Joss turned and disappeared. He reemerged with a tall clear glass. No porcelain mug masking the contents. He handed it to me from two feet away and retracted his hand once I took it. He and Noel watched me.
Here went nothing.
I took the first sip. My brain told me to gag, but I didn't. I took a second sip and then a third. The taste was exquisite, like a thick milkshake triggering an instant boost. I guzzled down the rest. The blood coated my throat and slid down my esophagus.
I could feel it flowing through my veins, filling me with life and vitality. My heart beat out a blissful rhythm. I licked the last of it off my lips.
I stood. "Noel, take me back to Marcus's house."
"Aurora," Noel said slowly. "You just drank blood."
"Self-administered transfusion," I said.
I didn't want to think about what it meant. Not now. Not with Fane's life at stake.
I zipped my pants up. "Let's go."
Noel glanced at Joss.
"He's not coming," I said.
Noel's Volvo was parked on the street. I climbed in and stared out the windshield at the silent neighborhood. "How did you find me?"
Noel started the car. "I followed you."
"You didn't want to make a night of it in the October room?" I had no right to sound annoyed, but that's how my tone came out.
"I thought Henry was going to stay with you. When he came back to the October room I worried. It was your first vampire party. I came downstairs to check on you and saw you leaving with some guy I'd never seen before. So I followed you."
Tears gathered in my eyes.
"Thank you," I whispered.
Noel nodded.
"Aurora, I'm sorry I told Fane. I didn't know what else to do."
"You did the right thing. Does anyone else know? Henry? Marcus?"
"No, of course not. Marcus thinks Renard was stalking you."
I shuddered. "He was."
"Right, but not for the reasons Marcus think. Unfortunately, it happens even under normal circumstances. A vampire obsesses over a human, stalks her, kills her... that's why the agents need us."
I touched the bandage on my neck.
Noel cleared her throat. "How are you feeling?"
"Better... now."
Noel didn't mention the blood again.
"Why are you going after Fane?" she asked. "Can't he handle himself? I mean, he's a vampire."
"But he's not a killer. I am."
Noel pulled up to Marcus's townhouse slowly. She dropped her head.
"I can't go in with you, Aurora."
"I know." I started to get out and stopped. "Thanks again. For following me. If you hadn't I'd be dead."
Noel smiled. "No problem. Do you still need a place to crash tonight?"
I shook my head. "No. See you at school?"
"Yeah."
I waved as Noel drove off. I took a deep breath and headed for the door to the palace. I didn't know what I'd expected inside. Blood and mayhem, maybe. But everything was the way I'd left it before the abduction. Guests milled around the living room in cozy clusters, drinks poised in one hand.
Once I walked through the front door, Marcus came over to greet me as though it was natural that I should return bandaged at the throat.
I followed him into the empty kitchen. He took a bottle of whiskey from a cupboard and pulled out a crystal drinking glass.
"Something to dull the pain?"
"No, thank you."
Marcus poured a small amount of whiskey into the glass and tossed it back.
I ran a hand along the smooth granite countertop. "Where's Fane?"
Marcus licked his lips in one slow, languid motion before answering. "You should have told me that you were with Francesco. I'll admit, I didn't want to bite you before, but now that it is forbidden..." Marcus's grin widened.
"Where is he?"
Marcus poured another splash of whiskey into the crystal glass and pushed it toward me. "Disposing of some trash."
My breath caught. "Renard and Greg?"
Marcus screwed the top on the whiskey bottle and returned it to the cupboard. "No one abducts a guest from my home. Not without consequences."
I pushed away from the oven. "I need to help him."
"He has help."
"No, I need to take care of it."
Marcus looked me over and chuckled. "You are unusual, Aurora, but I like unusual. It's already taken care of."
"What do you mean?"
Marcus reached toward me. I flinched, but he was only grabbing the whiskey glass. He swirled it in his hand.
"I have a special room. I call it my music room. Only certain types are shown the music room. Those who misbehave. Renard and Greg got the personal tour earlier."
My mouth hung open. "You mean...? You?"
Marcus lifted the glass to his nose and inhaled. His lashes fluttered and lips puckered. "I do still enjoy a killing on occasion. When they deserve it, of course."
I willed myself not to shudder. One day, I might be asked to the music room. I suppose the only notes one produced in there was a high-pitched shriek.
"And the bodies?"
Marcus's lip curled. "A dirty task...disposal. Francesco, Henry, and Gavin are taking care of it." Marcus finished off the whiskey.
"I should go."
"Stay. They will be back shortly."
I looked at the floor then at Marcus. "I'm sorry for the trouble."
Marcus's eyes sparkled. "So polite. I like this."
He reached for my hair and let it slide across his open palm.
"Thing of beauty; heart of darkness. I see you." He stepped closer. "I see you, Aurora." His voice evened out as he moved away from me. "You should come by more often. The door is always open to you."
I waited inside the kitchen. I wasn't in the mood to sit in the living room with the crowd of revelers. Marcus killed Renard and Greg. It was a relief. They were dead. I didn't have to do it. Fane was safe.
I tapped my foot on the oak floor. The sound was drowned out by real footsteps. Relief flooded me when Henry walked in.
"Aurora? What are you doing here?"
I lit up as though witnessing the return of an old friend.
He looked at me rather peculiarly. "Noel said you were one tough cookie. I figured you'd be at the hospital or at home."
"Is Fane with you?"
"Ah." Henry smiled. "I can't believe you and Noel failed to mention you were with Francesco."
"Is he coming inside?"
"He and Gavin are parking the car."
"And the bodies?"
"We made an afterhours visit to the dump." Henry nodded at the bandage around my neck. "How are you holding up?"
