Page 110 of Marked
His chuckle makes my face heat again. “You were technically dead,” he quips.
I consider thumping him in the arm, but stop as my eyes land on all the bandages covering him. “Thank you,” I whisper.
His hand mottles over the wheel. “I couldn’t keep him from you, Lilah. That’s nothing to thank me for.”
My fingers tighten over the only bare spot on his arm. “Thank you, Caine, for protecting me, for listening to me, and for caring. I’ve never had friends, but I count you as one now. And I hope, one day, you will understand why.”
When he finally meets my gaze, his hellfire eyes burn into me. The fire in them is more red than yellow, tapered through with citrine, carnelian, and the jet orb of his shockingly normal pupils. He nods, throat working, and I pull back.
His gaze goes back out the window. “Now, little bird, let’s find you something to eat before I have to take you back to the big bad vampire.”
***
Meeting Ruin may be the best thing to ever happen to me, death notwithstanding. But having Caine as a friend is a close second.
We eat at a nice sushi place off the downtown pier. They treat Caine like a movie star, with the best table, first class service, and privacy. Though half the restaurant seems curious as to why he is wrapped like a mummy, they give him a wide berth on instinct alone.
An instinct, once upon a time, I would have shared. But that sentiment is gone. Maybe with my death ... No. Before that. Ruin, Raina, Caine ... They showed me that supernaturals can be good. Some of them even better than the humans. And I realize Raina was right.
Every group of people may have a few bad seeds in the bunch, but not every batch of seeds is inherently bad.
After a lot of laughter, a chopstick fiasco, and dinner, we drive around some more, but soon the thirst comes back and Caine turns toward the colony house.
We roll through the big gate and Ruin is already outside. Waiting. I glare at Caine and he grins unrepentant.
Of course he called to say we were on the way. Of course he did.
“Sell out,” I snarl.
“Demon, remember?”
This time I do slug him in the side of one rock-hard thigh. He cackles like a madman and puts the car in park before hopping out and getting my door.
Caine leans down and kisses me softly on the cheek as he pulls me from the black leather interior. My face flushes hard enough that I’m left dizzy. “Remember what I said, little bird. You deserve to be happy with whomever makes you that way.”
He smiles at me again and walks off without another word.
I can only watch him go.
Ruin’s growls are easily audible to my ears now, and it makes me tremble. I glance up as he pushes away from the door.
“Are you fucking insane?” he grumbles. “You’re a newborn vamp, Lilah. You could’ve hurt someone.”
I raise a brow. “And I didn’t. Caine made sure of that.”
His dark eyes flash. “If you’re not here, I can’t protect you. I can’t ...” He scrubs a hand over his face.
In the lights from the lamp posts nearby, I see what I didn’t in the bedroom.
Dark circles rest below his eyes, and his cheeks are hollow, sunken in. Even his clothes are rumpled, like he threw on whatever was closest so as not to startle the guests.
My death may have been as hard for him as it still is for me.
I take a step and stop. “Ruin, I’m not as hard to hurt as I was.” He remains with his hand over his eyes. I pull gently at his fingers until he looks at me. “I need you to understand something now before we go any further with this.”
I search his gaze. “I ... am ... not ... Arrow.” He flinches. “I amnother. I’m me. Lilah Marks. Orphaned, once human. Now vampire. I get that you’re worried. After dying, I kind of am too.” His lips twitch. “But I won’t be mothered. I won’t be babied. I want to go to school, get a degree, a job ... I can’t do that with you standing over me. I need you to trust me to be okay.”
His hand cups my face and it is so hard not to lean into him. “I know you’re not, Arrow, Lilah. I never thought you were. You’re too spirited, too free willed. But that’s what drew me to you. Your passion, your innocence despite everything ...Your humanity.”
