“Somebody full of life. Somebody who might be able to add a little light to his existence.”
I shook my head. “Look, there’s nothing between us like that.”
She rolled her eyes. “If there wasn’t, then he wouldn’t be offering you his blood, would he? There’s plenty to go around, you know, or didn’t you sign for the keg earlier? He likes you. Take it as a compliment. He doesn’t like very many people.”
I didn’t have an answer for that. There hadn’t been a need for him to give me his own blood if any old blood would do. “If he likes me, he sure has a funny way of showing it.”
“That’s the way he is about a lot of things.”
“How long have you known him?”
She crossed her arms. “A long time. He helped me out when I was a fledgling, too. My sire ran off on me, and I was in pretty bad shape. I owe him a lot”—she looked at me—“only he wasn’t so generous with me. You’re lucky.”
I shook my head as I thought about everything she’d said. “Do vampires share blood often? Is this like a normal thing?”
“Only for fledglings. Then you move on to human blood. Kind of like a baby moving from breast milk to solid food.” She glanced at the watch on her wrist. “My break’s over, so I’d better get back to work. Are you leaving?”
“Yeah, I guess.” I felt so exhausted. Maybe talking to Thierry could wait for another night. I was still pissed that he’d conveniently been avoiding me all evening. Maybe I could do the same in return. “Do you think you might be able to set me up with some newbie specials before I go? I don’t want to get the cramps again.”
“Newbie specials?” She frowned.
“Uh, yeah, the water-and-blood thing?”
“But what about Thierry—”
I held up a hand. “Let’s just say that I think the well has dried up. And even if it hasn’t, I still don’t want to take the chance.”
She nodded. “He can be moody.”
“That’s a word.”
Back out at the bar she gave me a few bottles of newbie special to keep on hand at all times. I tucked them into my oversized purse. She told me to make sure to have a sip every four hours for the next few days. After that, I’d be able to go for longer stretches of time. Maybe if I drank the blood very diluted, I wouldn’t lose any more of my reflection or develop any more unwanted side effects like what I was experiencing due to my two doses of Thierry’s extra-strong blood. Wouldn’t hurt to try.
I said good-bye to her, then walked through the darkened club toward the exit, which took me past Thierry’s booth. I felt his gaze on me from the shadows.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“Home.”
“So early? I thought we would have a chance to talk.”
Another time. Maybe.
There was a lot more I wanted to say, but it wasn’t the right time for it. Tomorrow was another day. Today would soon be just a distant memory. Thank God.
“Very well,” he said.
I began to move past the table, but then stopped. Maybe I did have time to say a little.
“This isn’t what I expected, you know.”
“Pardon me?”
“Last night you said you’d help me out. Well, where have you been all evening? Other than answering a few simple questions last night, you’ve been avoiding me like the plague.
Oh, and by the way, I never said I’d work here. You didn’t even ask. You just assumed I’d help.”
He said nothing for a moment, just stared at me. “Perhaps it was wrong of me to assume.”
“So now what?”
“I don’t know what it is you want me to say.”
“Nothing. Just say nothing. You’re super at that.” I started walking again.
“Sarah,” he called after me.
I turned around again. “I don’t know why you even agreed to help me. It’s obvious you don’t want me around.”
Thierry shook his head. “You’re being irrational. Please sit down.”
“I don’t want to sit down. Nothing makes sense in my life anymore, especially you. I honestly don’t know what to make of you. First you help me, then you push me away. Then you kiss me, then you push me away. What is it?”
His mouth straightened into a thin line. “Sarah—”
“But I have to say that out of everything I can’t figure out, the thing that makes the least amount of sense to me is what you were doing on the bridge the other night. You’re a six-hundred-year-old vampire who can’t be easily killed. But you were going to jump off and end it all? Did you honestly think that was going to do the trick? I don’t get it. All the jump did was get us wet.”
His eyes narrowed. “I told you I didn’t wish to speak of that again.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m beginning to realize that you like to avoid a lot of unpleasant discussions. Well, guess what? You win. Discussion over. I’m out of here.”
His eyes burned now like silver flames. I’d struck a chord. Well, I knew how to leave them wanting more. I pushed open the black door and left Midnight Eclipse, for what I’d decided would be the last time. The cold night air cut into my face, but I ignored it. I glanced across the street at Clancy’s neon bar sign. Nope, wouldn’t be making a repeat performance in there tonight. Straight home, do not pass go. There was a yellow cab a block away, parked at the side of the road. Finally something was going right for me. About time, too. I wobbled toward it on the heels that had been getting less and less comfortable as the night wore on. The street was deserted. It felt a little odd, actually. It wasn’t all that late on a Saturday night for it to feel this empty. Not that it was such a great party section of the city, but still. I suddenly felt very alone.
And I got the weirdest feeling that I was being watched. Or maybe I was just being paranoid after my lousy day.
No. Somebody was definitely watching me. I could sense it. I groaned inwardly. Why? Why me? Why am I such a moron who would leave the club all alone without a ride? I noticed that the cab’s NOT IN SERVICE sign was up, and the driver was nowhere to be seen. I nervously glanced over at the local hangout for vampire hunters. When will I ever learn? And will I still be breathing when I do?
“Hello?” My throat was dry and I swallowed. “I should let whoever you are know that I’m a triple black belt and my boyfriend’s a cop. So beat it.”
There was a sound then. A moan? Or was that just the wind? No, it was definitely a moan. Followed by a heavy sliding sound. A hand appeared from around the corner of a building, white-knuckled and gripping the brickwork. There was blood on the hand. My eyes widened and I raised my own hand to my mouth.
“Who are you?” My voice was raspy with apprehension.
A face appeared, pale and drawn. Dark circles were under his eyes. His bloodied white T-shirt was torn. No jacket on such a cold night. The fang marks on his neck were bruised and fresh. He tried to stay on his feet, but it was no use—Quinn slid down to the sidewalk in a heap. Frozen in place, I glanced around, but there was no one else nearby. Just the two of us. Me and the man I’d seen murdered before my very eyes earlier that afternoon. Maybe I should have run away. Put as much distance between myself and the vampire hunter as I possibly could, but again I found my feet had a mind of their own. And they were moving me closer to the man who wanted me dead.
I crouched down at his side and reached out to push the dark blond hair off his face. He flinched and tried to pull away.