AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I sat up so we were face-to-face and hugged him against me. “It’s okay.”
“It’s not.”
“For now it is.”
“The experiment...”
I pulled back so I could see his face. “Speaking solely for myself, the experiment was a complete success.”
The edge of a smile finally touched his lips. “I’m glad to hear it.”
“I never knew how big a fan of science I am. Huge, really.”
I kissed him again and was sad that this time he only briefly returned it.
It had been a short detour in my hope to break Declan free from the control of his permanent behavior-modifying serum, but it seemed that we’d been returned right back at square one.
For tonight, at least, I’d grudgingly take the loss.
Luckily, some French fries were waiting as my consolation prize.
CHAPTERSEVEN
I’d hadbad dreams every night since I was injected with Nightshade. But this was the first time I’d had one about Declan.
It started off well enough.
We were having dinner, and it wasn’t salty, greasy fast food scarfed down in a cheap motel room. We were at a restaurant—one of my favorites, an expensive little Italian place that was just around the corner from my apartment in San Diego.
He placed his hand on top of mine, and I looked up at him.
It was Declan, but it wasn’t the Declan I’d come to know. The black eye patch was gone, and he had two beautiful green eyes instead of one gray one—gray eyes being a shared trait of a dhampyr or vampire. There wasn’t a single scar on his face that I could see. His dark hair was a bit longer than the short-cropped cut I was used to. And he had an easy grin on his handsome face that was as unfamiliar as the dark blue tailored suit he wore.
“You look like you’ve just seen a ghost,” he said.
“Feels a bit like it,” I admitted. “You look really good tonight.”
“Better than normal?”
“Well...different than normal,” I allowed. “What happened?”
He shook his head. “Nothing happened. That’s just the thing, Jill. I’m not a dhampyr. I’m not a hunter. I don’t scar every time I get cut or shot. I didn’t lose my eye because I never fought with the vampire who clawed it out with his fingernails.” He raised an eyebrow. “What do you think of that?”
“I’m speechless, that’s what I think,” I replied, breathless. “You look...”
“Like I could be part of your normal life,” he finished for me.
“Yes, actually. You do.” I smiled and reached forward to entwine my fingers with his on the tabletop. “No more vampires. No more running for our lives. We can be together. It’s perfect.”
Declan’s expression shadowed and he shook his head. “It’s not perfect, Jill. Unfortunately, there’s still a problem.”
“What problem?” I asked, frowning.
“Your blood...”
I felt something warm on my face and swiped my hand under my nose. I was bleeding, dark red blood that looked almost black. My heart sank at the sight of it. “I’m the one who doesn’t fit in now, aren’t I?”
“I wish I could help you. I really do. But it’s not my expertise, none of this is. My life doesn’t revolve around pain and death.” Declan’s gaze moved to the right and his expression tensed. “But maybe he can help you better than I can.”
