Chapter 13 Jasmine #2
“Oh, but it does matter.” I push. I’m not having him escape this with vague, flirtatious answers. “We’ll be friends in every context of the word. Friends and friends only. Like how you’re all friends. I’ll just be another friend. A fifth friend. Understood?”
“Sure.” He mirrors my head tilt. “I’ll just change my definition of friends.”
He’s infuriating.
“Why?” I push again, frustration creeping in.
Sai’s eyes sparkle, and his smirk widens into a grin. “Oh, because I don’t normally want to fuck my friends.”
I try to stay composed. I really do. But my heart’s fluttering and my darkness is humming and the way he said fuck is just sinful.
Ezekial sighs. “We should have left you at home.”
“It could have been worse,” Julien murmurs.
But Sai’s smile never fades.
I can’t even be shocked at his honest response. Isn’t this exactly what I wanted by bringing the serum? The truth. Whilst the others try to hide behind ambiguous remarks, Sai is just being… Sai.
I settle my breathing, straighten my spine again, and level my most serious look at Sai.
“Just to make this very clear, Sai.” His markings flare a brilliant blue at the sound of his name, his smile faltering a little. “When I say friends, I mean you’re going to treat me just like these guys, your friends. Do you understand?”
He scowls, looking offended, then scoffs. “Fuck no.”
He leans down, elbow propped on the table in front of me just a few inches away. “I’ll treat you so much better than I treat these guys, baby.” His irises gleam like he’s imagining just that. “I’ll be the best friend you’ve ever had.”
His dangerous smirk returns, and this close I’m finally reacquainted with his dimples. He knows exactly what he’s doing with those playful looks, and teasing words...
I need an escape.
I was doing so well with Julien and Ezekial, and then Sai just… Well, he’s Sai.
Only one man hasn’t responded to my offer of friendship. Actually, he hasn’t said anything at all during their interrogation.
When I turn to Kane, he’s already looking.
“It’s a problem for me.” Everyone stills at Kane’s voice.
My breath catches at the sudden tightness in my chest.
It’s a problem? He doesn’t want to be friends with me?
“It’s not enough.” Sparks of grey spot the otherwise endless night of his gaze. “I need more.”
Oh.
More?
He needs more. Not want. Needs.
My stomach twists into a fluttering knot.
Well. Damn.
When Kane spoke, he made sure his words counted.
“Fuck’s sake, why didn’t I just say that?” Sai sighs, thankfully breaking my trance.
I look down at my clasped fingers, scrambling for words—any words. My play is finished. There are no more steps. This isn’t part of the plan.
I was meant to leave after proposing friendship, make them squirm a little. But I didn’t. Because I was desperate to hear their responses, and now I’m the one squirming.
“We also have a proposal, if you don’t mind hearing us out?” My eyes happily dart back to Ezekial, anything to help ignore the cold, comforting sensation to my left. I nod.
“Kacey told us that your nightmares have returned. We know having one of us near seems to stop them—”
I shake my head, cutting his sentence short. “I’ve been taking something that stops them.”
“You have?” Ezekial seems surprised. I guess Kacey didn’t tell them everything. “What?”
This isn’t their time to ask questions, it’s mine, and Ezekial seems to see that’s exactly what I’m thinking when he pulls back literally—and figuratively.
But then the emotional tug begins. The flurry of worry and concern surging into the air and filling me with a dread they’re all feeling.
The urge to ease them...
“It’s a herb that Kacey uses to calm distressed animals.” I close my eyes and wave my fingers in thought. “I think it’s Hen—”
“Henbane,” Julien breathes, his voice suddenly sharp and brimming with fury. “You’ve been ingesting Henbane. A toxic plant. You’ve been poisoning yourself?”
I bite my tongue, staring down at the vampire and all his accusatory tone.
“Listen, I take it in small doses. I’ve had it maybe twice… three times. But at least I knew what it was I was taking.” I fire my gaze at each of them. “Not one of you knew what was in that serum. What if it hurt you? Paralysed you? Killed you?”
“We’re hard to kill, you’re not,” Kane says with a bitter edge, as though that statement should revoke all my concerns, and bring the focus back to me, like I’m the sole problem in this little blame game.
And, for some reason, his anger seems to bite that little bit harder.
I fling my gaze at him, burning. “You’re mad at me for knocking myself out so I could sleep?
” My tendrils flare, spiking out. “Well, I’m just as—no—I’m more pissed at you all for drinking that serum without knowing the risks.
It could have been anything, but you just drank it, no questions asked, no hesitation—”
“Because you gave it to us.” Ezekial’s calm words still my rant. I stare at him, eyes narrowed, brows furrowed. “We’ll do anything you ask, anything you want.”
My scowl slowly melts.
“Give us poison, tell us to drink, and we will, Red.” Sai shrugs.
My lips part.
“I apologise for my tone, but the thought of you harming yourself it’s… unbearable.” Julien’s gentle, deep voice comes next, and with it, the remnants of my anger fade. “But if harming ourselves is necessary to be in your presence, if only for a moment, we will endure an eternity of suffering.”
My breath catches.
“We trust you.” Kane’s small, final sentence is a blade that both hurts and soothes.
Everything softens. The burning rage cools. And in this calm, I realise what their anger meant, how it was an instinctive reaction to me harming myself.
Because they care.
Which brings me to my next realisation.
I care about them too.
“I won’t take it again.” My hands clasp, unlock, re-clasp. “So, what’s your proposal?”
“To help you sleep, we need to be closer.” Ezekial begins, and when I open my mouth, ready to interject, he adds, “By staying in the apartment next door at night.”
“Oh.” My throat goes dry.
“You won’t even know we’re there, unless you need us.”
I swallow hard. “All of you?”
Ezekial’s mouth twitches as he readjusts his glasses. “I propose only one of us stays over, for a couple of nights... initially.” His eyes gleam a little then, and I bite my lip to stop the smile. “It may not be close enough, but it’s something we’d like to try. Would you allow that?”