Page 59 of The Sins That Bleed
I can’t do that, so I concentrate on smoothing the bed sheet across my lap, over and over again to remove any creases. It only helps a little, but I’ll take it right now. I smooth it over for the sixteenth time, about to start again when Nico’s hands grip mine.
I’d forgotten he was still standing next to me, watching me expel my nervous energy. His strong grip holding my hands grounding me and I feel less alone, even if things are weird between us right now.
“I’ll be right back. How does peanut butter on toast sound? I’ll get you a coffee to wash it down with too. Do you want anything else?” His voice is low and I’m grateful, my head is still hurting.
“Another glass of water would be great, please.”
“Of course, coming right up, princess.” He squeezes my hands once more and heads toward the bedroom door.
“Nico?” He pauses at the threshold and I turn to look at him. “Thank you.”
He gives me a sad smile and a nod before he disappears. I fucking hate this. We’ve never been in this situation before, we’ve never even argued except about which pastry is the best or other dumb shit that friends, no, brothers fight about, but it’s never anything serious.
I shut my eyes again, trying to relax, but all I see are reruns of everything that went down yesterday and my heart breaks all over again. What a fucking mess. When I think of Valeska’s teeth sinking into my neck, the same mixed emotions come over me. I should hate it, but I don’t.
It shouldn’t be possible, but it is.
I shouldn’t want her to do it again, but I do.
“Here you go, a breakfast fit for a princess.” Nico places a tray on my lap and I open my eyes to see what he bought me.
He’s not lying—he’s made me four slices of toast, a coffee in the biggest mug he could find, and a cold glass of water, but that’s not all. He added a nut bar and a chocolate bar he must have found in the well-stocked cupboard.
My stomach growls loudly again and he chuckles, making my lips twitch in response. I take a sip of the water, hoping it will help with the headache before tucking into a slice of toast.
“Eat up, the food will help with the headache. I’ll sit with you while you eat.”
My eyes shoot up to his and my brows pull together in a frown. How does he know this will help? This is the second time he seemed to know exactly what I needed, and now I’m questioning how much he knew and didn’t tell me.
“Don’t look at me like that, Rai. Like I said, we’ll talk about this, but right now you need to eat up. Please, I need you to feel better.” He looks sad as he perches at the end of the bed, fidgeting with his hands like sitting still is the hardest thing to do.
“You look like you need to talk about it now. Tell me what happened at least while I eat. I remember, but I need you to say it so I know I didn’t dream it. I’m convinced I’m losing my fucking mind.” I keep eating and sipping my coffee while I wait for him to start.
He needs something to do and I need to hear it.
“You were pounding on the door asking for Sunny, worried about Valeska and needing to get into her suite. We eventually got in and found her bleeding out in the bathtub. We thought she was dead.”
I wince at the image as it appears in my mind, my heartrate kicking into high gear as the panic I felt floods back in.
That heart-stopping moment will haunt my waking thoughts for the rest of my existence.
“Should I stop?” Nico asks.
I shake my head, I need to hear this.
He clears his throat and carries on. “You jumped in and pulled her to the edge, I helped you drag her out. She was lifeless and youbroke.”
His voice is thick with unshed tears, and mine threaten. He rubs at his eyes and swallows roughly and if I didn’t need to hear this from him, I would tell him stop. I wait for him to collect himself.
“Fuck, I’ll never get that out of my head. It was heartbreaking. Sunny then ordered us to move so she could help Lady V. Gave her that pipe and she started to come round, but you turned on me. Said I’d pulled a prank on you, then you said some awful fucking things about Sunny and I snapped. I punched you and then she woke up, and when you went to leave, she…she moved so fast. I’ve never seen anything like it, it was as if time slowed and we were frozen.”
He rubs his hands down his face and says what I know but can’t comprehend. I think about the punch he threw, about how my nose should be in agony and I wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d broken it.
So why didn’t it hurt?
“She bit you, drank your blood from your neck, and you wereenjoyingit.”
Desire flashes through me at the memory of how it felt to have her drinking from me. It’s probably part of the appeal or some shit. I’ve read enough vampire books that mention the victims enjoying it.
