His eyes are a silver gleam, his dark lashes casting shadows on his high cheekbones. He is ridiculously hot. I stare at him, a thousand retorts rising to my lips then disappearing.
‘How did you get this?’ All the anti-feed in the house, including my own supply, is held under lock and key, doled out in small batches when needed. It’s expensive, for starters. And not easy to come by. The spare vials I have took me ages to gather, filched from careless blood dancers.
‘I have my ways.’ His smile deepens. He’s released my arm, but is closer to me. I take a step back, reminding myself how completely annoying he is.
‘Thanks.’
‘Like I said, I appreciate you not getting me fired. Or worse.’
‘Fine,’ I say. Like my heart isn’t dancing in my chest.He wants me to be safe. Because it’s his job,my mind adds, helpfully. I take another step back.
‘So, why didn’t you say anything? I’m just curious.’
Oh, I cannot do this. I need to find another way out of here. Maybe I can steal the car. Except I can’t drive. I march up the steps to the front door, continuing across the foyer towards the stairs, conscious of the fact that I’m sweaty and emotional, feeling as though I’m glowing red. Absolute vampire catnip. I wouldn’t last a minute outside the gates after nightfall, especially if I’d been running all day. I take the stairs, heading across the landing and down the hallway, Kyle still following. I’m trying not to stamp. ‘You don’t have to follow me everywhere,’ I hiss.
‘Actually, I do,’ he says, a thread of laughter in his voice. I feel as though I might burst into flames with rage. ‘It’s literally my job.’
‘Oh, yourjob.’
‘Yes, my job. And you still haven’t answered me.’
I stop dead. He does too. I glance at him. He has one dark eyebrow raised, a smirk playing around his perfect lips.
‘I guess, I appreciated what you did,’ I mutter. ‘Taking me somewhere I could just be…’
‘Emelia? Not Raven?’ There’s a softness to his voice that wasn’t there before. He comes closer. ‘Is that it?’
My heart is pounding, and I’m reminded again of our closeness in a darkened hallway. And then of another embrace, in frozen woods.
‘Yes,’ I say. ‘So why did you have to ruin it?’
‘Ruin it?’ Still soft, his scent of violets and fresh leaves twining around me.
‘When you said I was… when you…’ It’s like I’m possessed. Why am I telling him this? I just need to be nice, get him on my side, then get him to take me over the fence and leave me at the Safe Zone. That’s it. No need for anything else.
‘What is it?’ He’s even closer, leaning in, his broad shoulders blotting out what little light there is.
‘Human.’ I spit the word. ‘You said I was just a human.’
‘Is that why you’re mad? Emelia, I think you’re—’ He stops talking, straightening up as two guards appear at the end of the hallway. They nod as they pass us. ‘My lady.’
I’m going to scream.
‘I need to shower.’ I start along the hallway once more, before he can say anything else, move any closer. I need to keep focus.
But as I stand under needles of hot water a few minutes later, it’s as though I can almost feel his presence through the walls, as though he’s in the room with me, instead of waiting outside my door. I blush and blush some more, imagining his silver gaze on me as I twist under the water. I can’t deny my response to him, despite how he infuriates me. But there is no way in hell I’m telling him, or acting on it. I need to stick to my plan.
He’s waiting, of course, when I open my bedroom door a short while later. And if I took extra care to make sure my hair was smooth and shining, wore one of my favourite dresses, it was for my parents’ benefit, that’s all.
I don’t say anything as I start down the hallway, because I don’t know what to say. I feel like a stranger in my own home, the place more familiar to me than anywhere else on the planet feeling strange and new, the way the candle-lamps gild the velvet and heavy red carpets, the carved wood, the silver glimpse of moon through the unshuttered windows.
‘So, where are we going?’
I have no idea. I should see my parents, but I don’t want to, the strangeness running through me like quicksilver making me feel as though I want to run outside and dance beneath the stars, screaming at the moon like a wild creature of the woods.
‘Are you still mad about the human thing?’
I am seriously going to deck him in a moment. But it also seems rude to keep staying silent, even though my throat feels choked by something huge, welling from my chest. I swallow. ‘No.’ Lies.
