Page 25 of Love Lives
Aldrich suppressed a sigh and looked at his phone again.
One day, he was going to crack that shell.
Chapter Eleven
Sleep would not cometo me that night. The moment I closed my eyes, my thoughts spiraled. Preparing dinner and eating it with my family had distracted me for some time, but it didn't keep my mind occupied long term. Now that I was alone with my thoughts... they kept going back to that vision I'd had.
Who had that vampire been? And that child? And who had I been?
I stretched my hand out in front of myself, barely able to see it in the darkness of the room. I was used to painful twinges when I moved--and even when I didn't, but there weren't any now. Elle had said that I lit up. What did that mean?
Had I 'awakened' somehow? Was that how WAFFER called it? But how was it even possible when our powers were supposed to be cut in half?
And was I going to have even worse dreams if I went to sleep now?
Maybe not. Maybe my premonitions had nothing to do with how much access I had to my so-called dhampir powers. After all, I'd had them as a child too.
And unlike my siblings, I hadn't grown fangs.
I slid my tongue along my upper teeth. Nope. No changes there.
"Still up?"
I startled a bit. For a second there, I'd forgotten that Aldrich was in the room with me. It wasn’t even his bedtime yet, but he claimed that he could sleep whenever he wanted to. Which didn't explain why he wasn't sleeping now. "You got any more magic tricks up your sleeve?" I asked. If he was here anyway, he might as well make himself useful, right?
"Told you we shouldn't do that too often."
Right. He had told me that. I closed my eyes once more, exhaling in frustration.
"What’s with all the nightmares, anyway?" Aldrich asked. "I know Talon didn't bring his horror movie collection here."
"I'm not scared of horror movies," I defended my honor. When we were younger, Elle and I had stayed up all night watching cheesy horror flicks and I'd never once had a bad dream because of it. And these weren't just bad dreams, anyway. I could have dealt with bad dreams.
"So it’s not monsters, then?" Aldrich asked. "Is it vampires?"
"Sometimes it is," I admitted. "But they're not nightmares. I'm not scared of vampires in general. No, not even of you," I added before Aldrich could ask. "I'll still let you bite me." That was a promise I would keep. I owed this vampire my life. Letting him have a drink was the least I could do.
My mind flashed back to the odd dream-not-dream I’d had. I’d wantedthatvampire to bite me. No, that hadn’t been me. But I’d felt this other me’s desire as clearly as if it had been mine. Which made no fucking sense at all. This wasn’t like me. These thoughts didn’t belong to me. No matter how much I tried to push them aside, though, they stuck to the back of my mind like a particularly stubborn stain on a white apron.
Obviously, I needed bleach.
Brain bleach.
"A bite would help you find some sleep," Aldrich said. There was a teasing note in his voice that told me he didn't expect me to take him up on his suggestion--and why would he think otherwise? I'd always shot him down so far. That was how our game worked. I thought he enjoyed it too, in some weird way. Same as me. Tonight, though, I wasn’t in the mood to play.
I sat up and studied Aldrich’s silhouette. Since I didn't have a vampire's night vision, I didn't see much, except for the fact that he lay on his side, facing me, studying my features in return. What did he see on my face, though? The determination I wanted to display or the hesitation that lingered in my mind? Or the odd curiosity that had awoken in me? The part of me that wanted to know what would happen if I made an unexpected move, if I pushed myself out of my comfort zone.
Would I like it?
"Do it." Even just saying the words made a little thrill go through me.
The mattress on the floor creaked as Aldrich sat up. "Don't tempt me."
"I promised you you'd get it when I'm released from the hospital, didn't I?"
"You're still not fully recovered."
"How much blood did you want to take?" I shot back. "I can handle a small bite."
