Page 18 of From the Shadows
Diego wiped a couple fingers over his face, and when he pulled them away, he saw they were streaked with blood. His stomach might be thanking him, but Diego wanted more. He popped it into his mouth and laved the tips until the spicy-sweet flavor had been licked clean. He didn’t want to miss a drop.
When he finished, he turned sheepishly to Shay. Diego owed him a huge apology if nothing else. Shay had gone above and beyond, even trying to befriend Diego when he’d been an absolute bastard.
“Shay, I?—”
Shay looked at him with such conviction. “I’m here to take care of the household, Diego. And that includes you.”
But it didn’t. Not anymore. “I told them I quit.”
“And I told them you were delirious and to ignore you. Jeremy can’t lose you, man. He worships the ground you walk on.”
“I…. Thank you. Words can’t express how much I appreciate what you’ve done for me.” He swallowed hard when he realized what he’d almost walked away from. “And for Jerm.”
“Like I said, it’s my job to take care of you all. And you knowwhat? I love doing it. Everyone here is amazing, and I feel good being part of it.”
And Diego had been a bastard to Shay since he started. “I’m sorry. No, that’s not even strong enough. I’ll get on my knees and beg for your forgiveness, if that’ll help. How I treated you was wrong, and?—”
Shay held up a hand. “You weren’t yourself. Haven’t been for hundreds of years, apparently. I’ll tell you one thing, though. You’re a strong ass person. I can’t imagine starving for centuries, just to make sure you didn’t hurt anyone.”
Warmth flowed into Diego. “I used to be human. I spent a long time trying to understand why that vampire had done this to me. Or why I killed all those people. I’m going to admit something to you, but it goes no further, do you understand?”
“Anything you say to me is between us, I promise.”
“I always pictured myself as a monster. I thought, because of what I’d done, I wouldn’t get into heaven and that my soul was already burning in the fires of hell.”
“Now you know you’re not,” Shay replied, his tone warm. “Every supernatural being is like anyone else. There is good and bad in everyone, and each of them chooses every day to behave the way they want. For centuries, you were noble, courageous, and caring. I get you didn’t see yourself that way, but I’ve read a few of the case reports. You were badly injured more than once, but everyone says you’d die before you’d let anyone on your team be hurt.”
“Even when I stayed away from you, I’d die before I let anyone hurt you. These people—you—are the world I made for myself. The one where Diego wasn’t a monster, but someone who surrounded himself by people like him.”
“I was the anomaly. The human among the supernatural.”
“I still shouldn’t have reacted like I did. I can only guess how much it hurt you.”
Shay shrugged. “It did, a little. But like I said, I get it, and if it’s forgiveness you want, I can’t give it to you, because it wasn’t something you did on purpose.”
“Yeah, it was. I wanted you to leave. I didn’t want you here.”
“Because I tested your resolve. It’s easier to not fall when temptations are out of reach.”
Diego frowned. “Why are you so nice? And how’d you get so smart?”
“I’m not nice,” Shay said firmly. “I can be an asshole too, but for me a few cups of coffee usually fixes it. As for how I got so smart, you can thank my parents. They instilled a love of reading, and the genre I gravitated toward was supernatural beings. Who couldn’t fall for the bigger-than-life werebear, or the creepy, scary gryphon that is a devoted friend if you’re pure of heart? I don’t fear the darkness anymore because of those stories.”
“There are things in the darkness you need to fear,” Diego said, needing Shay to hear him.
“I know. Ms. Donnelly told me that I always needed to be on my guard, that this job could be dangerous, especially with some of the things you’ve all fought. And I will, but I can’t let fear control me, because otherwise I’ll cower in the closet with the covers over my head. I can’t—won’t—be that person anymore.”
Diego perked up at Shay’s choice of words. “Anymore? What do you mean?”
Shay’s cheeks pinked. “Nothing. It’s not important.”
His body language said otherwise. Diego noted the clenched fists and the tightening around his eyes. “Talk to me, Shay. What happened?”
Shay sucked in a breath as he shrugged. He reached up and brushed back his hair. Diego bit back a growl when he noticed the white line that went from just past Shay’s hairline to the back of his head. It was long, jagged, and Diego noted there had been a lot of stitches there at one time.
“What is this?” Diego ground out, trying to understand how anyone could hurt the man who wanted to take care of everyone.
“Old story. Boy meets boy, boy thinks he’s in love, then finds out that the guy who he believes is supposed to be his true love is, in fact, a pathological liar who cheats with anyone who’d be willing to blow him or let him fuck them. Then said pathological liar goesballistic when the stupid boy tries to explain why he’s going to leave and return to his parents’ house. Refusing to hear the stupid boy, the liar grabs a baseball bat and beats our hero so bad, he’s kept in a coma in the hospital for nearly a month. The doctors tell his parents they’re not sure if he’ll survive, but somehow the stubborn bastard pulls through.” His head snapped up, and he stared into Diego’s eyes with a fierceness that sent a shiver through Diego. “Tell me, Diego, what monster is scarier than that? I know you said you felt like one, but I promise you, humans can be the worst monsters of all.”
