He eyed me slowly. “Is this the pain medicine talking, or do you really feel this way?”
“I told you before that what happened to me put certain things into perspective. It changed me. You changed me, just like I changed you. I’m no longer the Kara I was before my parents died, or even the same Kara you attacked. Be that good or bad, this is the way I feel now.”
Gabriel’s eyes were suddenly ageless. “You are saying these things to try to make me not feel guilty. Healing me of my self-hatred cannot be done with lies, dearest heart.”
Slowly, I held my arm out to him, wrist up. “Don’t believe me?”
His eyes widened before he shook his head. “I will not. Earlier when I was kissing you, my mouth going to your neck was completely an unconscious move on my part because I have been neglecting my thirst. I did not take much blood from you when I drank from you, so I am still a little thirsty; I just haven’t been drinking adequately since you were taken. And although the blood inside of you is different, I could not tell. You are still you, and it tasted the same to me as it always has. All I felt was you. All I felt was my heart, but you felt . . . unimaginably unstable. It nearly killed me to feel you so broken. . . . Still, there is no excuse for my reflex—I am sorry. And you were afraid when my mouth went to your neck. Are you not still?”
I brought my wrist down and stared at the fading fang scars. “Maybe I am. I think the sight of my blood frightens me now. I just . . . miss being connected to you.”
He sat down beside me, and I rested my head against his shoulder. He kissed my forehead, and I understood everything from the gesture.
He would never drink my blood again, not unless I truly willed it and was not afraid.
“Why would he try to form a connection?” I asked quietly.
He tucked a curl behind my ear. “Truthfully, I do not know. Whatever his reasons, it cannot be good. I can only surmise that . . .”
He didn’t finish, and although I was afraid to ask, I couldn’t help myself.
“Surmise what?”
Gabriel was very still. “That he has chosen a different path of revenge. He is going to try to take you from me in a way even crueler than what he originally planned.”
I started shaking hard enough that my teeth began to chatter. I knew Gabriel had to be thinking of the same scenarios as me, and even though I tried not to think, I couldn’t silence my brain.
What would he do next? Control me to forget about Gabriel and to love him instead? Change me into a vampire?
But none of those scenarios felt right. There was a part of me, or more likely, the part of him inside of me, that knew the truth. There was something he wanted from me; that much I had discerned, but I couldn’t tell what it was.
He didn’t want to harm me until he tried something with me, but what could he possibly want?
Gabriel held me until my teeth stopped chattering. Instead of pounding like it was about to explode, my heart rate eventually went back to its somewhat reasonable pace.
“If there is a blood connection between you two, you are not safe no matter where I keep you,” Gabriel said. “You are going to have to have another blood transfusion. I never would have thought of such a method, but I am glad he spilled the secret.”
“But he doesn’t know about this place, right?”
“He is smart enough to know I would have my own place. Even when you belong to a coven, it’s very common to have your own refuge. But does he know the exact location? Most likely not.”
“Well, all I know is that we are in Canada,” I said.
“Right now you do not need to know the specifics of our location for your own protection, at least until we get you to the hospital. Are you all right with getting another blood transfusion?”
“Yes, that’s fine.”
“I could Control you to not be able to feel him, but I want the connection gone. Just the thought of him having a blood connection with you makes me sick,” he said angrily.
Loud noises began to echo throughout the house, making me jump and putting my heart once again into overdrive.
Gabriel kissed my cheek. “It’s all right. It is a surprise for you. Your guests have arrived.”
“Guests?” I asked doubtfully. But then I saw the twinkle in his scintillating eyes, and I understood immediately.
I threw my arms around his neck, pain twisting my shoulder. “Thank you, Gabriel!”
“They’ve been with a sitter again, so they will be overjoyed to see you. I paid the woman to bring them out here. A few of the coven members were watching your house and made sure she wasn’t followed. Just to be safe, Thomas picked your pets up about ten miles away from here, so the members will not know our exact location, either,” Gabriel explained.
The bedroom door opened. “Heads up,” Thomas said.
My dogs bounded into the room. Tassy, Clover, and Everest jumped up onto the bed and covered me in dog kisses. I laughed joyously, and I was trying my best to hold all three of them when Inola came inside the room.
“Where do I put the snake?”
“Nelly can come in here,” I said, smiling.
She looked relieved. “Good. I’ve never liked snakes. I was bitten by one when I was little, and I have not been able to shake my uneasiness around them since.”
Thomas looked down at his feet. Millie
