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“You still wearin’ a patch?”
“I am.”
“Patch them, too.”
He didn’t know if anyone would have effects from Kyla or not but he wasn’t taking any chances.
“So, she’s not vamp.”
“No.”
“But you’re not feeding from her?”
“She’s not the same.”
Pain twisted in his gut. He took another swig of the blood bag and then glared at the bag as he choked it down. Piss wouldn’t have been much less appetizing. He swallowed the last mouthful with a wince as Kyla came out of the bathroom and stopped in front of him. She swayed a little.
“Go, Sam. Now.” Sam glanced in Kyla’s direction and then, probably feeling the warning coming off Tristan, turned and descended the stairs. Tristan heard the front door close.
He stood up and took her eyes in for a second.
She was looking at him but she wasn’t herself. Her eyes were a little glassed over and she was swaying ever so slightly. Her face was expressionless. She wore black yoga pants that came to just below the knee and a black tank top. Her wet hair had been combed straight and was over one shoulder.
He forced himself to look her in the eye.
“Stay close to me unless I tell you different. I go downstairs, you follow unless I say to stay. You don’t leave this house without me. I want you to make sure you eat when you’re hungry, go to the bathroom when you need to. Take care of yourself. Tell me if there’s something you need. You go nowhere or do nothing else without my permission except you take care of yourself. Eat, drink, shower, bathroom. Alright? You have questions or are unsure about what to do, you ask me. You follow no one else’s directions. No one but me. No one touches you but me. And tell me if you’re hurt. Got me?”
She blinked a few times and then nodded. Her reactions were delayed. He hated that he had to stare into her eyes to make sure she got it. It was painful to stare so deep and yet see nothing resembling what’d been there before.
“Hey?”
She stood expressionless.
“Hey?” he repeated.
She blinked.
“Yes?”
His Kyla probably would’ve said “Hey” back to him.
“What’s your name?”
She blinked a few times and then answered.
“Kyla Spencer.”
“You know me?”
A few more blinks and then “Yes.”
“What’s my name?”
Silence.
He felt his body slump but then she finally said, “Tristan.”
Fuck.Every time I hear your voice call my name it
sounds
so
sweet…It still sounded sweet.
“You love me, Kyla?” Emotion gripped him. At least she knew his name.
No answer.
“Do you love me, Kyla?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you love anyone else?”
“No.”
He took a step forward and put his hand to her cheek. She felt warm. She felt like Kyla. She remained still. She didn’t lean into his hand. She would’ve. Even before she’d admitted she loved him she’d leaned into it, his touch, when he’d touched her. Yet another thing that made him start tumbling head over heels from that very first night. She’d been different from the others from the start.
He leaned in and took a whiff at her throat. It was already healed from Claudio, from Liam. That was fast. Was it because she’d consumed his blood? She smelled freshly showered but underneath it, she smelled like his Kyla. She didn’t smell like a vamp.
Had she smelled this way the night before? He couldn’t recall. He stroked where the bite wounds had been with his thumb. There was no trace of them but that didn’t change the fact that they’d been there.
Other vampires’ fucking teeth marks on her!
“Look at me.”
She lifted her gaze to his but… nothing. There was no spark, zero fire. Just glassy green cat eyes under thick black lashes. Lashes so thick she looked like she had mascara on, even when she didn’t.
“Open your mouth,” he ordered. She swayed a little and then she complied. He again applied pressure on her gum with his thumb. Nothing descended. He wanted to taste her again, see if she tasted any different but he didn’t.
He might’ve been holding onto a strand of hope and didn’t want that bubble to burst yet, didn’t think he could stomach more despair right now.
He put his lips to her forehead for a moment and then let go of her, took a big swig of the Jack, and descended the stairs with the blood and the booze in hand. She followed.~~~It was later that day. Tristan was talking to Sam at the threshold of the cottage. “Adrian’s here,” Sam said, raising his hands defensively, “I warned him not to come but he---”
Tristan stormed out the door, plowing past Sam, past Leonard and Jeff. The two guys were both trusted employees and he felt a small amount of relief at seeing them but he’d need to talk to them to make sure they weren’t programmed by anyone to get up to no good.
