mistake.

Vera changed targets and caught his forearm instead.

Cyrus allowed that much.

If he was buying suppressants anyway, two controlled drinks from his arm were far safer than letting Vera choose a dangerous location.

She drank once, paused, and took the second swallow.

Cyrus raised his free hand.

His fingers were already positioned for the familiar flick to her forehead.

Vera saw the gesture and released him immediately.

At least she had learned something from their previous negotiations.

Cyrus checked his arm.

The amount was manageable, and he remained completely clearheaded.

Vera wiped the corner of her mouth, looking far more satisfied than she deserved.

Cyrus studied her with a new understanding.

So this was the real balance between them.

Vera did not merely find his blood interesting. She genuinely wanted it, enough that the desire kept bringing her back even after their last encounter had gone badly.

That changed the value of every future deal.

Suppressants might not need to cost as much as he had been paying.

Information might become cheaper too.

Perhaps there were other things Vera knew that Cyrus could obtain simply by controlling how much access she received.

He could work with that arrangement.

Before Cyrus could begin testing the idea, footsteps approached outside the nurse’s office.

A student stopped near the entrance.

Then an unfamiliar voice came from beyond the privacy curtain.

"Ms. Sable, are you in there?"