"Fine, thanks to Fane and Noel...and you, Marcus, and Gavin, it turns out."
Henry chuckled. "They chose the wrong girl to mess with. How did you know those hooligans, anyway?"
"I ran across them in Fairbanks," I lied. "Let's just say they didn't like being refused a bite."
Henry looked me up and down. "That must be awfully good blood to come all the way down from Fairbanks."
"The way I see it, they didn't have much else going on in their lives."
"Touche."
From the corner of my eye I saw Fane and Gavin passing the kitchen. Before disappearing behind the next wall Fane stopped suddenly and turned. I gripped one of my wrists in my hand. Big mistake - it disturbed the wound. I released my wrist at once.
Fane swooped into the kitchen. "What are you doing here?"
"Waiting for you."
"You shouldn't be here at all. You should be resting, recovering."
I didn't like the way he lectured me in front of Henry and Gavin.
I lifted my chin. "As you can see, I'm fine."
"You're not fine. They nearly killed you."
Did Fane really think I wanted to be scolded right now? Hot tears stung my eyes. I brushed past him.
"Where are you going?"
"Home!"
Fane caught up to me on the stone entryway. "Oh really, and how are you getting there?"
"I'll walk."
Fane grabbed my arm and pulled me to him roughly. My heart beat wildly.
He grumbled. "I don't know whether to strangle you or shake the sense back into you."
"I think I've had enough strangling for one night," I retorted.
I glanced at Henry and Gavin. They stood just outside the kitchen, watching us.
I lowered my voice. "Please, Fane. Just get me out of here."
Fane lifted his chin at Henry and Gavin. They nodded back.
I followed Fane out to his car.
"They think we're together," I said once we were inside.
"That's the assumption," Fane replied. "I didn't correct them. I suppose it'll be easier for you to infiltrate the enemy camp if you have an excuse to keep their teeth out of you."
"I don't consider them enemies," I said.
Fane gripped the steering wheel. "And me?"
"You saved me." I swallowed. "But it doesn't matter how I feel about you."
Fane sighed. "At least now I understand why you broke it off. You were never with Dante, were you?"
"No."
"Good."
I scratched at a tear on the passenger seat. "What about Valerie? Did you get back together with her?"
Fane didn't answer.
I looked at him. "Did you?"
Fane sighed. "Aurora, I buried two men tonight."
"They weren't men."
"Oh, that's right. And neither am I."
"That's not what I meant."
"Look, maybe we should discuss this another time. Let's just get you home."
"I don't want to go home."
"Where do you want to go?"
"With you."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
Fane tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. "Fine. Just for tonight."
We rode out the remainder of the drive in silence. Joss was so relieved to see Fane back unharmed that he didn't stop to question my return.
"I'm fine, really," Fane said as Joss pestered him to sit and relax.
"I'll get you some blood," Joss said. "Don't worry. I didn't let her drink it all."
Fane looked at me suddenly. "You drank blood?"
"Guzzled it down like a nomad come across water in the desert," Joss confirmed. "Be right back with a warm mug."
I lowered myself onto the cushion beside Fane and placed my hands inside my lap. I stared at my fingernails, acutely aware of Fane studying me.
"Funny thing about blood," he said slowly. "It has the ability to revive one almost instantly...or such is the case with vampires."
Lucky for me I had access to the antidote. I planned on remaining human for the rest of my natural life. Maybe Melcher would let me have a double shot after everything I'd been through. Couldn't be too safe.
I stood. "Mind if I get some rest?"
Fane gave me a dark look. "Are you sure you wouldn't prefer to wait until sunrise?"
I stared at him so long my eyes went out of focus.
Finally he sighed and said, "Down the hall, second door on the right. You can use my bed. I won't bother you."
Once inside Fane's bedroom, I stripped down to my underwear and slid under his covers. Despite his taunt about sunrise, I did sleep - I slept wrapped in the scent of him. It was a pale second to Fane's actual arms, but it was all I had.
Sometime very early in the morning, I awoke with a sore throat. I eased out of bed and began opening Fane's dresser drawers until I found a T-shirt. Once I'd slipped it over my head, I tiptoed down the hallway.
Fane was asleep on the couch. His chest rose and fell steadily beneath a blanket. My eyes rested on his mismatched lips. No more kisses. Not between a vampire and a hunter.
I needed a drink of water. But upon entering the kitchen, I went to the fridge, not the sink. The blood bags glowed beneath a single light bulb. I stood there, staring. The cold air seeped over my legs in a cool caress.
"Looking for something?"
Fane's voice startled me out of my trance. I hated the way my gasp made me sound as though I'd been caught red handed.
"I thought there might be some juice in the fridge."
I stared at the floor until I noticed Fane was barefoot. My eyes traveled up his black cotton sleep bottoms to his naked torso.
Forget about the blood. He looked delicious in the dark.
The Cheshire teeth came out once more as Fane smiled and looked me in the eye. "I've seen that look before."
And suddenly I felt like we were finishing a decade's old conversation. The first time Fane said it I desperately wanted him to complete his thoughts, but then Valerie dragged him away. The second time he'd brushed it off.
Now I willed him not to continue, but I could tell from the smile on his face that nothing would give him greater pleasure than to pull the rug out from under me.
"You died in that car accident didn't you?"
I squeezed my lips shut. Fane pushed the fridge door closed with one hand. He took a step closer. Much too close. His lips were inches from mine when he lifted my chin with his fingers.
"I've seen that look on the dead." Fane stared into my eyes. "That vacant, hollow look when life ends yet continues forever."
What if the antidote had failed? What if I'd lost too much blood and somehow the virus had kicked in?
I pulled away. "No," I said, shaking my head. "I'm not a vampire."
Fane's smile widened.
I'm not.