My body goes limp. Darkness crawls over my vision.
And then the pain is gone.
As if it was never there.
My throat is raw from screaming. Tears roll down my face.
Tiernon’s face comes into view. He’s leaning over me, his lips moving. His face is pale, eyes blazing with what looks like … fear.
“What the fuck.” He grabs my jaw, moving my head to the side. When he brushes his finger over the place where Bran bit me, I let out a hiss.
His touch gentles, turning apologetic. “Are you hurt?”
“It hurts,” I admit. “But I’m fine.”
“It seems you can’t leave the city walls,” he mutters.
I feel my lower lip tremble and close my eyes, hating that he’s seeing me so vulnerable.
Tiernon lifts me into his arms, carrying me as gently as if I were a newborn. He walks with vampire grace, his steps so smooth I’m barely jostled as he slowly sneaks back through the city.
My eyelids are so heavy they feel weighed down. Each blink seems to last an hour, until Tiernon lets out a soft sigh.
“Rest. I’ll take care of you.” He continues to move, his steps lulling me to sleep.
I fight it, but I’m so, so tired.
Drinking Tiernon’s blood … changed something between us.
For over a year, I’ve pretended not to notice the way his shirt clings to his muscular shoulders when we spar. I’ve battled the reckless thud of my heart each time he flashes that proud grin after I beat him at cards. I’ve tried to ignore the way his eyes darken each time they linger on my mouth.
And I’ve suppressed every instinct urging me to sink my hands into his hair and press my lips to his.
Sometimes, I catch Tiernon watching me with a strange, wistful look. As if I’m something precious but forever out of reach.
Other times, when he’s supposed to meet me, he stays away.
I never respond well to his absence. I rage and pace,hatinghim for making me need him so much. Each time he leaves, it’s proof that I’m right: if I was foolish enough to love him the way I want to, I could lose him at any time.
I don’t think I’d survive it.
That doesn’t stop me from screaming at him the next time I see him, my breath hitching, eyes hot. “Are you trying to punish me?”
His jaw clenches, his mouth twisting as he glances away. “Of course not.”
“Then why do this to me, Tiernon? If you don’t want to be my friend, justtellme. Don’t make me hate you.”
His glare slams into me like a blow. “I don’t want to be your friend.”
The tears I’ve been suppressing slip free. Tiernon takes a single step closer, but his hands fist at his sides, and he goes still.
“You don’t understand what it’s like,” he snarls. “To see you get more beautiful each day. To know that while you’re walking in the sun, other men who can do the same are watching you. Wanting you.”
The air lodges in my throat, and all I can do is stare at him. He shakes his head. “I don’t want to be your friend, Velle. I want to be your everything. I’ve wanted that since the day we met, when I was too young to understand why I would become so jealous of anyone else who got to spend time with you while I was gone.”
“Tiernon …”
“If you don’t want that, I understand.” A hollow laugh. “That’s a lie. I don’t understand. Because we belong together. But if you don’t wantme,then you don’t get to be angry when I stay away for my own sanity. Because sometimes looking at you … it just hurts too much.”
