Then he turned to me, and his face softened.
“May I carry you?”
He hadn’t asked when he’d gotten me out of that place. He’d just stormed in, picked me up, and carried me out.
But now he was asking.
And no matter how much I wanted to prove that I was fine, I knew I wouldn’t be able to make it up two flights of stairs. Hell, I wasn’t sure I’d manage to stay awake long enough to even talk to the doctor.
I gave a quick nod, then flinched as lightning bolts of white-hot pain sliced through my head, momentarily blinding me.
“Fuuck,” I whispered, closing my eyes.
I felt Eric lifting me off my feet, carefully holding me against his chest.
He smelled like blood, like death, but beneath it all were hints of Eric. My Eric. The one who’d come for me.
I leaned my head against his chest and inhaled deeply. I’d rest my eyes… just… for… a while…
I was back where it started.
Back where I’d first found proof that my boyfriend was not human.
If I’d needed more proof than seeing his red eyes, his fangs, or him drinking blood, I’d gotten it tonight.
I shuddered involuntarily as I remembered the scene Eric had carried me through. Decapitated bodies. Pieces of flesh covering the wall.
My own boyfriend looking like a monster straight out of a horror movie.
“Are you cold?” Eric asked, concern written all over his face. His clean face. Gone was the spray of blood, the pieces of flesh. He looked completely normal.Human. Looking at me through his blue eyes, not the red ones. His teeth looked human, too. No fangs in sight.
Still… I couldn’t get that picture out of my mind.
The glowing eyes, the fangs, everything covered in blood and… I really didn’t want to think about what else, as he came barreling into the room and picked me up like I weighed nothing.
Which, to him, I probably didn’t.
I’d heard what’d happened before.
The gurgling.
The crunching.
The cruel, violent sounds didn’t fit the man I was seeing now. Didn’t fit the worry on his face, the way his eyes were still shiny with unshed tears. The way he hesitantly reached for me but let his hand drop halfway to my face.
“I can get you another blanket,” Eric said, his head already turning, eyes searching for a throw blanket. “Or I can get Bennie…”
“It’s okay,” I said. My voice was thin and weak, and I fucking hated that.
I didn’t want to sound weak. Didn’t want to feel weak.
I’d pushed back.
I’d attacked those two vampires. I’d held my own fucking ground long enough for Eric and the others to reach me.
“I don’t want youokay, though,” he said, his eyes boring into me with an intensity that had me shuddering again. “I want you fine.Comfortable.Taken care of. I still think you should go to the ER. Get your head looked at.”
I rolled my eyes, then winced.
