I needed to know he was okay. If not I would need to run. I didn't want to fight him, so I would run. He was by the door, but I had magic now and I knew how to use it. Not very well, I was likely to create a fireball big enough to obliterate us both, but it would be better than being sucked dry.
"Wait," he said hoarsely. His eyes cleared up and he fell to his knees. His hand reached out to me; palm up and it shook. "I'm in control now. Wait."
I nodded and pressed myself into the wall. Tomas's vampire smell and the salty tang of my blood filled my nostrils. Sweat trickled down my brow, and I focused on controlling my breathing as my body repaired itself. Oh gods, thank you. My nose felt better already, as did the rest of my body. When Tomas had tossed me my shoulder and left side had taken the brunt of the impact when I'd hit the ground. I'd felt a rib or two crack. I was upset but strangely calm at the same time. Ana had said a vampire would bite me and she had been right, of course she'd been right. Tomas was a vampire, but I had held my own and taken care of myself. Yes, I had been thrown across a room and used as a tasty post dinner beverage, but still.
After a few beats he stood and crossed the space. He stopped a few paces shy of me.
"I was hungry. You were supposed to be here at sunset. I could not leave without talking to you."
"I didn't have a choice." I glared up at him, my fear becoming anger. "The fairies came back for me during the day, what was I supposed to do? I tried."
"We had an agreement. You broke it."
"If I came back here before they had shown me what they needed to they would have found and killed you," I said harshly. "I wouldn't have been able to stop them."
"Stop them?" There was a trace of surprise in his tone. His dark eyes narrowed.
I met him stare for stare. "Like you said, we had an agreement. I promised to hear you out and a safe dark place."
"I saved your life and you repay me with disrespect."
"I've kept my end of the deal. I'm here aren't I? I'm sorry I am late, but it was unavoidable and y'know what, ditto. I saved your life too, you ungrateful ass. How long would you survive in the sunlight against a fairy or two?"
He was disquieted. I could tell this from the way his face and body became motionless. The pulsing dark that surrounded him thickened, and it was like I could almost hear it humming. It extended in curling wreathes and drifted forward to settle over me. It was not a restraining blanket of fear this time, but gentle welcoming. We were silent for a long while, taking comfort in each other's presence. It was strange. Now the dark had embraced me it was like I could perceive Tomas. He was no longer a scary vampire-boy, but a boy who just happened to be more than human. The balance had shifted between us, stepped into something unknown. Curling my wounded arm into my side, already flaring up and healing, I pulled my sleeve down to cover my wrist. Tomas helped me stand and straightened my clothes. I wiped at the blood smeared across his mouth, looking at it made me queasy and if I saw him lick it up I may be forced to try running away again. His skin was icy and slick.
"Breandan can never know," I said and stepped away.
"This Breandan is who?" he asked curiously then stiffened. His voice was dark and angry, yet still, it stroked me from the inside out. He stepped closer and sniffed at my hair. Then he dipped his head and slid his mouth along the side of my neck, lips cold and smooth. "He is the fairy I smell on you."
"He'll kill you."
I checked my forearm. It had healed and I fingered the two crescents now permanently scarring my skin. Good thing I wore my hooded jumper with its sloppy sleeves like a second skin.
"I have no plans to talk to this fairy. He will never know, not that it would be the first thing I would say should we meet."
"What would be the first thing?"
"Nothing. We would fight and one of us would die, of course." He sounded as if it were a simple, common thing. "And now we talk, the night calls to me." I waited silently, like a good girl, but he paused. Rather, he hesitated. "Rae-"
