Page 30 of Love Bites
"Have you had any more panic attacks?" Talon asked, taking the wind out of my sails before I could claim that I'd never want to forget my birth parents. My mouth ran dry. He knew about my panic attacks? Had he witnessed one? My fingers dug into the leathery material of the couch.
"No," I said shortly. "Why are you telling me all this now when you went through all that trouble to erase my memories before? Won't you have to kill me?"
"I'm telling you because I've realized that ignorance is more dangerous for you."
"Because of this?" I pointed at the mark on my arm. "Tell me the other ways I'm different."
"Regular people don't see auras when they ingest blood."
"Auras?" I asked, and then I processed the rest of what I'd just heard. "Wait, Blood?"
Talon chuckled. "You must have realized by now that it wasn't wine."
"You were drinkingblood? I drank blood?" Shit, if I hadn't already thrown up, I would have emptied the contents of my stomach over Talon's couch. I'd had blood and I'd liked it so much that I'd wanted more of it. What was wrong with me? I closed my eyes, suddenly feeling dizzy. Maybe Talon was right and there was something seriously off about me.
"My drinking blood shouldn't surprise you so much and you only had a very small amount yourself," Talon said as if he could somehow tell what was going on in my mind. He laid an arm around my shoulders. The gesture felt more intimate than seemed appropriate for two people who had only just met, but I leaned in to it anyway. I'd wanted him to touch me all night. I didn't care that it wasn't sexual. I didn't care that he was a vampire either.
"I don't understand what any of this means," I admitted. Even if I could accept that I was somehow different from other humans, different how? And why?
"I'm not a hundred percent sure myself." Talon's hand rested in the nape of my neck. My eyes fluttered close as his fingers stirred the fine hair there. "I can only guess that you have some paranormal heritage, possibly going back a few generations. Far enough that you now qualify as human in most regards."
"In most regards..." I nearly chuckled at that in spite of the circumstances.
"What I mean to say is that your hair might not be the only part of you that sparkles." Talon's fingers crept a little higher to run over my scalp.
"Is that why you called me that? Earlier, I mean. You called me Sparkles."
"Do you mind?"
"Not really."
"Are you feeling better?"
I cracked one eye open to glance at the vampire. "Are you trying to change the topic?" Even if I was feeling better I still needed to know what else he could tell me. "Why is it dangerous for me to glitter?"
Talon paused, his fingers stopping their movement on my scalp. "Whatever magical heritage you have," he said slowly, "I can only surmise that the vampire elders feel threatened by it. If they hear about your birthmark, they will order your assassination."
Well, that was a comforting thought. I'd always wanted to be on a vampire coven's hit list. Not.
I felt myself go pale.
"I guess I'll go back to covering it with Band-Aids."
"That would be wise."
"At least now I know why Dad taught me how to stake a vamp. I thought he was insane at the time."
"He likely only wanted what was best for you."
"He should have told me."
"Would you have believed him?"
I shook my head, feeling defeated. The truth was that Dad had told me a lot of things that I'd never believed. At some point I'd just stopped listening altogether whenever he started in on his favorite topic, the world of the supernatural that was all around us but hidden from sight. I'd thought I'd outgrown his fairytales. Now it turned out I'd been an idiot.
"You're not going to report me to your elders?" I looked at Talon, trying to judge his reactions. Even though I trusted him, I still had to make sure. Probably because I didn't knowwhyI trusted him. It was just a feeling. I couldn't even say where it came from. "Is there any way to get my memories of you back?" I asked before he could even respond to my first question.
"Getting those memories back wouldn't benefit you. You shouldn't cross paths with me again after tonight. It would only draw attention to you. You can rest assured, though, that I will not report you."
