That was his explanation?Seriously?I might have been missing a good chunk of memories, but I wasn’t stupid.Far from it.“You’re not even going to try to explain what just happened?”
He shrugged.“You offered to feed me,” he said in a measured tone.“And that’s what I did.There’s nothing more to it.”
“You nearly kissed me,” I countered.I wasn’t about to mention how badlyI’dwanted to kiss him back—or how much I’d enjoyed every second of it.Those private thoughts needed to remain private for now.Especially when he was being so cagey.“I don’t have a lot of experience feeding vampires.Actually, none.But that didn’t feel like a quick bite.That felt…” I cleared my throat to keep from uttering the worderotic—thank goodness.“…different.”
Rathiel’s jaw tightened, and I could almost see the wheels turning as he carefully measured his next words.It was infuriating, this constant dance where he said just enough to keep me from walking away, but never enough to give me real answers.
“Think of it as a biological response,” Rathiel explained, his tone clinical, detached.“The bite is designed to be pleasant.It ensures that our prey returns willingly.We get the sustenance we need, and they get a temporary thrill.”
“That’s your explanation?”I raised a skeptical brow.“Biological response?”
I’d felt the stirring of a headache, a telling sign there was a related memory lurking beneath the surface, one triggered by the bite.That alone told me more than Rathiel was.Had he bitten me before?Back when I led the rebellion?If he had, why erase it?
“Listen, I’m not asking for a detailed report,” I continued.“But I won’t ignore what I just felt.Clearly, you felt it too.You wouldn’t be acting this way if you hadn’t.”
He didn’t respond, and I knew what that meant.He wasn’t going to tell me what I wanted to know.Not now, anyway.
I let out a short, humourless laugh.“You know, you’re really good at this whole ‘cryptic and vague’ thing.It’s like a second language for you, isn’t it?But here’s the thing—I’m not some gullible idiot who’s going to nod and smile while you dodge every question with a half-assed answer.”
He hesitated, just for a fraction of a second, but it was enough for me to see that I’d hit a nerve.But whatever it was, he wasn’t going to budge.And that realization pissed me off.
“You’re making this more complicated than it needs to be,” Rathiel said finally, his voice dropping a notch, as if he were trying to diffuse the situation.“It was just a side effect of the bite.”
My temper flared, but I reined it in, not wanting to let him see just how much his evasiveness angered—and hurt—me.“Right.”
He studied me intently, his gaze sharp and searching, like he was waiting for a reaction.What kind, I had no idea.For a moment, I thought he might actually crack, might let something slip.But then his expression shifted, smoothing back into that infuriatingly calm mask he wore whenever he wanted to shut me out.
I exhaled sharply, running a hand through my hair as I tried to process what had just happened.My body still buzzed with a tingling warmth that refused to fade.It made it hard to think straight.But beyond that, it angered me to know I was standing on the cusp of something important.Something I should remember but couldn’t.
If I wasn’t mistaken, Rathiel seemed almost…disappointed that I didn’t remember.
Well, he had no one to blame for that but himself.
“Fine,” I said, letting out a harsh breath.“Keep your secrets, but don’t think for a second that I’m going to drop this.You may not want to explain, but I’ll figure it out on my own if I have to.”
Whatever Rathiel was hiding, whatever that bite triggered, I was going to figure it out.And when I did, he’d have no choice but to admit the truth—whether he wanted to or not.
ChapterEighteen
The morning camefartoo soon.It was also too bright, and frankly, a little too chipper for my liking, given my emotional hangover.I’d managed two hours of sleep before my alarm started blaring, reminding me that I had to drag my ass to my dreaded day job today.After this early morning’s misadventures with the vampires, the unexpected use of my powers after a decade of not touching them, and Rathiel’s bite, I was exhausted.The last thing I wanted to do was slog through an eight-hour shift battling caffeine-deprived monsters—especially with Rathiel sitting nearby.
I’d tried—rather unsuccessfully, I might add—to convince him to stay behind at my apartment.He’d responded as expected, and merely glared at me until I sighed and motioned for him to get his ass out the door.Now, we sat together on the bus, both of us freezing without our winter jackets.But since boarding, he’d barely said two words to me, choosing instead to imitate a brooding statue.He did it well, at least.
I glanced sideways at him.His expression remained as closed off as ever, his eyes focused on the front of the bus.Though, from the look of his twitching jaw, he was quiteaware of my stare, and it seemed I was making him uncomfortable.Me.Makinghimuncomfortable.The very thought was laughable.
Just about as laughable as whatever happened between us last night.
Between the couple hours of sleep I’d managed, I’d decided that I’d imagined everything.That he was right.The bite didn’t mean anything.I’d heard vampire bites could be seductive.Addicting, even.Like Rathiel said, it kept their prey coming back for more.Why hunt when your victims could come looking for you?
Thathadto be it.Or rather, it was the only explanation I would accept.
Of course, it was easier to convince myself of all that when he wasn’t sitting right beside me.My neck still tingled from last night, as was my stupid traitorous body.Parts of me actuallyachedfor him.Ithadto be the bite.
Right?
The bus squealed to a stop, and I snapped out of my thoughts.This was our stop.Someone else had pulled the bell, thankfully.But it left us scrambling to disembark before the doors shut and the bus continued down the road.
Rathiel followed suit, his movements fluid and controlled, like he had all the time in the world.I’d noticed with venomous envy this morning that he didn’t look the slightest bit tired, unlike me, with my puffy, bruised eyes.It made me hate him a little.
