Page 43 of Kentucky Nights
He lifts his hand in the air, and the ugly, burnt, bleeding palm begins to heal. I watch in awe, the flesh stitching back together, his blood reversing into his body, and the ruined skin is brand new.
“Oh my god.” I’m dumbfounded. I’ve never seen anything like that in my entire life. “That’s amazing! That’s…wait…you could probably cure cancer?—”
“—No,” he cuts me off before I can finish my sentence.
“Okay.” The excitement is gone just as quickly as it arrived. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I didn’t mean to pry.”
He sighs, turning off the stove, then snagging a towel to clean up my spilled coffee.
“Apologies, Dru. Please, forgive me for snapping like that. I had the same thought once. A very long time ago. I thought I could help the world, cure kids with cancer, anything, everything, I was fine with donating a drop of blood if it meant a child could live.”
Swoon. Don’t fall in love with him. Don’t fall in love with him.
Who am I kidding? I’m halfway there.
“My friend Lorcan, he is a Void?—”
I choke on my coffee. “A what?”
Kentucky plates the food for me, piling it with bacon, hashbrowns, and fluffy pancakes. “Apologies, again, Miss Whitley,” he drawls with another charming crooked grin. “A Void. It’s best to think of him as a grim reaper. He works for Death.”
I bite into a crispy piece of bacon and almost moan out loud again. “Death? Like The Four Horsemen?”
His brows raise as he grins in surprise. “You know your lore.”
“I wouldn’t call it lore since it is real.”
“Good point.” He shakes a piece of bacon at me in place of his finger. “He reaped my maker, and he was kind enough to returnto me, to help me, guide me, and give me the basic information to survive. I asked him not to tell me everything about vampires. I only wanted to live the rest of my life in peace, but then it hit me, my ability to heal. I figured if I’m a vampire, I might as well do some good. Lorcan was very quick to shut that down, and I can’t say I blame him. Vampire hunters exist. Humans don’t really accept anything or anyone different than them. He reminded me that I could end up in a facility to be tested on if I got caught giving my blood to anyone. It’s too dangerous.”
I scoop hashbrowns into my mouth, wanting to moan again, but I can’t help it. I love food. It’s been ages since I’ve had a real breakfast. I usually grab a granola bar on the way to work, filling up on dusty oats and coffee.
Kentucky removes the warmed maple syrup from the microwave when it beeps. “Tell me when,” he warns me, pouring the sweet maple over my pancakes.
He keeps going.
And going.
Until it begins to pool under the stack of pancakes.
“I can’t believe you don’t have any cavities. Look at all that sugar!” He laughs, a sound I’m coming to like very much.
“When!” I finally inform, lathering my bacon in the syrup, drenching the bottom of the plate. “And I take care of my teeth just so I can enjoy life’s simple pleasures. Have you never had bacon and syrup?”
“I haven’t.”
“You have to! How could you have lived all these years and not have something as simple as bacon and syrup? That’s a crime.”
“Well, I can’t go getting thrown in jail for something that’s fixable.” He crosses his arms on the counter, leans forward, and opens his mouth.
My hand trembles with nerves as I dip a piece of bacon into the maple syrup, swirling it around so the crispy piece is drench in the sugary goodness. Placing a hand under so it doesn’t drip, Kentucky and I lock eyes as I feed him.
He chews, his lips shining with bacon grease and syrup. All I want to do is lick the plump clouds clean, wondering if the syrup would taste better coming off his lips.
I ogle his mouth, the familiar fever overtaking my body again with pure want and need.
His nostrils flare again, reminding me that he can smell any differences in my scent. Kentucky leans in again, his eyes tinting with that vampiric hue, and his gaze falls to my lips.
“You have no idea how bad I want to kiss you, Darlin’. You have created havoc in my soul, something I thought was dead for a very long time.”
