Chapter 30
Chapter Thirty
When he returned to Gemma, instead of being asleep she sat upright in the middle of the cot, bathed in the warm glow of candlelight. A serene smile rested on her lips. She wore an old shirt he’d borrowed from Cade, which was so long it came to her knees.
She whispered, “Sit next to me. You have to hear this.”
He crossed his arms and didn’t move.
With a wave, she beckoned him closer and patted the cot next to her. Not knowing where this was going, he sat. The flimsy bed groaned under his weight. He hoped it didn’t collapse.
Grasping his hand in hers, she pulled it into her lap. “Close your eyes. Vampire super hearing is incredible. Do you hear them? The night birds are talking to each other. I can even hear wolves far away.” She clasped his hand between both of hers and whispered, “It’s amazing.”
They sat in silence listening to the animal symphony for endless minutes until all he heard was her breathing and each heartbeat. He stared down at her straight nose with a light smattering of freckles, her long eyelashes closed over her eyes.
“Ye’re not angry about the change?” he asked. “Not panicking?”
She didn’t release his hand fully, but freed one of hers to smooth hair off his face. “I’m furious.”
Not good.
“If I had the power to grant life,” she continued. “I would’ve done the same. That doesn’t make it right. I never wanted to be a vampire. But maybe you saw in me what I see in you. I can’t judge you for that.”
“What do you see in me?”
“I’m not blinding myself to the reality that you’re good at fighting and killing, but you’re a protector. With you, I’m safe. You would never let something happen to me.”
He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it. “Never.”
She terrified him. She held so much power over him. When the prophecy came true and she turned evil, he’d wish for death rather than be faced with watching her be killed by Cade.
“You’re also lonely.” She fell into his chest and threw her arms around him.
“I don’t know if that’s why you longed for death.
I don’t want you to feel that way again.
You have people. Me, Cade, and Serish. Maybe the Hunters count.
Someday I’d like to meet them. Those are the start of your people. They’re the start of my people too.”
“You forced Cade and me to talk. Both of us were too stubborn to face each other before.”
“Did you reconcile?”
“We’re in a better place, but I messed things up and didn’t know it. I killed the woman he turned, probably loved, when she became possessed by a demon.”
“Like VanFliet’s girlfriend?”
“Oddly similar. But that vampire wasn’t Fliet’s girlfriend. She was his brother’s woman. I’m starting to think demons prefer female vampires to possess.”
“If I become possessed and you can’t get rid of the evil, kill me. Given the prophecy…”
He scratched the back of his neck. “I don’t know if I could.”
She put a hand on either side of his face to force him to look at her. “You could. If not, you’ll have to save me using everything in your arsenal, most of which is up here.” She tapped the side of his head.
The fiery need to kiss her was more distressing than what she’d said. He was pretty sure he was starting to love her. This was a complicated emotion, one he wasn’t sure he liked.
So little scared him, but this… He needed to get out of here. To figure out where his head should be. To get some space, distance.
“I want you so much, but I’m also freaked out over what I’ve become.” She yawned. “I’m so tired.”
He swallowed his need to flee. “It still daylight. You can’t fight the need to sleep. We can deal with you learning to be a vampire tomorrow.”
“Will you stay here with me? Hold me?” She put her hand over his heart. “I want to hear your heartbeat as I drift off. To know you’re safe and not alone.”
He nodded, steadying his aching heart and stuffing his panic into the far corner of his mind. He gathered her in his arms and maneuvered so they both somehow fit on the cot. It wasn’t comfortable, but it didn’t matter.
“You give me too much credit, Gemma. I’m not good most of the time. I like killing.”
She kissed his jaw. “If you didn’t like killing, you’d be dead, and so would I.”