“Anyway, my job was supposed to be investigating this haunted house,” I said. “Then again, there’s a small chance they’ll send someone to check on me. Maybe they’ll see the blood, the fresh grave out back. Maybe they’ll put two and two together.”
He was quiet for a long time.
“So what happens now?” Simon asked.
“Now, I patch up, get back on my feet, and figure out what the hell you’re really doing here,” I answered honestly.
“And if you don’t like the answer?” Simon asked.
“Then you run fast.”
Simon didn’t flinch.
“I won’t run. And I’m here because I don’t have anywhere else to go. I thought about reaching out to old friends or family, but I was never close to my parents. And my friends… I’d just lead my sire’s failed experiments straight to them. I can’t allow that,” Simon explained.
I turned to look at him, and for the first time, I didn’t see fear in his face. Just resolve, quiet and unshakable. I didn’t know what to say to that.
Simon sounded so human. As far from a monster as anything I’d ever met. That was the worst part.
Because as I sat there, bleeding and half-broken, I realized I was starting to understand Donovan. Why he’d lowered his weapon, why he’d chosen the vampire instead of the Guild, instead of me.
I’d spent months hating him for it. But now, with Simon watching me like I was something worth saving, I wasn’t sure I could blame him anymore.
The fire was dying down, the light softer now, flickering against his skin.
Simon turned toward it slightly, and for a second, I caught myself studying the shape of his mouth. The small cut on his lip from the earlier fight. My throat went dry.
He noticed. Of course he did. His eyes flicked up to mine, and something passed between us, quiet, dangerous and magnetic.
Neither of us moved, but the air changed. Thickened. My heart started to pound, traitorous and loud.
Simon’s voice came low. “You should sleep.”
“I’m not tired,” I argued.
“You are.”
“Then why aren’t you?” I asked.
Most vampires I’d hunted didn’t tire easily, but I’d never met one who drank only animal blood. He must be as worn out as I am.
He smiled faintly.
“Old habits,” Simon said instead.
“Like watching people sleep?” I asked, though my voice sounded sharper than I meant.
What was happening to me? Was I flirting with him?
“Like making sure they live through the night.”
That shut me up.
He leaned back against the wall beside me, close enough that I could feel the faint chill radiating from his skin. For a moment, I thought about shifting away. I didn’t.
I don’t know how long we stayed like that. At some point, my eyes started to close. The pain dulled to a distant throb. The last thing I remember was the steady rhythm of his breathing beside me.
And just before I drifted off, I felt the lightest brush of fingers against my wrist. Just a touch. A reminder that I was still here, still alive.
