Her throat was closing, her eyes tearing. But she tried to be proud, to do well what she must do to survive. She was weak; she should let herself die. But she couldn’t stay in that coffin of hers, no more than you can kill yourself by holding your breath.

“Aren’t you going to wake her up for it?” Leo asked.

Miriam burst out laughing.“She likes them out cold! She has no taste!”

What Miriam meant was that the blood of a suffering victim tasted better. The adrenaline gave it a delectable piquancy.

Sarah hooked the fleam into the carotid on the right side. Leo came around the table so she could see the sucking process up close. Sarah’s cheeks were hot with embarrassment; her soul was wretched with shame. But the blood that dripped out—oh, God, oh, it smelled so damn good!

There was a small struggle. The woman shifted on the table, moaning dryly.

“Do I hit her again?” Leo asked Miri.

“Please,” Sarah gasped.

Leo hesitated, looking at Miriam.

The woman stirred again.

“Leo, please!”

Miriam stayed Leo’s hand.

The victim’s eyes opened. Sarah glared at Miriam. “Miri!”

“Leo, don’t you move!”

The woman said, “What the heck?” She started to sit up. Sarah pushed her down, nicked again with the fleam and locked her lips to the dirt-ringed neck. The woman said, “The fuck!” Then she rattled along in her own language, obviously cursing. She squirmed; she tried to free her hands.

Sarah forced every iota of air out of her lungs. She distended her belly. She locked her lips tight to the neck, making the best seal she could. The woman flounced and struggled, but Miri held her head and made Leo lie across her midriff. The woman made rasping sounds—desperate attempts to scream.

Sarah sucked. The artery wall resisted, then gave way, spurting a flood of fresh, hot, salty blood straight down Sarah’s gullet. The effect was a thousand times more powerful than a hit of the purest heroin ever made. From her toes to her head, her skin rippled and shivered. An orgasm came, spreading through her until her whole body was a single, pulsing, vibrating dynamo of sexual genius. Somewhere far away, she could hear Leo laughing and crying at the same time, and Miri’s voice comforting her, saying soft things that she did not mean.

She sucked and she sucked, and the old voice went down to a growling babble. She sucked and the old heart came to a stop. And then the body went slack, and the flow went down.

Sarah drew back. Blood, very black, dribbled onto the table.

Leo was standing at the far end of the room, her eyes round, her face covered with tears. Miriam said, “Come here to me.”

Leo shook her head.

Miri went to her and drew her by the wrist. “Watch!”