The Blood Contract
Chapter 64: Stop thinking too much

Chapter 64: Stop thinking too much

Marlowe paused, the tip of the UV line hovering just above Lucian’s skin. She glanced up at him, her expression unreadable. "Would you rather take this in your room, or is this place okay?" she asked, her tone gentle but clinical.

Lucian turned his head slowly, his eyes scanning the sterile lab before settling on the small bed idling in one corner. It looked uncomfortable, barely suitable for rest, but he didn’t seem to mind. "How long is this going to take?" he asked, his voice low, laced with weariness and a hint of impatience.

"Three hours tops," Marlowe replied. "But you may still sleep for an hour extra after it’s completed. That’s normal."

"I’ll take it here then," Lucian muttered, his voice quiet but firm. With a small grunt, he forced his body upright, each movement weighted with exhaustion. He walked over to the bed with measured steps, then eased himself down onto it. The mattress creaked faintly under his weight as he lay back, turning his head to one side. Without another word, he extended his arm toward Marlowe, silently giving her permission to begin her work.

"How did you know that it was back?" he asked her. It wasn’t even up to a full day yet since he noticed and thought he had successfully masked it.

"I was wondering why the Splera de Plifa poison affected you that badly, especially considering you have no magic," Marlowe began, her tone thoughtful as she carefully prepared the IV line. Her fingers moved with practiced precision. "To an ordinary human, the poison is supposed to have no effect at all—barely even a headache. But it hit you hard. That was the first red flag."

She gently inserted the needle into his vein, securing it as she continued, "It made me think... maybe it wasn’t magic, but something inside you it was reacting to. That’s when I realized—it had to be the curse. The symptoms pointed to it, and I began to suspect the poison didn’t just affect you... it triggered something. It made the curse rebound."

Lucian only watched her, not saying a word even after she completed her job and injected the solution she came up with into the fluid bottle, mixing it with the clear fluid.

A few more tubes were connected to his body—thin lines running from various monitors that blinked softly in the dim light. They were meant to track his vital signs, every beat of his heart and breath he took, all under Marlowe’s watchful eye.

Meanwhile, Lucian shifted his gaze to the ceiling, his expression unreadable. His mind, however, was anything but calm. Thoughts swirled and collided, jumping from one to another—fragmented memories, half-formed worries, and questions he wasn’t ready to face just yet.

As soon as Marlowe was done, she moved to apply fresh dressing on the cut on his shoulder. This time, he didn’t object. Instead, he focused on the calm that her medicine was providing to his body.

"Mr. Draven?" Marlowe called, the sound of her voice snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Hmm?" Lucian hummed his response, not bothering with words.

"Do you like Serena?" Marlowe threw a question that caught him off guard. He instantly turned his head sharply to look at her, a deep frown on his face.

The woman, however, had all of her attention on the wound she was dressing. Even when he turned to look at her, she didn’t spare him a glance.

"Why are you asking me that?" Lucian probed, not sure where the question came from or why it was being directed to him.

"Because you have been dropping subtle signs that you do, but your mixed signals are making me unsure. And I don’t want to jump into any assumptions," Marlowe answered, still not paying him any attention.

"Stop thinking too much into certain things, Marlowe. And I don’t know what you’re talking about," he denied, moving his gaze back to the ceiling.

Silence reigned for a while before Marlowe spoke again. "I saw the video you asked me to delete," she revealed. "The one you claimed would cause her brain damage. I sent it to my phone before I deleted it from hers."

Lucian smirked when he heard that. He should have known she would do that. It was Marlowe, after all. She was a smart woman. He would have gone for the phone himself, but that would make Serena become suspicious.

Thinking he was going to get some scolding from her, he braced for it.

"You did well, Mr. Draven," Marlowe praised, disappointing his expectations. "She didn’t need to see that. She may be acting strong on the outside, but on a closer look, you’d see she is almost at her breaking point."

Lucian knew that. He had known that since the first day he saw her in that office. He was a good reader of people. He didn’t know whether to call it a blessing or a curse.

Marlowe finished with the dressing. That was when she gave him her full attention.

At that point, Lucian knew she was going to say something he wouldn’t want to hear, so he shut his eyes and turned his face to the wall. He was already feeling sleepy anyway.

"If you do like her, Mr. Draven," Marlowe started, just as he had predicted, "then maybe you should treat her better than you are doing now."

Lucian let out a chuckle. "I thought you wanted me to stay away from her. You didn’t want me to bring her into my messed-up world. Is this you giving us your blessing?" Lucian asked without moving from his position or opening his eyes.

"Let’s just say I had a change of heart." Marlowe walked away from him, going toward one of the monitors. "Everything I said only applies to if you really like her. If not, then don’t bother with my words."

When he said nothing further, she focused on the monitor. She let out a soft, relieved breath when she saw that his heart rate and blood pressure were normalizing gradually.

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