The Iron in Blood

I showered quickly, jerking awake a couple of times under the hot darts of water, not even aware that I had been falling asleep. I stumbled into the closest room and dug an oversized t-shirt and some boxer shorts out of a chest of drawers. I pulled them on and fell into the bed, asleep before my head touched the pillow.

Angus

Marcus and Fergus arrived at eleven thirty that night. I heard the purring of the great engine pulling up outside and I smiled. Those two liked to travel in style.

They strolled casually through the front door, Fergus first as dictated by his fidgety nature. They stood just inside the threshold and sniffed the air cautiously. Fergus spotted me in the armchair and crossed the room to where I sat, taking in the hole in my jeans and the makeshift splint.

"You've been busy tonight." It was a statement, not a question.

"One got away. You'll be pleased to know that decapitation seems to do the trick, Marcus. I set fire to the heads as an added precaution, though." Marcus shuddered slightly.

"Rebecca's OK." Another statement, this time from Marcus.

"She had her first taste of human blood tonight." Two sets of raised eyebrows. "I was shot in the femur, and she knew she would have to carry me out of there. She drank a dying man's blood to save me."

They exchanged a speaking glance and nodded. "Bath first, then bed," said Fergus. They carried me carefully upstairs, helped undress me, ran a hot bath, and gently lowered me into it. They left me while I sponged the vampire stink from my skin, and soaped away the blood. My thigh was already straight, and felt firm enough, but I knew I wouldn't be able to put any weight on it for at least eight hours. I had broken bones before.

My brothers returned within minutes and extricated me from my tub. They propped me upright as I towelled myself dry, and then carried me to one of the spare bedrooms and lay me on the bed, covering me with cool sheets.

"Goodnight, brother," Fergus grinned at me, then turned to Marcus. "Let's go clean up." Marcus rubbed his hands.

"Yes, let's," he agreed, and then they were gone.