The Iron in Blood

I groaned slightly, wondering how to describe in words the fixation that was beginning to grip me. They understood anyway.

"Hah!" barked Fergus. "That bad, is it. She would be hard to resist, though, wouldn't she. It's like we're a bunch of tigers running with wolves. We like their company to a degree…"

"And occasionally we'll eat one…" Marcus and his tasteless jokes.

"But they're just not the same as we are. And now Angus has met a female tiger. Yummy!"

"The hormones must be whipping through your system like a tornado. And maybe through hers too. I wonder if that's what triggered her switch to iron metabolism? Hmmm…" Marcus sounded intrigued again. "I'm going to need a blood sample from you, brother. And one from your tigress, if you can manage it." I had long ago become used to being a guinea pig for Marcus. He would get his blood, of course. I owed him that much, and more.

"I wonder if we should pay you guys a visit." Fergus sounded thoughtful.

A twinge of jealousy shot through me, but I suppressed it. "I think you should. Marcus can do his blood tests, and Rebecca can meet the family, poor girl."

Fergus sounded pleased. "I'll start organising. We'll stay in a hotel, obviously. Your house is too small for all of us."

"I've got things I need to finish up here," Marcus said gruffly. He didn't like to be rushed.

Fergus sighed exaggeratedly. "Forty-eight hours, then, brother." Click, and they were gone.