“You know...” I began, shoving a large piece of meat in my mouth, making sure he could see every juicy bite as I chewed it. “I’ve never met a vampire before. I have to admit I don’t know much about your kind. Like obviously, you don’t bite people all willy-nilly. If you don’t have a house full of servants willing to feed you, how do you eat?”
Blackthorn opened his mouth to answer, but I didn’t give him the chance.
“And are you born a vampire or are you turned? Fran mentioned you being a baby, so if you are born a vampire, how do you make more vampires? There aren’t a lot of you just lurking around,right?” I asked my questions as I cut and sliced and chomped away.
My plan was clearly working... on Baylen. The look of disgust on his face was the exact one I had hoped to put on Blackthorn’s face.
“I mean...” I paused to swallow.
“Thank you, Baylen,” Blackthorn said before I could start up again. “If you would allow me to—”
“I mean, you never see any vampire babies,” I continued before he could speak further. “So, if you are born a vampire, do you have to be with another vampire, or is it a need a human thing? Maybe it’s more of an egg thing. Do you lay eggs?”
I had started to get ridiculous even by my own standards, but I could tell from the controlled tap of his finger on the table, his eyes locked on me, lips pressed into a thin line, that I was getting to him.
“If you aren’t born a vampire, do you make them? Like you bite them, they bite you kind of thing, or is there a spell involved? Is it like rabies? I know someone who got rabies, and they were not fun, let me tell you, and if you really think about it, it’s not much different than becoming a were — Argh!”
Vines wrapped around my body, covering my mouth as they bound me to my chair. I grunted and tried to talk around the vine, jerking back and forth as I glared at Blackthorn.
The vampire sighed, stood from his seat, and walked down the length of the table until he was at my side. He sat on the edge of the table and peered down at me, his hands laced in his lap.
“I wish I could believe you actually wanted to know about me and vampires.” He reached out and twisted a piece of my brown hair around his finger. “Unfortunately, I fear that is not the case.”
I tried to argue with him, but the vine muffled my voice.
“Am I not spending enough time with you?” Blackthorn cocked his head to the side. “I admit I have been giving you your space. Not wanting to push you too far too soon.” He tipped my chin up, eyes flicking down to the vine covering my mouth and then back to my eyes again. “No one has shown me the sort of compassion and kindness you showed me that day in the woods.”
Something in my chest tightened at his words.
“Many would have left me to die even before knowing I was a vampire,” Blackthorn continued, letting the vines slip away from my face. “But not you. Why did you save me?”
I rotated my jaw, peering up at him. How did this get turned around on me? I thought my plan was working. Blackthorn must have the patience of a saint for none of that to bother him. If someone had done that to me, I would have snapped. I wouldn’t be this cool, collected understanding person that Blackthorn was right now.
Licking my lips, I glanced off to the side, not sure how to answer him. “I... don’t know. You needed help, so I helped you.”
“But why?” Blackthorn pressed. “There was nothing in it for you. In fact, you could have gotten stuck in the fudge pit with me and died.”
I shrugged. “I’ve always wanted to help others. It’s one of the things about me I don’t like sometimes. When someone asksfor help, I can’t say no.” I gave a self-depreciating laugh. “Even when it means I end up in the bin instead of them.”
Blackthorn’s brows furrowed. “The bin?” Realization filled his face and his expression darkened. “Have you been put in this bin often?”
I avoided his gaze as I shrugged again. “A few times.”
Blackthorn lifted my chin, and I could feel his eyes burning a hole in my face. “Look at me.”
Slowly, I lifted my eyes to meet his gaze. The intensity behind his eyes made me instantly want to look away. His hold tightened slightly as if he knew what I was thinking.
“You will never be forced to be in that bin ever again.” Blackthorn’s voice was hard, promising justice, then it softened again. “I will protect you, Mara. Even from yourself.”
The vines released me as Blackthorn stood and walked back to his side of the table. He lifted his chalice of blood and sipped from it as if nothing had happened.
I stared at him for a long moment and almost jumped out of my seat when Baylen appeared next to me with a new set of silverware.
“Thank you,” I murmured, still trying to figure out how the vampire across from me worked. Clearly, my actions were not enough to make him reject me. I would have to come up with something far more drastic.
The only problem was a part of me didn’t want to do it.
Chapter 19
