Page 64 of Fallen Thorns
A quirk of her brow was enough of an answer.
“In that case, no,” I swallowed. “I have not.”
Last night.
In reply, she pushed one of the two mugs before her into the centre of the table, until it rested between us, not a subtle gesture by any means, but an apparently normal one given our environment.
The mug wasn’t as full as I expected, almost half the size of the ones Mars would provide me with. This was a normal portion, I presumed. One for the average vampire. Post teething problems.
“We can work on this.” She nudged for me to take it.
I slowly dragged it the rest of the way across the table towards me, cupping my hands around the porcelain in tense consideration as my grip tightened.
“Two of these a day is more than enough, a healthy amount.”
Just two?I thought back to how much I must have been consuming of myownblood. How obvious my path of self-destruction seemed. The beauty of hindsight.Fool.
I thought about adding it to my current drink, it’s what I suspected Marianne was expecting me to do. But I wasn’t about to ruin a perfectly good cup of tea.
“I’ll take it later.” I pushed it away slightly.
“That’s what you promised Mars, wasn’t it? That you’d take it. They trusted you and for weeks you chose to destroy yourself instead.”
The skin on my inner forearm tingled, and I gulped down the lump forming in my throat.
“I won’t let that happen again.”
“And can I trust that now?”
Can she?
Out of spite and sheer stubbornness, I grabbed the mug and tipped my head back, downing it all in one gulp. My canines ached and I closed my eyes, relishing the taste. Bliss.
Marianne watched me tentatively, though I couldn’t read her expression.
“We’ll work on it,” was all she said.
She looked as if she was about to leave, but then her eyes drifted over my shoulder, and I sensed another presence in the room. She relaxed back into her chair as footsteps wandered over behind me. I already sensed who it was.
“The guys on patrol said the streets were surprisingly clean last night. Nothing negative to report.” Mars, who still faintly smelled of mint, sat themself down beside me, directing their message at Marianne.
“Excellent news. Gives us some extra time.”
“You want me out tonight?”They haven’t even looked at me.
“Perhaps,” Marianne considered the proposal, then her gaze shifted between us both. “You could take Arlo.”
A long pause hung between the three of us.
“I could.” Finally, they turned to face me. But instead of a seething glare, I was greeted with a smile.“I promised I wouldn’t let you out of my sight.”
And with that, they stood back up to leave, but not before bending back down, stray wisps of their hair tickling my cheek. So very quietly, they whispered, “I’ll wash the sheets.”
I didn’t turn to watch them walk away. In fact, I didn’t move at all. Marianne fixed her gaze somewhere between the two of us, her face calculating. Mars could have sent the message telepathically and Marianne still would have heard.
Heat rose to my cheeks and my palms clammed up. I cleared my throat and licked the last remaining specks of blood from my teeth. “I best be off,” I said, rubbing my hands over my trousers.
“Stay.”
