It took a minute to orient herself when she woke up the next morning. She sighed when she remembered where she was and sat up, rubbing her eyes. Artemis was nowhere to be seen, but her keen hearing picked up on the sounds of murmuring from the next room. She got up, stretching as she exited the room.

Artemis and James were both in the kitchen already, talking. They stopped abruptly when she entered.

"Morning, Holly." James smiled brightly at her. He was seated at the table, already munching on breakfast. He looked much better than yesterday, almost glowing with better health and cleanliness.

"Morning." She smiled tiredly at him and took a seat beside him at the table, glancing at Artemis. He hadn't even acknowledged she was there, scrambling eggs in a pan and frying bacon in another. Just looking at him from this position she could see he looked terrible. When he turned his head slightly as he flipped the bacon, she saw he actually looked paler, the bags under his eyes darker and deeper. She frowned to herself. She'd seen the bags under his eyes and how pale he was yesterday, but she'd paid it little attention. She didn't know him enough to know whether he normally looked like that. But did he?

James seemed to catch her preoccupation. "He needs to feed, but he's being stubborn," he murmured in her ear. "That's why he looks so bad."

"James," Artemis snapped. He turned, giving him a dark look that said he wasn't as oblivious as he'd been acting. "Don't," he told him warningly.

James wilted under the command, looking down at his food and sighing. He turned his gaze to Holly, and she met his eyes. The intensity of his stare made her feel self conscious, but she held it nonetheless, and after a minute he sighed and turned long enough to grab a plate she hadn't noticed before and hand it to her. "Here. Eat."

Holly looked down at the plate he'd set in front of her. It was full of eggs, bacon, and he'd set two pieces of toast on the side. "Get whatever you want out of the fridge," he muttered, turning away again and starting to make his own.

She blinked, but got up and grabbed a water out of the fridge. James already had the jelly and everything else she wanted out. She returned to her seat, starting to spread jelly on her toast.

Artemis joined them at the table after a minute, starting to eat silently. None of them spoke. After a few minutes of this, the silence became too much and she had to say something. "Is someone going to tell me what that means?" she asked finally, looking up and putting her fork down.

Both of them looked at her, but James spoke first. "What?"

"Obviously it's not about eating, because we're all eating. What does it mean? Feeding? What does he need? And why don't you?"

James sighed, looking down. Artemis looked at her, pressing his lips together before answering. "He does too. He just has, and I have not," he told her tersely.

"Why?"

"Because I couldn't leave you here by yourself," he snapped. "It's dangerous even if you weren't a flight risk. And as I did most of the work yesterday and I haven't been able to feed, yes, I look terrible. Believe me, I'm aware."

Holly looked down at her plate. He was testy today - almost mean instead of just cold. She put it down to his need, but still pressed on because she wanted to know. "But why? What is it you need?"

Artemis clenched his jaw and didn't answer, looking down at his plate. She looked at James. "Tell me," she insisted.

James sighed. "Blood," he said quietly. "He needs blood."

"James-" Artemis growled.

"Someone has to tell her, Artemis! It's reality. She's not going anywhere and she was going to find out eventually." He shook his head, turning to face Holly. "We need blood, Holly. Being what we are, we eat food, but we also need blood. It's not a one-or-the-other type thing. It's both."

"So why doesn't he just… go get some?" She bit her lip. "I mean, you're here with me now, so… he can go do what he needs to. Right?"

"It's not that simple," James told her. "We need blood with a certain gradient of magic to replenish us, especially if we've exerted any effort or do anything that involves magic. Which he did a lot of yesterday. And if you have blood with more magic in it and then try to go back to something with less, it still works, but it's not as… fulfilling." He looked at her, waiting for her to comprehend.

Holly stared at him, still not understanding, then looked at Artemis. He wasn't looking at her, instead keeping his eyes lowered to the plate and very obviously biting his tongue. "But… you should be able to find something, right? You have plenty of time as long as James is with me."

"Holly." James sighed and shook his head, seeing she didn't understand still. He put his hand on her shoulder, partially for comfort and partially to make sure she didn't try to run. "He needs your blood."

Her eyes widened, her heart starting to thunder. It suddenly occurred to her they probably could hear it, and it was torment to both of them. She looked between them. James obviously had already fed, and that was why he looked so much better than Artemis. She could only imagine how Artemis felt. Not only suffering, but knowing exactly what he needed was right in front of him all night and not touching her. She shook her head, feeling her body itch to get into fight or flight even though neither of them had moved, but she knew better than to do that again. "Why?" she managed.

