Page 56 of Ashvale: The Vampire's Thrall

"Just one of those days," I said and he looked disappointed but retreated back to the table, pushing a chair out for me with his foot when he sat down.

I accepted gratefully and it was quiet for a second as we watched each other. "Have you been avoiding me?" I finally asked and his answering smile was lopsided and embarrassed.

"Maybe a little. I shouldn't have kissed you."

I shrugged. "It's okay. It was a nice kiss, if a bit surprising."

"I've missed you," he said quietly, and I smiled.

"I think I was avoiding you too."

"Well, you're here now."

I pulled a book from his stack towards me. "What are we reading?” I swallowed when I read the title. "You're still looking into memory-recovery techniques?”

He shrugged, his cheeks flushing a light pink. "I wanted to help."

"Thank you.” I opened my mouth and then closed it again. "Just... Thank you."

“Anytime," he murmured and I looked back down at the book with a smile.

“Do you think I could track down a vampire with just their first name using the genealogy books?”

Rowan frowned, biting the tip of a pen he was using to jot down notes. “Maybe, I guess it depends on how common the name is. Why?”

“No reason,” I said quietly, not sure I was ready to go down that rabbit hole yet. Maybe some things were better off a mystery—after all, this was a mother that had stolen me away from my father and then essentially abandoned me in the human world. If she came for me after the debut, I honestly didn’t know what I would do.

ChapterTwenty-Seven

Laughter echoedin the alley and warmth found me in a pair of brown eyes, long-lashed peering up from the pages of the book. The library twisted and morphed around me until I was back in the alley, laughter pouring out of my chest, the world oddly dizzy. Someone walked next to me, a vague outline, but I felt safe. Until I fell. My knee scraped the floor, my hands flew out to catch me and gravel dug into my skin, slicing me open. Then nothing but pain, the cold of the pavement sinking into my skin, my bones, warmth pooling at my throat and eyes different to those in the library—these were hungry, starved, even as horror filled them. Red bled into the sky as I looked up and I was drowning in it as—

I startled awake as hands clamped down on my shoulders.

"Wake up, love. You were dreaming."

I stilled, recognising Hayes’ scent, his warmth tucked at my side as his fingers left my shoulders and ran through my hair.

"I knew him," I whispered and Hayes stilled.

"Knew who?"

"The man who killed me. Before it happened, I felt safe. I was laughing. But then I fell—I think the blood triggered him."

"You think the vampire who killed you was taking the drug," Hayes guessed and I nodded.

"I think... I think he apologised as I was bleeding out." A sharp stab of anger and fear that wasn't my own made me place one hand on his chest. "I'm okay. I'm here. Alive. Ish."

He chuckled and I relaxed back against him.

"I won't let anyone hurt you again," he said and I breathed him in, knowing he meant it with all his soul.

* * *

"I can't believeshe's really not letting us go out to find dresses," Novalie whined as we walked between classes. Normally I'd be training with Cal at this time, but I wasn't ready to see him yet. So, I was just following Novalie to all of her classes instead. “We should have looked for some that time we went to talk to Cal.”

"You could always go anyway," I said, like the typically bad influence that I was. "She can't keep track of everyone. Or just get something delivered."

She sighed. "I guess. I just want to look my best if I'm going to see my parents for the first time in what, fourteen years?"

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