It was the correct answer, and it was something that Erik knew he had not told Alexi, for he hated to admit it even to himself. He was furious with himself for falling for that trap. Worse, he still didn't know that he was the only one who had been captured. But there would be other times to fret about that. For now, he had more pressing problems than his own guilt.

“You're correct, not to put too fine a point on it. But, you know what I find funny? That you would slice yourself open to win my trust more willingly than you would give me a straight answer to a simple question. You still haven't answered what this thing does. And despite that, I think you are sincere, eccentric, possibly mad, but sincere. You are … a very strange human, Alexi Vandros,” Erik sighed. The smell of blood was relatively pleasant now that he was no longer starving, much like how, in a human, the smell of food could be pleasant or maddening, depending on the hunger of the individual. But more importantly, he realized that his captor was losing a lot of blood.

“Perhaps I am even more insane than you, trusting a human who still has me in chains in his room, just because you have promised me the one thing my heart truly desires. However, I will drink it. Make sure that I can see that it is prepared from the exact same vial that you added to yours. And then get someone to properly bandage your wound before you bleed all over your annoyingly opulent room,” Erik decided finally, meeting Alexi's eyes, and unable to hide the touch of fear in his own.