Because of Abbie, whoever she was?
Leni didn’t think it was her place to ask. Nor did she expect he would tell her, even if she did bring it up.
His eyes were laser-trained on the slippery road ahead. His mouth a stern line above a square jaw that seemed to have been carved from granite. Normally, she was fine with a little silence, but there wasn’t much that was normal about tonight.
“You know, if anyone had told me one night I’d be on the receiving end of a vehicular rescue by a Breed vampire in the middle of a Nor’easter, I would’ve told them they were crazy. Do you always go around saving damsels in distress?”
He swung a hard glance at her, something grim and dark in his eyes. “Never.”
“Just my lucky night, huh?”
He grunted, about as chatty as a Terminator. She didn’t miss his scowl in the second before he turned his gaze back to the road.
“You still haven’t told me how you were able to find me back there. After you left the diner, I thought you’d be long gone from Parrish Falls.”
“So did I. I had to make a stop on my way out. To feed.”
Leni stared at him. “You mean you needed blood. From a living, breathing human.”
He gave a nod, and the image of his mouth locked on to someone’s neck while he drank flooded her mind in an instant.
Not just anyone’s neck. Hers. Although why she should imagine that, and why she should feel the mere idea of it like a current shot into her own veins, she didn’t want to know.
Leni swallowed past the unnerving sensation, but only barely.
“Awfully quiet over there all of a sudden.” He sounded vaguely amused as he glanced over at her. “I thought you didn’t scare easily.”
“I’m not scared.” It was nothing close to that. Fear she could understand. Fear would be perfectly reasonable, given that she was alone with a strange and dangerous man on a dark, empty road. A man who had just reminded her in unmistakable terms that he was one of the most lethal predators in existence.
Instead, what she felt was an unfurling curiosity. Not only about Knox as a Breed male—the first one she’d ever met—but about the man he was as well.
“So, did you . . . um, feed?”
“Yes.”
“From who? There aren’t any houses between the diner and where I went into the ravine, and there definitely couldn’t have been anyone walking around outside. Which only leaves Milo Cobb at the gas station.”
“Skinny guy with questionable hair choices and a prescription drug habit?”
“That’s him.” Leni pivoted in her seat. “You could tell he’s an addict?”
“Among other things.”
“What do you mean, other things? How do you know?”
“Everyone wears their sins on their heart. Including Milo.”
“Such as?”
“He’s been stealing from his grandmother for years. First, it was the pain pills she needed following her cancer surgery. Now, it’s cash and her social security checks.”
Leni swore softly. “He lives with her. Sarah Cobb is one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. She’s been taking care of Milo since he was a baby.”
Knox’s dispassionate shrug said he was merely reporting the facts.
“And you know all of this just by drinking his blood?”
“No. I’m not a blood reader. That’s not my ability. When I touch someone, I see their sins. I’m not talking about the small things. I mean the ones that scorch a soul. I feel all of their deepest shames that never go away.”
