“Yeah, but no one is suggesting you tell him all about vampires. You could just… be friends? See where things go? Having a human lover is not unusual, you know. Maybe for you, but not for vamps in general. And maybe you could get rid of your obsession by actually getting to know him.”
I laughed, but it sounded as hollow and dejected as I felt.
“If I could fucking lie to him, maybe I would. But since it appears to me I can’t, I don’t want to risk it. Besides, I thought you’d tell me to stay the fuck away from him.”
Bennie snorted. “Would you listen to me?”
I shook my head.
No, no, I definitely wouldn’t.
Even if he chained me up in his basement—which he’d done for the first two days—I’d find a way.
“That’s what I thought.” He sighed, and for a moment he looked older than he usually did. Vampires didn’t age—I knewthat—but to me, it appeared that I was really doing a number on him.
Which wasn’t my intention. It wasn’t like I was going out of my way to worry him.
Silence spread between us.
I let my eyes wander, taking in our surroundings. Night had firmly fallen. The moon hung high in the sky, casting its pale light down onto the city that shone brighter with light pollution. There weren’t really any pitch-black places to be found here. Maybe a couple of alleys, but that was it. The streets were all illuminated. Cars drove by occasionally, the tires squelching on the wet asphalt.
Finn had finished his toast but was still drinking from his massive coffee cup. It was way too late for him to drink what was probably an obscene amount of caffeine.
Maybe I should let him know that the acid in coffee was bad for his stomach—especially if he was suffering from gastritis.
I watched helplessly as Finn jumped to his feet, slapping a hand in front of his mouth as he ran for the door that led to his bathroom. He was throwing up. Fuck. Things were getting bad.
It was gastritis; it had to be. The signs were there, but he was fucking ignoring them. And me. He was risking his health out of sheer stubbornness.
Balling my hands into fists, I counted the seconds until he emerged from his bathroom, eyes shiny, skin blotchy, as if he’d been crying. Or, you know, violently throwing up.
He grabbed a glass out of his pantry, filled it with water to rinse his mouth, and then took a mug, filling it with water and putting it in the microwave.
No tea in this world would be able to fight off his gastritis, but it was definitely a better choice than coffee.
“Can we come back to the not being able to lie part?” Bennie said. I jumped at his words, clutching my heart. How the fuckhad I managed to forget he was here with me? “Do you notwantto lie to him?”
“No. I wanted to, but I couldn’t.” I sighed, my eyes still firmly trained on Finn.
Could I get him the meds he needed?
Well, yeah, I knew exactly what’d help him. I’d have to break into a pharmacy, though, but that should be easy enough. I couldn’t imagine they did much to secure antacids. Sure, I could get him Prilosec, but the dosage probably wouldn’t be strong enough to fight off a fully fledged gastritis attack.
Still, it’d be best if he consulted an actual doctor.
“What do you mean by that?”
Exasperated, I turned to Bennie. “The words wouldn’t come out of my mouth, okay? I wanted to lie, but I physically wasn’t able to.”
Bennie’s eyes widened, but I wasn’t in the mood for any more revelations or questions.
“It was weird, okay?” I said, watching like a hawk as Finn placed a tea bag in his mug of hot water. Peppermint. Not the best choice there was, but not the worst either.
Fresh groceries and a couple of different teas wouldn’t hurt him, right? And he definitely wouldn’t be able to just crumple and throw them away.
“I have an idea of what could be going on,” Bennie finally said, placing a hand on my shoulder. “But I need to talk to a couple of people to confirm.”
I sighed. “Is it really that important, what exactly might be going on? I don’t care. I just want to keep him safe, and nothing you find out about me being unable to lie will change the fact that I need to make sure he’s okay.”
