Considine held my hand to his mouth so I couldn’t pull back. “I offered as much the first time I brought the idea up,” he said, his lips caressing my palm as he spoke.
“Yes. I remember. However, I want a laid out, weekly plan so you don’t try to go from a mouthful to enough to be able to secrete whatever chemical compound it is that will extend my life.” I tugged my hand, and while Considine didn’t let it go, he did lower it, intertwining his fingers with mine.
“I see. If it makes you feel any better, I am also highly motivated to take it slowly—not due to any risk of my life, but rather yours.” He frowned and squeezed my fingers. “As you are a slayer and not a wizard or plain human, there is no guarantee the compound won’t harm you. I’ll want to slowly expose you to it, to make sure you can handle it.”
That’s good. Considine wouldn’t hesitate to take risks with himself, but he won’t gamble with my life.
“Good. Then we’ll have to work out some kind of schedule,” I said. “And I can sign a non-disclosure agreement if you want.”
Considine blinked. “A what?”
“Non-disclosure,” I said. “Despite centuries of trying, we slayers haven’t been able to figure out exactly how a vampire feeding goes down. I assume that means there’s something about it that you don’t want us to know,” I said. “I’ll promise notto tell slayers about it—but I could always take a geas if an NDA isn’t enough. That might reassure the other vampires.”
I’d wrestled with this particular issue since Considine had returned. It didn’t feel quite right to keep something from my family. But in the end, I’d recognized that whatever mystery of the vampire feeding habits was, it wasn’t mine to tell. And while knowing might make slayer jobs easier, I’d learned from interactions with my team that if the information was shared rather than stolen, that affected the outcome a whole lot more than the actual knowledge itself.
Befriending Orrin was the best example I had of that.
Considine stared at me for a few moments, then laughed. “I don’t know that there’s another slayer in the world who would offer that.” He kissed my temple slowly, savoring the closeness. “This is one of the many reasons why I love you.”
I tried to run down my mental list of the other points I’d thought through for my confession of love, but Considine’s closeness was somehow so addicting it was hard to think straight.
“Um,” I said, ever the erudite.
“It sounds like you’ve given the matter a lot of thought,” Considine continued. “What instigated that.”
“You getting captured,” I said, my mind clearing with the memory of those horrible days. “It made me wonder if the mindless terror that I experienced at the time was how you felt about me just walking around.”
“Ah,” Considine said. “I’m not going to apologize about that. I will always choose your safety.”
“I know, which scared me even more,” I said.
I felt lightheaded, but I finally saw the transition I needed.
This is it!
“I love you, Considine.” I paused, somewhat shocked I’d finally managed to spit it out, and even more surprised I’d done it in an understandable mix of words.
But there was still so much more to say!
I rushed to continue, “The thought of losing you terrifies me, and you’reimmortal. I’m willing to experiment with you drinking my blood if it means I can reassure you. I don’t know about becoming a vampire—that’s going to take a lot more thought and discussion, but for now, I can do this. Because I love you.”
“You love me,” Considine repeated, his voice filled with wonder.
Yeah, I should have led with this information. But at least I finally got it out! That’s what matters.
“Yes, I love you,” I confirmed.
“Then there’s something you should know,” Considine said.
I peered up at him as I tried to smooth out a crease in his shirt with the palm of my free hand.
Considine stared intensely into my eyes, the pupils of his eyes dilating.
“What?” I asked.
Considine smiled, and his eyes half closed as he leaned closer to me, resting the side of his head against mine so he could whisper into my ear. “You’re my One.”
I knew and understood the term—just as I knew all vampire lore. But that Considine was choosing me to be the love of his immortal life…it was shocking, and yet the highest token of his love and esteem that he could give me.
