Or I’m going to drain you dry…
Yeah, the scent of her blood was pushing me to an edge I didnotwant to cross, and I needed another food source. But it wasn’t the only reason I had to get away.
Being this close to her again after so many years… It was screwing with my head. The way she looked at me was just…
Fuck.
Long before I’d ended up in Midnight the first time around, I’d spent decades surviving through lies and trickery. Then I met her and my world turned inside out. She’d seen me right from the start—right through all the masks, the bullshit.
After, when I got out of here and landed in New Orleans, I’d promised myself I’d make it real easy. No close ties. No intimate relationships. I’d built our Empire on fake smiles and the promise of escape, and people loved me for it. Fae, vampires, demons, witches—they all wanted in on the party. All wanted to be friends with the Saint of New Orleans, the fae who could take away their pain and absolve them of their sins.
It was all bullshit, nothing real, but it was easy. I knew what they wanted. They knew what they were getting. Add in a few smiles and comp VIP tickets, and I’d never want for company.
But people like Haley Barnes would always need more than I could give now. Not because they demanded it, but because they fucking deserved it, and to offer them anything less was un-fucking-acceptable.
Now, when she looked at me with those big green eyes, I tried to imagine what she saw.
And I fuckingdespisedit.
So yeah, maybe that made me a coward. But I couldn’t afford to be distracted—not out in the open like this, where my complete inability to get my shit together and function like a real man would put everyone at risk.
Especially her.
I crouched down in front of her. Pulled the sleeve back down over her wrist. Took her hand, just for a minute. “I’ll see you in the Hollow in two days. By then, I’ll have everything set up for us. We’ll be safer in the city—all of us.”
She pulled her hand away, tucking it deeper inside her sleeve. “What’s the Hollow?”
“Our old… neighborhood, for lack of a better word. We’ve got someone on the inside—she knows we’re coming. She’s just waiting for me to make contact.”
I heard the skip in her heartbeat at the word “she,” but she didn’t ask for details.
“Okay,” she finally said, though her eyes had lost some of their sparkle. “And Hudson and Jax—”
“They know I’m leaving. They’ll get you there safely.” I got to my feet, readjusted the pack.
Haley stood up too. “Will you do me one favor, if possible?”
As long as you don’t ask me to kiss you…
“Anything, sparrow.”
“The blood source… Will you ask first?”
“Askwhat?”
She glared at me like I was the realm’s biggest idiot. Which, admittedly… Yeah. I was definitely in the running.
“Permission,” she said. “Consent is sexy, Elian.”
“I’m a vampire now. Pretty sure ‘sexy consent’ doesn’t apply to feeding.”
“Yes it fucking does, and I’m asking you—against all odds—to at leasttrynot to be a murderous asshole, if at all possible.”
“And if it isn’t possible? If I can’t find theonehuman in all of Amaranth City who might be happy to offer up the vein? Would you rather I starve?”
“Of course not. If push comes to shove… Fine. Bite whoever you need to bite. Butonlyif it’s a break-glass-now kind of emergency.”
I laughed. “Good to see you’re still adhering to that rock-solid moral compass, Haley. Downright inspiring. In fact, maybe I’ll write a song about it. And speaking of songs…” I nodded at her tent. “Don’t let me keep you. Seemed like you were having a pretty good night, all things considered.”
