Erik's eyes narrowed in hatred of what he recognized as a phial of subjugation potion. He had not seen the human remove the phial from the nightstand, or had even known that the older one was there, but he did see when the new one was removed from the safety box. The truth was, he feared what that tiny bottle could do to him, the person he could become. But resistance leaders did not get to show fear, so it was all channeled into a barely controllable anger that was getting more and more difficult to suppress. 

He stayed quiet and took deep breaths as he waited oh-so-patiently for Alexi to return, but when the lord of the manor did come back, the prisoner began to speak again.

“Your words, your tone, even your eyes have a lot of sympathy for seeing me like this. But how can I believe that it's not a lie when you are the one who has the power to free me? If you truly felt remorse, you would let me go. You and I both know you, or your servant anyway, made the restraints strong enough that I can never break out of them. But I'll die before I drink that da- that potion, and you should know that by now,” he asked coldly. His sunken eyes glowed a dangerous dark red, and it was clear that he was in agony. Surely Alexi would be able to read just how painful it was for the vampire to maintain any sort of civility. The smell of the human was intoxicating, and a vampire of yesteryear might have attacked the human on the spot had he been this hungry and free. But both the chains and, to an extent, Erik's morals, prevented that. “I've given up asking you why you want me here, you know. It's clear you won't tell me.”

Just as he finished speaking, the pain in his head hit one of its higher points and the vampire cried out briefly before stopping himself and looking back at Alexi. “I'll never take that potion. You'll have to get one of your minions to force it down my throat. Just hope that I dont bite their fingers off.”