“I really don’t need much,” I’d argued immediately. That earned me a slow smirk.
“We’ll see.” He motioned toward the bathroom. “I already left you something to wear in the closet.”
Before Rack left, I stopped him near the doorway, fingers twisting together awkwardly.
“Can I call Lark?” I asked quietly. “Just so she knows I’m okay?”A phone appeared in his hand a second later, and he placed it into mine carefully, like he thought I might disappear if he moved too fast.
“It’s yours,” he said simply. Then he gave me that small, soft smile of his and disappeared down the stairs.
***
“I’m fine, Lark. Promise.” It was about the tenth time I’d said those words, and they were starting to lose all meaning.
Lark folded her arms tighter across her chest on the screen, glaring at me like stubbornness alone could force the truth out of me.
“You scared the absolute shit out of me,” she snapped. “And you still won’t tell me what happened.”
I dropped backward onto the ridiculously soft white bed, the mattress swallowing me whole. It was the kind of bed only rich people could afford.
“I already told you,” I groaned, dragging a hand over my face before peeking back at the phone. “I was planning to run away, then apparently I woke up halfway dead, sucking blood out of Calix’s arm like a feral animal.”
A laugh slipped out before I could stop it.
“I mean… kinda like my life did depend on it.”
Lark’s stare flattened instantly.
“Too soon?” I winced at her through the screen. Her nostrils flared slightly while exhaustion started replacing the anger around her eyes. I was counting on her eventually giving up.
“I just don’t remember everything yet,” I tried again, softer this time. “They said that happens sometimes after a turn.”
“That part’s true.” Nathan leaned halfway into frame behind her, one arm draped lazily over the back of the couch.
“I barely remembered anything right after mine,” he added. “Pieces came back over time.”
I sat up a little straighter.
“How long?”
He tipped his hand back and forth.
“Couple days for me. Longer for others.” His shoulders lifted in a shrug. “Sometimes memories need a trigger. Smell. Sound. Similar emotions. Familiar place. Some vampires don’t even bother digging for them. They just… move on.”
“See?” I pointed triumphantly at the screen. “Normal vampire behavior.”
“No, Olivia Savin,” Lark shot back immediately.
She shoved Nathan aside hard enough to make him laugh under his breath before her face crumpled all over again. Her eyes darted away from the camera.
“I just…” Her voice snagged halfway through the sentence. The fight drained out of her shoulders as she swallowed hard.
“When I saw you lying there, it just…” The rest barely made it out in a whisper. “It just reminded me of my mom.”
My stomach twisted instantly.
Lark rubbed at her face angrily, like she hated the tears threatening to spill.
“I couldn’t do that again,” she whispered. “I couldn’t fail you too.”
