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My saliva worked fast, healing the wound and stopping the blood loss. “Much as I hate the idea of putting anything of myself inside you, I can’t have you dying just yet.”
Colin’s eyes started rolling back in his head. I slapped his cheek until they flew wide.
“No,” I said, letting my power compel him. “You will not pass out. You will stay conscious for every damned second. You will not disassociate. You will feel every ounce of pain I deliver until I finally give you the mercy of death.”
With that, I hauled Colin up by his throat. “Right. Let’s find this sofa, shall we?”
Dawn was breaking by the time I let myself out of Colin’s house.
Usually, I was meticulous in my cleanup. Unless told otherwise by the client, I would dispose of the body and all evidence of any crime having happened.
Not today though. No, I wanted people to know Colin had been murdered. I’d left him in enough of a state to guarantee a feature on the national news.
Who knew how long it would be before he was discovered. Colin didn’t seem like the kind of person to have friends or family who’d notice his absence. It’d probably take him not logging in for work before someone finally clocked something wasn’t right.
That was fine. Matty would learn of it eventually, and hopefully then he’d feel a sense of peace.
I also normally prided myself on clean kills. I could murder someone, then in the next breath be calmly strolling along the street, not a hair out of place.
There’d been none of that with Colin. His blood coated me liberally. My throat was on fire with need. I didn’t crack though.
I walked out of there with a compulsion net in place, heading straight back to the house I’d rented. My route took me straight past Matty’s home. Just going past, knowing he was there and safe, had some of the tightness in my chest uncoiling.
My temporary lodgings were only two streets away from Matty’s. Bypassing the shower, I made my way straight to the fridge. My hands were trembling with a mix of adrenaline and thirst as I grabbed two pouches of blood. Tearing it open with my teeth, I emptied the first bag in seconds.
My stomach balked at the temperature. It wasn’t the same as drinking from the source. In all honesty, I hated it.
Why couldn’t I get over this stumbling block in my head? Maybe it was time to give it another go.
Just the thought had my hands trembling. Picturing my fangs in anyone seemed impossible.
Unless that person happened to be Matty. Funnily enough, my brain had no trouble conjuring up that scenario.
Chucking the empty pouch into the sink, I made quick work of the second. The fire in my throat finally receded, leaving blissful relief in its wake.
It was a far cry from what I was used to, but it got the job done.
After a speedy shower, I was back out the door. I knew Matty’s schedule like the back of my hand.
I’d just go see him once more before I left for good. Just once. I needed it. I needed his smile. He didn’t know I’d learned more about that night. That I’d been inside the room where it’d happened.
That I’d avenged him.
No, he didn’t know. But I did. And that knowledge was like a fresh chasm of darkness inside me. I needed Matty’s sunshine to battle it back.
I settled into my customary position on the roof opposite Matty’s building. Three minutes later, like clockwork, Matty’s fair curls appeared.
Instantly, I knew something was wrong.
There was no smile. No bounce in his step. Matty’s head was bowed, his shoulders hunched.
Fuck—was that a frown?
I leapt easily from rooftop to rooftop as Matty made his way down the street, cataloguing every detail of his appearance. His outfit was more muted than anything I’d seen from him before, like he’d picked something that would easily blend into the background.
I wasn’t having that. Matty deserved to fucking shine.
Rain began to fall. Matty lifted his face as the first drops hit him, and I realised what else was missing.
