I nodded.
“Yes, but I’ve never fit in. Even now that I’m the richest fucker on the planet, I still see the looks they give me—I’m ‘dirty’ to them. Fucking disgusting,” I added darkly.
“It must have been hard growing up like that. I mean,feelingthat from the people around you,” she said, giving me a look of sympathy.
I stared at her, startled. Was a Blood Whore—one of the most downtrodden and beaten down in all of Naggian society—actually offeringmesympathy? It ought to be the other way around—I couldn’t imagine what she’d gone through since she got here. Or yes, I could and it wasn’t very fucking nice.
“How did your parents get together?” she asked. “I mean, if you don’t mind me asking—it seems like an unusual pairing. A Naggian and, well…”
“And anyone else at all,” I finished for her and gave a harsh laugh. “But my father was Braxian.”
“Oh, okay.” She nodded. “They’re the big blue guys with the curly horns and the white-on-black eyes, right?”
I nodded.
“Exactly. But to answer your question, they met because my mother went on a kind of pilgrimage to one of O’nagga Nine’s moons. It’s a religious trip the upper-class females of Naggian society take to show their devotion to the Goddess of Mercy. Anyway, her ship was captured by pirates.”
“Really?” Her eyes widened and she finally took a sip of herl’x’land made that face of enjoyment again, which I loved to watch. “Mmm—this is so good! Like a hot mocha with cinnamon. I alwaysthoughtit might taste like that.” She leaned forward. “So…was your father one of the pirates?”
I barked a laugh.
“Hardly. He was actually a merchant who saw my mother up for sale on an auction block where the pirates were selling her. He felt sorry for her and bought her. He only intended to bring her home to O’nagga Nine but while she was with him, her blood matured and she nearly died of the Thirst.”
“Her blood what?” she asked, looking more interested than ever.
“Up until they’re mature adults, Naggians can survive on just animal blood and blood by-products,” I explained. “But once they hit the time of maturity, theyneedto drink from another sentient creature—preferably one of the opposite sex,” I added. Though of course therewereNaggians who drank from the same sex—it just wasn’t considered proper in uptight Naggian society to mention them.
“So she nearly died because she needed blood and your father let her drink from him?” Natalie guessed.
I nodded.
“Exactly. Which is as good as an engagement, at least for a female here on O’nagga Nine. A girl from a ‘good family’ is only supposed to drink from one fount—her husband—her entire life. She generally gets her ‘first bite’ on her wedding night but in my mother’s case, she would have died if my father hadn’t let her drink from him. So he did and well…” I shrugged. “Here I am.”
Natalie smiled dreamily.
“That’s soromantic,”she murmured. “It sounds like something you’d read in a novel!”
“Well, my Naggian grandfather didn’t think it was very fucking ‘romantic,’” I pointed out dryly. “He disowned my mother and cast her off when he found out she’d been intimate with ahsh’frux.My father Joined with her and they settled down here in the city but Her father never spoke to her again.”
“Why not move to the Braxian home world instead?” Natalie asked. “I mean, unless the Braxians are evenmorehostile towards outsiders.”
“They’re not,” I said. “But the Braxian home world is pretty warm in most places—my mother was in danger of overheating there. Naggians can control their body temperature to a point, but if they stay too warm for too long, they can have a heat stroke, which is often deadly.”
Natalie took another sip of herl’x’l.
“Is that whyyoustay here? For the cold?” she asked.
I shook my head.
“No, I stay for the blood. I don’t need to drink nearly as much or nearly as often as a full-blooded Naggian, but Idostill need it. And it’s damn awkward to explain that on a planet where theydon’tdrink blood to live.”
“But you’re rich,” she pointed out. “Can’t you just pay someone to not ask questions and…and let you bite them?” I noticed she was looking nervously at my fangs as she spoke, but she asked the question anyway.
I sighed.
“Sure, I guess. But it’s still fucking awkward. I guess I just prefer to stay where drinking blood from time to time is the norm. It’s easier—you know?”
Natalie nodded again.