Page 20 of Love Bites
And then it was all over. The sounds stopped, and I sat in my hiding place with nothing going on around me or above me. There was only me and my fear. It took a long time for my body to move, but I had to climb up and check, see what had happened to my parents. I wanted my mom and dad. I wanted, needed them to be safe.
But the house was empty. I checked every room, but I was alone. Until I came back to the living room and spotted a man standing next to the TV set. A man that child-me didn’t recognize, but I did. It was a vampire.Myvampire.
But how?
Why?
Had he…?
I couldn’t finish that thought. My mind swam. My surroundings became blurry, as if reality itself was disintegrating around me. Someone screamed, but the sound barely reached me. I couldn't see anything anymore. My heart was pounding a mile a minute, but I didn't know why.
"It's over." That was Talon's voice. What was he doing here?
Wait, where was I?
I opened my eyes to the dim light of my bedroom. Talon's hand was still on me, but he moved it now. His thumb wiped something wet from my cheek. Had I been crying? Why? I didn't understand. What was wrong with me? I tried to sit up but the vampire gently pushed me back down.
"Rest now," he said, looking mildly upset himself for reasons I couldn’t discern. "I've taken everything that hurt you, but you need to recover your strength. You've lost no small amount of blood."
Blood loss? Was that why I was so upset? No, Talon had taken something. I'd asked him to erase a memory. Something that used to trouble me. Try as I might, I couldn't remember what it was, but maybe that was for the best? I exhaled and rubbed my eyes.
If the memory was gone, why was my throat still too tight to speak?
Why did I still feel like I couldn't get enough air?
"Breathe," the vampire said as if it was that easy. Iwasbreathing! I was breathing pretty quickly too, the oxygen just wasn't reaching my lungs. I turned on my side and closed my eyes. My heart hammered in my chest but I tried to pay it no mind. This was only a panic attack, no big deal, it would pass. It was just my brain having a nightmare while I was awake, but it was always toughest when I didn't know what that nightmare was even about.
Focus on something else,I told myself.
Talon had rested his hand on my shoulder. Normally, I would have shrugged him off. I didn't enjoy being touched while I was feeling vulnerable, but I'd been so wrapped up in my fear that Talon's hand and its location hadn't registered with me. And now I found that I didn't mind.
"You've been through some terrible things," he said.
"Everybody goes through shit." Life fucked us all. Talon had probably been through the wringer a couple times himself. There had to be some reason he'd turned from a family man into a freaking vampire after all, but he wasn't the one crying like a baby at the merest glimpse of the monsters who lurked in the dark.
"You're too hard on yourself." Talon's hand moved up to card through my hair. I exhaled and breathed in again, a little slower this time. It was almost as if the vampire's touch possessed some of the same magic as his bite. Maybe that was exactly what it was that made me relax as his fingers massaged my scalp. Magic. Of one kind or another.
"Keep doing that," I murmured.
Talon laughed softly. The sound was so novel it almost made me forget about my fear altogether.
In fact, I was getting sleepy now. I wasn't sure if it was the aftereffects of the sex or the blood loss or the panic attack or all of it combined, but my eyelids felt way too heavy for me to open them again.
"You won't remember any of this in the morning," Talon said. "Things will look brighter then."
I wasn't going to remember? Oh, right. That had been the deal. He was going to remove himself from my memories. Nobody could know about vampires. It was for my own safety.
Suddenly my own safety didn't seem all that important anymore, though.
With some effort, I managed to crack my eyes open just as Talon's fingers touched my forehead. "Don't," I said.
Talon paused, assessing me. "I don't think you're in any position to fight me right now, but I'd rather not have to bite you again. I don't intend to kill you, Sparkles."
What kind of weird nickname was that? I kind of wanted to ask, but this was not the time. "I can keep my mouth shut."
"This isn't going to hurt," Talon said as if he didn't understand why I was objecting to having my memories erased.
Actually, I wasn't really all that sure myself. Wouldn't it be easier to go back to thinking that my old man had been insane and there were no vampires or other paranormal creatures out there? Put all of this crazy ass shit behind me?
