What the hell was I doing?
Simon wasn’t the first vampire I’d met who pretended at civility. They were capable of kindness, even affection, but it always came with teeth in the end. Yet something about him didn’t fit the pattern.
He wasn’t hiding what he was. Simon didn’t feed on people. He didn’t even look at me like prey. And that made him dangerous in an entirely different way.
Because the longer I stayed, the more I found myself wanting to know what else was real about him. The more I wondered if that quiet gentleness.
The way he kept his distance but still hovered close enough to help, was instinct or choice. I told myself it was curiosity. That was all. A hunter studying his quarry.
But when I thought about the way his voice softened when he said my name. How he’d sat by the fire through the night while I slept, watching over me like some strange guardian, I knew I was lying to myself.
I didn’t just want to understand him. I wanted toseehim. To know what kind of creature would risk everything to keep his hands clean of human blood.
I rubbed at my eyes, exhaling. The silence in the house pressed close, heavy with things unsaid. My chest ached in a way that had nothing to do with my wounds.
It hit me then, how little there was waiting for me outside these walls.
Both my parents had been hunters. They died when I was eighteen. One of those “clean jobs” gone bad. The Guild sent a letter, a payout, and that was it.
Friends? They’d drifted off months ago, when they realized I was on a downward spiral, and Donovan…
I swallowed hard. He’d been the only person I’d ever been close to. My mentor. My friend. The one who’d believed there was still something good inside me. Then he’d left the Guild to be with Declan.
Now there was just me and Simon. Gorgeous Simon who had a strange quiet kindness that didn’t make sense. Who couldn’t bear hurting humans let alone animals.
I should’ve left. Any sane man would’ve.
Instead, I found myself waiting for the sound of his footsteps coming back up the path. For the soft creak of the door and that strange flicker of life he brought with him when he entered a room.
Maybe it was loneliness or maybe it was something else. All I knew was that I wanted him to come back. That realization hit me harder than any threat the Guild could ever make.
Somewhere between the blood, the silence, and the half-truths, Simon had stopped being a monster to me. He was just Simon, and I wasn’t sure what that made me anymore.
9
KIT
The fire had burned low,throwing weak orange light across the floorboards.
I sat there for what felt like hours, nursing the bottle of painkillers Simon had found in one of the upstairs cabinets and wondering when I’d stopped caring if they worked.
It was full dark by the time I heard footsteps outside, quiet and careful. The door opened with a soft scrape.
Simon slipped in, arms full. His jacket was dusted with dirt and the faint smell of rain clung to him. He looked tired, but there was a strange lightness in his face when his eyes found me awake.
“You’re still here,” he said, like he’d honestly doubted it.
That annoyed me for some reason.
“Didn’t have a ride,” I said, pushing myself up.
My body protested, but not as much as it had before. The wounds were healing, just slower than I’d like.
“You were gone a while,” I added.
“I got held up,” Simon said, setting the takeout bags on the table. “The diner was packed, had to wait longer than I thought.”
I eyed the food suspiciously. “You told them it was for you?”
