“Actions speak louderthan words.”
“Have I tried to hurtyou?” He stared at me, wide-eyed. “Well, have I?”
Despite the occasionsI had drifted off, I still remained in one piece, unbitten. Theweight of the blanket hanging from my arms was another reminderthat the weirdo had even tucked me up while I slept on the computerchair downstairs.
“All I want t’do isfigure out what’s happened t’me and what I’m going t’do next.”
“What d’you mean, donext?”
“Well, what am Isupposed t’do?” His shoulders slouched as he counted his problemson his fingers. “I can’t see my family. I can’t go home. I can’t goout during the day … I highly doubt there is a rehab for gettingover being human.”
“You go to theColony.”
His eyes widened, backstraightened. “You want me to go and live with the monsters thatdid this t’me? The monsters you hate so much?”
The level of hurt thatrippled across his face caused me to wince. He was genuinelyoffended at the suggestion.
The tension eased frommy shoulders. I relaxed my grip.
“I don’t know whatyou’re supposed t’do.” I slumped against the counter. “This is allnew t’me.”
“New t’you?” Helaughed.
“New t’both of us.” Mylimps suddenly felt heavy as my frayed nerves tangoed with myongoing exhaustion. “You’re a Vampire—”
“I know.” He pushedoff the seat and moved away from me. “Jesus, I know. You keepreminding me. Every damn day, you point it out as if this was adecision I made and should now be punished for.”
“I just mean—” Isighed, reaching inside of the pizza box. needing fuel. “I killVampires, so I don’t know what the alternative is.”
Where did goodVampires go?
Presuming he isgood.
Does he look bad?
He looked so far fromwhat a Vampire was supposed to look like. Nothing about him matchedany of the Vampires I had ever fought. Nothing about him matchedwhat we were taught or what we read.
He kept his back tome. Hands pressed on the counter tops, his voice was soft. “All Ithought about for those six weeks was … you.”
The air caught in mythroat, along with the chunk of pizza I had just swallowed, hiswhispered confession catching me off guard.
I coughed, patting mychest.
“What?” The word wasstrained as I tried to dislodge the bread from my gullet.
“I was alone, tied upin the darkness for hours on end with nothing but my thoughtst’distract me. So, I thought about everything you had ever told meabout Vampires and how I always laughed. I thought about how youwere the only one I could trust t’believe me when I told you thatthe craziest thing in the world has happened t’me.”
He turned, lower backresting against the counter, arms folded, though his head remaineddown.
“All I did was thinkof you, of us, our childhood. Talking out loud t’you—” He looked upat me, thick, black blood crawling from the corner of his eyes.“—you are the only thing that kept me sane in that place. Thinkingabout how I owed you an apology. A million apologies. How you wouldno doubt say, ‘I told you so’.”
He laughed, hugginghimself tighter. “Thinking about the fact that I needed t’get outof there and find you because you’re the only one who could tell mewhat t’do … you’re the only reason I’m still here, Elle.”
My heart was poundingso hard in my chest. I felt so conflicted, so confused. I couldn’tbreathe. I didn’t know what to say or do. I’d had no training forthis. No training on what to do with an emotional Vampire.
Vampire equalled kill.Vampire didn’t equal friendship, but the friendship came before thefangs.
Did he have anulterior motive? Was this all just a trick?
The sight of himstanding there crying, it was damn near heart-breaking. The fact hewas admitting he was lost and scared and confused …
He’s a Vampire.
Yes, Nathan was aVampire, but he was the softest most pathetic and useless Vampire Ihad ever met. He was clueless, and he was all alone. He no longerhad anyone, family or Colony. The fact that he was created ratherthan turned, I wasn’t sure if he had a Master or Mistress, and ifhe did, well, they had currently abandoned him. And although hisignorance and rejection had hurt all these years, my duty was toprotect people from Vampires even if that person was a Vampirethemselves.
My training had nevercovered this, and although I had been trained to distrust allVampires, somewhere deep inside, I believed he was telling thetruth, about everything. He didn’t know what was going on, and hedidn’t know what to do. He wasn’t going to hurt me. I could see itin his eyes, the despair. It was what had stopped me from killinghim back in Wicklow.
He was still Nathan,and he needed my help. I was the only one who could help him. Whatkind of Vampire Slayer would I be if I ignored what had happened tohim, what his survival and existence stood for? What kind of friendwould I be?
After everything, Icouldn’t turn my back on him. It would make me as bad a friend ashe had been, and I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of usbeing equally bad.
I dropped the slice ofpizza on the top of the box and slid off the stool. “Is this yourway of apologising for being the worst friend in the world?”
A laugh scraped histhroat. He wiped his eyes, smearing the black blood all over hispale skin, making him look like a panda.
“And for breaking yourpromise of keeping in touch?” I held my hand up, cutting him off.“Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas aren’t keeping in contact.”
“You’re right.” Hefolded his arms once more. “I have been a bollocks friend. I don’tdeserve your help.”
“You don’t.” Takinghold of the nearby kitchen roll, I pulled off a few sheets andwalked to the sink. “And you would have remained a stranger if youhadn’t been turned and therefore desperate.”
It was both a questionand a statement that I needed him to confirm.
“I’m so sorry,Elle.”
I turned the tap on inorder to wet the paper towel. “Sorry isn’t good enough.”
“I know.”
Moving closer to himso we stood face to face, I lifted his chin and began to dab theblood from his eyes. “But it’s a start.”
The relief that washedover him almost broke me. He was like a