"Because he's drank from you before, your blood is the only thing that can fully satisfy him now," James explained gently, squeezing her shoulder. He sounded like he was trying to calm a startled animal, further reinforcing both her belief they could sense her blood thrumming and her fear.

"That's not even possible," Holly breathed. "How-"

"When we met the first time," Artemis told her, speaking for the first time. He lifted his eyes slowly, his dark blue orbs locking on her hazel ones, making her feel paralyzed by the intensity of his gaze. "I drank from you. I needed to feed after we were attacked, and normally I would have taken the wolves, but they'd almost all escaped or been killed. You were the most feasible option at that point." He still spoke quietly, but held her eyes.

Holly felt herself shiver slightly. "So you've been… unfulfilled… since then?" she asked carefully.

The corners of his mouth turned up in a small smirk. "For lack of better terminology, yes."

"I see." She took a deep breath. This must have been what they were talking about when she came in. Artemis was being stubborn about feeding… why? Because he didn't want to drink from her again? Or because he did? She shook her head. "So you really are bloodthirsty lunatics," she murmured, almost to herself.

"Well, I wouldn't go that far," James chuckled. "Not in the sense of wanting to kill you, but…"

Artemis got up suddenly and starting cleaning his plate up, shaking his head. He seemed irritated again, but when he spoke his tone was almost resigned. "You are opposed to this, of course. That's why I wasn't going to bring it up." He shot James a dark look.

"I didn't say that!" Holly said quickly. She glanced at James, not wanting him to get in anymore trouble for her. Besides, despite the position this put her in, she wasn't immediately opposed to it. It didn't sound appealing, but she got the feeling that Artemis wasn't going to die from lack of feeding, just get more and more grumpy and unmanageable. And if she was stuck here anyway…

Artemis stopped by the sink, his whole body tensing. James looked at her with utter surprise. Obviously it was the last thing either of them expected her to say. "You're not opposed to that?" he blurted, still staring at her in shock.

"I mean… well…" She looked down. "It doesn't sound like I have a lot of choice. And if it's what's best for him…" She took a shuddering breath, shrugging slightly.

"You always have a choice," Artemis said softly. He set the plate in the sink, turning slowly to face her again. "I won't force you, Holly. It's your body. But... it would help me quite a lot, yes."

Holly nodded. She couldn't help feeling apprehensive, but even still, she knew what she was going to - had to, really - say. She bit her lip. "Okay. Then… you can- you can have my blood. Just…" she looked between them, her heart beating fast again. "Is it going to hurt?"

The two men exchanged a look. If she didn't know any better she would say it looked like they were having a silent conversation. Finally, Artemis spoke again, looking down. "No. It's… not like that." He sighed, looking at her for a minute and then down at her plate. "Are you done?"

"With my food? Yes." She pushed the plate away.

"Good." He rubbed his face. "Then come with me." He walked out of the room.

Holly got up slowly, glancing nervously at James. He smiled reassuringly at her. "It's okay. I'll be out here the whole time."

"Is that supposed to reassure me? Because it really only makes me more nervous."

"Just go, Holly." He squeezed her shoulder softly before releasing her and giving her a gentle shove towards the door.

Holly stumbled and regained her footing, following Artemis out slowly. Her heart sped up again when she saw the door to the bedroom open, but she went in nonetheless, knowing that was where she needed to be.

Artemis was waiting inside. He shut the door behind her, making her jump. She didn't realize he was back there. "So, um…" she started awkwardly, but he waved her off.

"Sit on the bed," he ordered, walking over to his dresser. He started unbuttoning his shirt, taking it off and laying it down on the top of the table.

Holly sat on the edge of the bed, her heart thundering. She was undeniably nervous, even more so because she knew he could hear it. She was even more edgy as she watched him take his shirt off, squirming slightly on the edge of the bed. Why was that necessary? Did she really want to know?

Artemis turned and sighed slightly. She couldn't help the gasp that escaped her lips at the sight of his torso. He was littered with thin white lines, obviously scars, from what appeared to be claws or scratch marks. There were a few that weren't completely healed, and she guessed they must have been from yesterday.

