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Gaius froze, his hand on the doorknob. “You don’t know?”
“No.” He swallowed.
“Then perhaps it’s not your place to know, human.” He turned, his eyes sweeping Cy’s bent form. “Areminder, he called you. I wonder... Haven doesn’t take pets. And yet here you are. What’s your name?”
“Cypress.”
“You forget your place, Cypress. Just because you are fortunate enough to share the quarters of a vampyre does not mean you have risen above your station. You are still livestock. One day, your luck will run out.”
Then, he left. Cy was alone with his thoughts again.
He needed to get this information to Thorne. And if he could protect Haven in the same breath, well...it would be fulfilling two desires in one well-aimed stroke.
The next evening,Haven rose and dressed without so much as a word. As he strode past, Cy reached out, catching his slim wrist. “Wait.”
Haven hissed in irritation, glaring down at the place they were joined. “You dare—”
“You were...not yourself last night.”
“What of it?”
“Were you wounded? Did someone hurt you?”
Haven scoffed. “Why do you care about that?”
“Why do you think?” He couldn’t stop himself; the words fell from his tongue unbidden. And now that they’d been spoken, he couldn’t take them back.
Haven’s eyes widened. “You shouldn’t care about me. Your concern is wasted.”
“Why?”
“Because this fascination you have with me is foolish. It will never amount to anything.”
Stunned, Cy released his hold on Haven’s arm. He stepped back and studied Haven’s gaunt face, blinking. “I know that.”
“So let it go, Cypress.”
His use of Cy’s name stuck in Cy’s heart like a stake. “You said a name last night. Tobin. You said I was a reminder of Tobin.”
Haven froze, his already tense body going rigid.
“That’s him, isn’t it? The boy I look like. The reason I’m still alive.” Cy wanted so badly to believe that wasn’t the only reason. But it mattered little now.
“Don’t ever say that name again.”
“What happened to him?”
“Stop it.” Haven retreated toward the door in an obvious attempt to escape, but Cy followed closely behind. Before he knew it, he had Haven boxed in, his hand coming to rest on the frame, holding the door closed. At any moment, Haven could overpower him, throw him off, but he didn’t. They stood there, Haven’s back to him, their breath intermingling, the air rife with tension.
“Is he the reason you seek the Cure? To kill yourself so you can join him?”
Haven whirled on him, eyes wild. With his fangs bared, he bit out, “I don’t know what you think you heard last night, but you know nothing! You’re overstepping, sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong, and you’ll regret it. Stand down and forget everything you saw. Stop fixating on me!”
They were so close now, their chests only inches apart, Haven glaring up at him. “I can’t.”
He could feel Haven’s breath on his neck, could see something strange and intense flickering in his eyes. They roved Cy’s face, his lips, his eyes. For a moment, Cy wondered if he would reach out and touch. A part of him hoped he would.
A part of him longed to lean in and close the space between them.
