This, Armand thinks, is what comes of spending too much time around humans. Outwardly, he accepts John's speech with the calm thoughtfulness of the considerate disciple, his attention drifting to the cords of John's throat. His heartbeat is also distracting; Armand can't stop wondering what he'll taste like. If he'll even be allowed to get that close.

"I would have drunk from her, if you had allowed it," he points out. "Her blood would have sustained me and she would have been a small part of me for the rest of my immortal existence. In that way, her life would have had meaning, and value. As it is, I now need to drink from someone else. So, you have saved one, and doomed another."