“Well, if only two of you are staying it’s twenty-five hundred,” he said. I hesitated.
“That it?” He finally asked.Do the logical thing, I told myself. I pulled out the cash.
“A month for two,” I said. He set the game aside and pulled the money from the counter, flipping through the cash. He slid five hundred in his own pocket and winked at me.
This was more than enough to assuage my guilt. Nemo and Baz had food to last the week and a room for a month. If they hadn’t been caught by then, they could figure it out from there.
The uncomfortable feeling clinging to me was just my concern about how Bree would handle this. However much she needed those two in the asylum, out here, they would get her captured or killed. Still, she was not going to be happy. That wastheonlyreason it felt like the blood I just drank wasn’t sitting well in my gut.
I walked back to the room and slipped inside. Bree and Nemo were asleep in one bed, Baz in the other. His face was smashed against his book. I stared at him a moment, then slid the journal out from his face and put it on the nightstand. Nemo and Bree didn’t move as I watched them.
Finally, I kicked off my shoes, flipped off the light beside Baz, and got on the bed next to him.
I needed sleep, that’s all. I wasn’t prolonging anything. It was best to wait until night. The authorities would thin out after twenty-four hours.
“Orson,” Baz whispered. His voice was thick from sleep.
“It’s me,” I responded.
“It’s hard to sleep. No animal noises, no crying … ” I stayed quiet, hoping he’d fall back asleep. His heart pounded in a steady rhythm behind me.
“Orson,” he whispered again.
I sighed. “What?”
“I’m … ”
“You’re what?”
“I don’t know.” I felt him shift, rolling towards me.Don’t respond, I told myself.You don’t care. Why the fuck would you care?I closed my eyes and cursed.
“Is it your sister or being outside the asylum?” I asked, disappointed by how well I knew someone I shouldn’t care about. He said nothing for a moment, so I looked at him over my shoulder. He was staring at me.
“Can you see in the dark?” He asked.
“What?”
“Vampires are nocturnal,” Baz said.
“I have superior night vision, yes.”
“I can see you,” he said. “Every last detail as if all the lights were on.” I looked harder at his face, letting my eyes adjust to the dark. With a shudder, I realized his pupils were huge, round orbs with only the thinnest rim of colored iris.
“Basil.”
“Mm?”
“Your sister or the asylum?” I asked.
He smirked. “You know, I’m not really sure.”
“Because you suppress everything,” I mumbled, wishing I were better at it. Wouldn’t that be hilarious, asking for suppression techniques?
“Is that so? You know, you should be a therapist,” Baz said. He turned away again, settling with his back towards me. I did the same. Exhaustion began to pull me under, but before I fell asleep, I heard him whisper.
“What happens when I stop suppressing everything?”
I stared at the curtains pulled across the window in front of me. Eventually, his heart and breathing slowed. Only then did I fall asleep.