He chuckled softly when he caught her preoccupation. He stopped in front of her, tilting her head up to make her meet his eyes. "Don't mind them. They'll heal quickly once I'm at full capacity again." His eyes searched her face. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Do you really need it?"

"Yes."

"Then yes," she whispered. "I do."

"Good." He lifted her up like a child, carrying her into the center of the bed. "At its best, feeding is an intimate act," Artemis murmured in her ear. "I would never force you to do that, but the closer we are, the more fulfilling this is." He set her down at the head of the bed, cradling her in his lap. "I need you to realize that."

Holly's breathed hitched softly. She was still wearing only his shirt, and his soft words and his proximity made her react in a way she didn't intend. He held her gently, tenderly, almost as if afraid to break her as he lowered her back against the nest of pillows at the head of the bed. It was a stark contrast to the testy way he'd been acting earlier. Her torso was propped with pillows and her lower half sat in his lap. Without thinking, she parted her legs around his body, letting them lay extended on either side of his hips.

Artemis seemed pleased with this positioning as he leaned up, his torso bent over her from between her legs. He lowered his head to her neck, inhaling deeply against her skin. "You smell amazing," he whispered, his mouth against her neck. He closed his eyes against her skin, taking a breath. "But you're hurt and your heart is thundering. I need you to relax, Holly. Sending your blood rushing is a surefire way to make me accidentally drink too much."

"Hurt?" she repeated breathily. "What do you mean?"

"The wound on your back. I can sense it." He kissed her neck softly, his hand slipping between them and undoing the buttons of the shirt she was wearing slowly. "Why didn't you heal it?"

"I'm… I'm out of magic. They kidnapped me before I could do the ritual," she whispered, closing her eyes. She could feel him undoing the shirt, but she didn't resist, even as he reached the last button and brushed his knuckles down the center of her body before pushing the open shirt back, exposing the whole side of her neck and shoulder.

"I'll take you sometime," he whispered.

The sensation of his lips against her skin made her shudder, but she nodded. After a minute she realized her heart rate had slowed. He was talking to calm her down and distract her, and it was working. "Alright," she agreed breathlessly.

His hand came up and tilted her chin up and to the side, angling her head. She took a deep breath, forcing herself to stay calm and keep regulating her breathing. "I'm going to bite you right here." He brushed his lips over her neck, millimeters away from her pulsepoint and directly over her throbbing jugular. "Lots of blood flowing quickly through your jugular. I won't have to suck so hard or for very long then. Alright?"

Feeling like it was a bad idea to nod after he'd positioned her how he wanted her, she closed her eyes and breathed, "Yes."

"Okay." He inhaled deeply, nuzzling her neck. "1…2…3." He sunk his teeth into her neck.

Holly gasped and jerked reflexively, but he was expecting it and easily held her still. It was a sensation unlike anything she'd felt before. The bite itself wasn't even painful. It was akin to being cut with a sharp knife; undeniably she felt something, and it sort of stung for a moment before numbing, but that was the worst of it.

Then he started sucking. She inhaled sharply at the feeling, sinking her teeth into her lip to bite back a moan. She expected pain, if anything, but instead it almost felt… good. She could feel him sucking, gently, with just enough force to pull the blood back to him, and the blood flowing over her skin. It was warm and wet, and if it weren't for the stickiness of it then it would have felt no different than the sensation of water running over her skin.

But that wasn't what made her moan. It was the rush of pleasure that washed over her as soon as he started pulling, making her toes curl and her whole body shiver. She suddenly wanted him closer, desperately, and it was with her last ounce of sense that she resisted grabbing him and directing his mouth elsewhere.

The pleasure slowly faded into a dull buzz as he sucked her blood from her body. Her eyes started to feel heavy after a minute or so, but she was too lost in the sensation to worry about whether he intended to stop or not.

Eventually, he pulled away, panting softly from the effort. Holly's eyes fluttered, and she whimpered softly at the loss. "Artemis…"

"Shhh…" He looked down at her and felt a rush of affection for her, unbidden, before shaking it off. It was just an aftereffect of being so close to her. He released her chin and smoothed her hair back gently. "Relax. Don't fight it."

"Did you...get enough?" Her eyes fluttered as she tried to stay awake, looking up at him.

"Plenty." He smiled softly at her, getting up. "Just rest. You can sleep now."

Holly nodded, opening her mouth to respond, but closed it slowly as blood loss won out, dragging her back into unconsciousness.