safe with her, untouchable by just about every nasty thing Cincinnati has.'
Gaze distant, my thoughts lit on small, seemingly unrelated instances of friction between Ivy and Nick, seeing them in a new light. 'She's been hunting me all this time,' I whispered, feeling the first hints of real fear.
The wrinkles around Nick's eyes creased. 'No. It's not just blood she's after, though an exchange is involved. But I have to be honest. You complement each other like no vamp and scion pair I've seen.' A flicker of unknown emotion swelled and died within his eyes. 'It's a chance at greatness—if you're willing to give up your dreams and bind yourself to hers. You would always be second. But you would be second to a vamp slated to rule Cincinnati.'
Nick's hand ceased its motion over my hair. 'If I made a mistake,' he said carefully, not looking at me, 'and you want to be her scion, then fine. I'll drive you and your toothbrush home and walk away, letting you two finish what I interrupted.' His hand began moving again. 'My only regret will be that I wasn't enough to lure you away from her.'
My eyes drifted across Nick's hodgepodge of furniture, hearing the busy traffic outside his apartment. It was so unlike Ivy's church with its wide open spaces and breathing room. All I had wanted was to be her friend. She desperately needed one, unhappy with herself and wanting to be something more, something clean and pure, something untouched and unsullied. She was trying so hard to escape her vampiric existence, and I knew she harbored a belief that someday I might find a spell to help her. I couldn't leave and destroy the one thing that kept her going. God save me if I was a fool, but I admired her indomitable will and belief that someday she'd find what she sought.
Despite the potential threat she posed, her asinine demands for organization, and her strict adherence to structure, she was the first person I'd roomed with who said nothing about my mind-slips, like draining the water heater or neglecting to turn off the heat before opening the windows. I'd lost too many friends over such petty arguments. I didn't want to be alone anymore. The scary thing was that Nick was right. We did do well together.
And now I had a new fear. I hadn't realized the threat of my vamp scar until she told me. Marked for pleasure and unclaimed. Passed from vampire to vampire until I begged to be bled. Remembering the waves of euphoria and how hard it had been to say no, I saw how easy Ivy's prediction could turn real. Though she hadn't bitten me, I was sure the word on the streets was that I was taken goods and to back off.
'Do you want me to take you back?' Nick whispered, pulling me close.
I shifted my shoulder to mold myself into him. If I was smart, I'd ask his help in moving my stuff out of the church tonight, but what came out of my mouth was a small, 'Not yet. I'll call to make sure she's all right, though. I'm not going to be her scion, but I can't leave her to be alone. I said no, and I think she'll respect that.'
'What if she doesn't?'
I tucked in closer. 'I don't know…. Maybe I'll put a bellon her.'
He chuckled, but I thought I heard a trace of pain in it. I felt his amusement fade. His chest shifted my head as he breathed. What happened had scared me more than I wanted to admit. 'You aren't under a death threat anymore,' he whispered. 'Why don't you leave?'
I didn't move, hearing his heartbeat. 'I don't have the money,' I protested softly. We'd been over this before.
'I told you that you can move in with me.'
I smiled, though he couldn't see it, my cheek scraping against his cotton shirt. His apartment was small, but that wasn't why I had always kept our sleepovers to the weekends. He had his own life, and I would get in his way if he had to take me in more than small doses. 'It would last for a week, and then we would hate each other,' I said, knowing from experience it was true. 'And I'm the only thing keeping her from falling back into being a practicing vamp.'
'So let her fall. She's a vampire.'
I sighed, not finding the strength to get angry. 'She doesn't want to be. I'll be more careful. It'll be all right.' I put a confident, persuasive tone in my voice, but was left wondering if I was trying to convince him or me.
'Rachel…' Nick breathed, his breath shifting the hair atop my head. I waited, almost able to hear him trying to decide whether he should say anything more. 'The longer you stay,' he said reluctantly, 'the harder it's going to be to resist the vamp-induced euphoria. That demon that attacked you last spring pumped more vamp saliva into you than a master vampire. If witches could be turned, you'd be one by now. As it is, I think Ivy could bespell you simply by saying your name. And she's not even dead yet. You're making unsafe rationalizations for staying in an unsafe situation. If you think you will ever want to leave, you should go now. Believe me, I know how good a vampire scar feels when a vamp's need kicks in. I know how deep the lie goes, and how strong the lure.'
I sat up, my hand going to cover my neck. 'You know?'
His eyes went sheepish. 'I went to high school in the Hollows. You don't think I got through that without being bitten at least once?'
My brow rose at his almost guilty look. 'You have a vamp bite? Where?'
He wouldn't meet my eyes. 'It was a summer fling. And she wasn't dead so I didn't contract the vamp virus. There wasn't much saliva in it to begin with, so it stays pretty quiet unless I get in a situation where there are a lot of vampire pheromones. It's a trap. You know that, don't you?'
I slumped back into him, nodding. Nick was safe. His scar was old and made by a living vampire barely out of adolescence. Mine was new and laced with so much neurotoxin that Piscary could set it into play with just the weight of his eyes. Nick went still, and I wondered if his scar had flamed to life when he'd walked into the church. It might explain why he had said nothing and simply watched. How good had his scar felt? I wondered, unable to blame him.
'Where is it?' I asked slowly. 'Your vamp scar?'
Nick jiggled me farther up onto his lap. 'Never mind that—witch,' he said playfully.
I suddenly became very aware of him pressing up against me, his arms draped around me to keep me from falling off. I glanced at the clock. I had to go to my mom's and get my old ley line stuff before I could do my homework. If I didn't do it tonight, it wouldn't get done. My gaze tilted to Nick's, and he smiled. He knew why I was looking at the clock.
'Is this it?' I asked. Shifting on his lap, I pulled the collar of his shirt aside to show a faint white scar on his upper shoulder from a deep scratch.
He grinned. 'I don't know.'
'Mmmm,' I said. 'Bet I could tell.' As he laced his hands to cradle me about the hips, I undid the top button of his shirt. The angle was awkward, and I shifted to straddle his lap, my knees to either side of him. His hands moved to hold me a trifle lower, and arching my eyebrows at our new position, I leaned closer. My fingers went behind his neck and I nuzzled aside his collar to set my lips against the scar, leaving it with an audible pop.
Nick took a noisy breath, shifting under me into more of a slouch so he wouldn't have to hold me from falling. 'That's not it,' he said. His hand went to my back, tracing a trail down my spine, bumping as he found the waistband of my sweats.
'Okay,' I murmured as his fingers tugged the hem of my sweatshirt. He reached up under it, his fingertips making a long tingle across my skin. 'I know it isn't this one.' Bending over him, I let my hair fall about his chest as I flicked my tongue against first one then the second puncture mark I had given him when I'd been a mink and thought he was a rat trying to kill me. He said nothing, and I carefully worried the three-month-old scar with gentle teeth.
'No,' he said, his voice suddenly strained. 'You gave me those.'
'That's right,' I breathed, my lips grazing his neck as I steadily worked my way to his ear with little hop- kisses. 'Hmmm…' I breathed. 'I guess I'll have to do some investigating. You are aware, Mr. Sparagmos, that I am professionally trained in the field of investigation?'
He said nothing, his free hand making a delicious sensation as he traced a path along the small of my back, testing.
I pulled back, and his hands followed the curves of my waist under my sweatshirt with an increasing pressure. I was glad it was near dark. So still and warm. An eager anticipation was in his gaze, and leaning forward to brush the tips of my hair over his face, I whispered, 'Close your eyes.'
His entire body shifted as he sighed, doing as I asked.
