Page 29 of She Who Was Once the Sea

He didn’t respond, but stared into the distance at a point somewhere beyond my left shoulder. When it seemed like he was done with the conversation entirely, I turned on my heel and began walking back towards the street, content to resume my hunt.

Before I made it more than a few steps, however, his hand shot out and grabbed my elbow, not gently this time, but firm and insistent.

"What do you think you’re doing?"

I turned back to face him. "I told you. I need to hunt." It occurred to me then that this was a bit of an understatement. I’d obviously waited too long to leave the apartment once the thirst set in, and between my distracted fantasies and our conversation, the prickling at the back of my throat was actually growing quite painful, and I felt unsteady on my feet. I wasn’t sure what would happen to me if I let myself go too long without drinking now that I wasn’t bound to the stones, but I didn’t want to find out.

His frown grew deeper. "You know I can’t just let you go and attack a human."

I met his glare with my own. "You know I don’t want to do this, right? It’s an unfortunate prerequisite to my continued existence."

"It’s one thing to let you live," he said, lowering his voice and glancing around as if someone had followed us into the alley. "But I can’t turn a blind eye to murder."

"I only murder people who deserve it."

He didn’t laugh at my joke.

I sighed deeply. "Listen, Garrett, if it makes you feel better, I can tell you that I’m going to bed, and you can leave and pretend that I’m not lying to you. But I don’t have a choice. I might die if I don’t find someone soon."

A wave of dizziness passed over me, and I swayed on my feet, emphasizing the point. I had to reach out a hand and clasp onto his forearm to prevent myself from falling over onto the cobbles. When my vision cleared, Garrett was staring at me, clearly trying to work something out.

"Are you able to drink without killing someone?" he asked.

"I—what?"

"Do you have to fully exsanguinate someone in order to quench your thirst?"

It was my turn to frown. "No. Not technically. But it’s… difficult. Once I start, it’s like a different part of my brain takes over, like I’m not fully aware of my body until I’m finished." I paused, letting a wicked grin crawl across my lips. "Plus, I usually only drink from bad people. So I’ve never really felt the need to go easy on them, if you know what I mean."

It made me a little sad to see the flash of fear in his eyes. His Adam’s apple bobbed once, but his voice was steady when he spoke. "But in theory, you could stop before someone died… right?"

I rolled my eyes. "If it makes you feel better, I promise that I will do my best not to kill whoever I find tonight. But the longer we stand here talking, the less time I have to find someone who actually deserves to be drained, so we’re really risking an innocent—"

"Why don’t you just drink from me?"

My mouth snapped shut, the snicking sound of my canines echoing through the alley. I almost wanted to laugh, but the look on Garrett’s face told me that he wasn’t joking.

"Are you serious?"

He nodded.

"But I just told you." Realizing that our arms were still clasped together, I pulled mine from his grasp, turning to face him straight on. "I don’t know whether I can stop. I’ve never tried. I could kill you. And despite the fact that you’re a Fratelli, I don’t really think you deserve to die."

Not to mention that killing him would essentially destroy any chance I had of fulfilling the Stone Witch’s bargain.

He shrugged. "I don’t think that you will."

"But I could."

"Then don’t." His voice brooked no room for argument. "But regardless, I’d rather take that risk than let you out to harm someone innocent."

"Like I said, the people I choose are never innocent."

"In the human world, we believe in the concept of innocent until proven guilty, as well as fair trials. I don’t think you should be acting as judge, jury, and executioner."

"I don’t need a trial to prove someone guilty when I’ve witnessed the crime myself," I argued. "Or do you think I should have let those Americans get away with beating you to a pulp and trying to rape me?"

He crossed his arms again, not breaking eye contact, and I realized that arguing with him would serve no purpose.