“I have.”
“She’s James’s favorite, and he’s not being careful with her. When he’s done with her, he leaves her to bleed until she can find someone else to put her back together. If he chooses her to bond with, he’ll kill her.”
Rome’s expression is closed-off, unreadable. He’s not the most expressive vampire in the world to begin with, but there’s some kind of tension behind his eyes that I can’t figure out. I need him to hear me, but I don’t know what to say that I haven’t already said. Does he need to be convinced that they’re worth it?
I open my mouth to speak, but he speaks first.
“Why do you care so much about the others?” he asks, his voice tight.
I didn’t expect that question, and can’t quite mitigate my reaction. “What? Because… because they’re people! They’re my fellow tributes. Fellow humans. I’d do the same for any of them.”
Even Winona, although it pains me a little to admit it to myself.
Rome’s expression softens. I’m not sure how he was expecting me to answer that question, but his response to the answer I gave surprises me.
He cups my face in his hand, running a thumb over my lip. His warm eyes linger on my mouth for a moment, just long enough to make me suck in a surprised breath, and then he leans in and presses his lips to mine.
His kiss is startlingly human.
It’s not a demand, not a precursor to a bite—just a kiss.
Relief washes through me, and I kiss him back. I can’t help it. I’m glad I came to him, and I’m certain now that I made the right choice. He’s solid and warm, a force to be reckoned with. I can feel the killer under the surface, but I know it isn’t me he wants to hurt. I’m safe here, in his arms, at least for the moment.
After a long moment, he pulls away just enough to look into my eyes. The blue and violet of his dark irises seem to swirl, as if entire galaxies are contained within his eyes. He brushes my hair back away from my face, then releases me entirely.
As I watch, the softness and warmth in his face disappears under a veneer of hard-edged ruthlessness. It sends shivers down my spine. Not fear, but something similar.
“I’ll take care of it,” he tells me.
There isn’t a single part of me that doubts his words.
Chapter Eighteen
“You look better,” I tell Jessica, who’s perched on the edge of my bed. There’s a little smile playing around her eyes, an expression I haven’t seen on her before.
“So much better.” She shakes her head, letting out a happy sigh. “I don’t know what happened, but after I had that migraine”—she puts air quotes around the word—“James backed off. He doesn’t seem to have a new favorite either. He’s sort of just bouncing around, picking up a new girl here or there. Without him hovering over me all the time, I’ve met some new vampires. A couple of them… I dunno. I actually wouldn’t mind if they choose me on Saturday.”
My stomach ties itself into a tight knot at the reminder of my rapidly dwindling window in which to escape with Nathan. Saturday is just five days from now, and I still don’t have as clear of an exit strategy as I’d like. Although I’ve managed to get a glimpse of the keypad on the sleek glass elevator Bastian took me up in, I don’t have the complete code yet.
And I’m running out of time.
Jessica doesn’t notice my mood shift at all, continuing on blithely. “There are three interested in me now, and they’re all pretty gentle. There’s George, Xavier, and…” She pauses for a moment, smiling shyly. “And Violet.”
I grin at her, shoving my anxiety down. “Violet, huh?”
She nods, her eyes sparkling. “I never thought I could feel things like that for a woman. People seem pretty straight around here. Traditional, you know? She’s keeping it on the down-low, but she comes to me more than the other two do—and I like it. I like her.”
I wouldn’t have believed a tribute could truly like a vampire just a few weeks ago, but now I understand. I like a few of them myself. Specifically, Rome and Connor. Bastian loses points for being the figurehead. If he wasn’t at the top of the food chain, maybe I’d like him too.
Smiling at Jessica, I nudge her with my elbow. “I’m happy for you.”
It’s the truth. I’m not as worried about her now, though I still hate the thought of leaving her behind. I’m running out of time to get me and Nathan out, and I certainly don’t have time to convince Jessica to leave with us, especially with her mother’s life on the line. She’s not selfish enough to make it an easy argument.
But regardless of who I end up taking with me, I need to be as prepared as possible for the escape attempt.
Later that night, after everyone’s in their rooms, I pull my weapons out. I haven’t been practicing like I should have been, too caught up in survival and navigating the social web to focus on training. It was a stupid oversight on my part, but worth it. Jessica isn’t the only one who’s been having a better time of it since my talk with Rome. Now that Nathan’s not being sucked dry every night by Althea and Maureen, I’m confident that he’ll be strong enough to leave with me when the time comes.
I’m stiff and awkward for a minute or two as I go through the warm-ups, but my muscles quickly remember what they’re doing. All the tension I’ve built up over the last several days flows out through my hands, into my weapons, focusing my movements. I work up a good sweat, running all my favorite drills before I tuck
