“He’s with Trace,” I snarled, really upset with her. “You should have—weshould have checked after the flat iron.” I kissed his sore skin. “Wash those thoroughly, darling. I’ll give you some of my blood and hope it heals you quickly.” I paused. “The Fae are allergic to iron. Not only does it block their ability to do magic, but it will physically hurt them if they come into contact with it.”
“Oh.” He stood immobile, seemingly in shock. I dragged him to clean his hands, then sat him down.
“Swear to God, Baxter, if you’d made him tea brewed in an iron pot, you could have burnt his insides. I’msofucking angry with you right now.”
James blanched, but sprang to her defence instantly. “Hey, it’s okay. Baxter didn’t think it would hurt. I’ll be all right after some of your blood. Won’t I?”
I took a deep breath to help stem the rage I felt towards my best friend, knowing I was just as, if not more, angry at myself than her. I exhaled slowly, then nodded at James. “I think so, but that’s not the point. It should never have got this far. Some of that’s on me.”
“Yes, it is.” Baxter’s whole body was tense and defensive. “Maybe it wasn’t my brightest idea, but I’m a tech god, not a herbalist or a medic. You could have stopped me.”
“I don’t like it when you two fight,” James muttered, the set of his shoulders clueing me in to his level of discomfort.
I sat down and pulled him onto my lap. “I’m sorry, love. We’re just worried about you. Here, from my wrist okay?”
“Sure.”
I began rolling up my shirt sleeve. Baxter, her face alarmed, shot across the tiles to slap my hand away. “The hell is wrong with you, Eddie? Could you not at least get the boy a glass of wine?”
James chuckled and his shoulders relaxed. “I’m happy with it this way. Seems a waste to dirty a glass. Edwin won’t let me drink much.” He shrugged. “He drinks my blood this way.”
“Yeah, but he’s a vampire. You know, scary bloodsucking creature of the night. You’re human. Humans drink tea and beer and stuff...” She trailed off, looking bemused as I slit my vein and pressed my wrist to James’ eager mouth.
21
JAMES
Unlike the first time,when I’d been half out of it from exhaustion and fear, willing to do anything a kindly voice suggested in the hope of feeling less awful, this was an experience I knew would be etched on my soul for eternity. Edwin’s intensity when he fed from me was a scorching brand on my senses, but reversing our usual action ramped his attention up to furnace levels. His blood tasted like cool fire, tangy, rusty, slightly smoky, but somehow a delicious mix of everything all rolled into one?—
“That’s enough.” He tapped me gently on my upper lip with his finger. “James, let go, love, so I can…There ya go.” Our noses bumped as he leaned in to lick the vein I reluctantly relinquished. I watched in fascination as the skin closed and returned to its normal unblemished state within seconds.
He bestowed a smile on me that I felt said something I might not be ready to hear, then took my hands again in his.
“A little better already, I think. Do you think so?”
“Maybe,” I agreed breathlessly. Certain other parts of me were definitely in working order. I didn’t know whether to be annoyed or not that I suddenly felt such a desperate physical need when all I really wanted was to get lost in the blue pools ofhis eyes, dive in, and swim there forever… God, I was so crazy about Edwin, I could burst.
His grin could have powered a spaceship. “You know, I don’t think you’re supposed tolikethe taste of blood,” he remarked carefully.
“Oh, I don’t,” I said hastily. “Just yours.” I stared at him. “Umm, I mean…”
“We all know what you mean, sweets.” Baxter sounded more like herself. “I’ve never seen such a pair of loved-up idiots. To think it was a human that finally snared my annoying little brother. Who’d a thunk it?” She ruffled Edwin’s hair which distracted him enough to hiss at her, then we watched her leave the kitchen, closing the door firmly behind her.
“Is she all right?” I tried desperately to change the subject, mortified to have been caught mooning over Edwin like some lovestruck teenager.
“She’ll be fine.” His smile was fond, but tinged with sadness. “We don’t argue often, so I think she feels guilty for harming you, as do I. Baxter really wants someone to love and to love her. As she takes great pleasure in reminding me, I’m her little brother, so I think it’s hit home I’ve found someone and she hasn’t.”
“You’re older than her,” I protested, confused. “And, um, white. I don’t get the whole sibling thing.” I wasn’t sure what Baxter’s ethnic background was, but she was a gorgeous golden brown, in stark contrast to Edwin’s blond pallor. They couldn’t have been more unalike apart from their stunning good looks, which I could now see was due to vampire magic enhancing their natural beauty.
“Ahh, no. Not date-of-birth age, or who our human parents were.” He licked his thumb, then wiped the corners of my mouth before sucking his thumb back between his own lips. Had I been a messy feeder? “Baxter was turned over forty years before me,so no matter she was twenty-two to my twenty-seven, she’s my older sister.”
“Why do you call her your sister?”
“Same sire. Dalziel. It’s a vampire thing. He turned Gethin, who’s heaven knows how old in human years and way older than Dalziel in that way, but he’ll always be the baby of the coven unless Dalziel turns someone else. It’s just how it works. Skin colour doesn’t mean a thing, or in Gethin’s case that he’s also a wolf. We’re all family now, tied together with blood.”
“I like that. It’s good you don’t have racism.”
He sighed. “I wish. Vampires were the sworn enemies of wolves for millennia and vice versa. It’s still not great now, but Europe is a lot less dangerous than some other places, due largely to the efforts of the Council. We do have racism, such as you think of it, but in supernatural terms, it comes out as speciesism. Just as nasty, and potentially just as deadly. Sadly, we don’t get to be better people because of our genetics. Anyway,” he pasted a forced smile on his face, “let’s find the others and tell them your news.”
