There’s nothing wrong with indulging in it, usually. If anything, sex helps stave off the bloodlust. It’s all good, just so long as I don’t break the golden rule: never fall for a human. They’re far too messy and needy. I should know– I used to be one.
Normally I lean into this feeling, this spark of attraction. But with Mina’s best friend? That would be the worst idea I’ve ever had.
Ok, maybe the second worst.
‘You can take the sofa for the night,’ Lucy says, after a moment of consideration, shocking me from my less pure train of thought. ‘It’s too late to sort anything else out.’
I slam my mug down on the dining table in indignation and it makes her jump. ‘Absolutely not. You were offered this place before me. I’ll find somewhere else.’
Her eyebrows pull together and I can’t tell if it’s with concern or irritation. ‘It’s after midnight,’ she says, and though her voice is quiet, her eyes stay on mine, unflinching.
She’s not scared of me, or at least it seems she’s not, and it makes me feel a little better about this whole situation. Just not better enough to actually take her up on the offer, however generous it is.
‘I’d go knock on the cottage door right now,’ I say, taking another gulp from my mug, ‘but Peggy has one of those sleepapnoea masks… it’s like white noise, and they both sleep like the dead.’ One of them technicallyisdead, but I don’t think now is a good time to mention that. ‘I’m not Cinderella. I’ll sleep on a bench if I have to.’ Or a cellar, or a graveyard. ‘I’ll go see them in the morning, I’m sure we’ll be able to sort something.’
Lucy blows out a laugh, hardly more than a breath. ‘You can’t sleep on a bench. You’ll freeze to death.’
No chance of that, I think, but I don’t say it. Instead I shake my head. ‘It’s mild out.’
She considers me a moment, lips pursing into a pout. They’re plump and pink– the same colour as the tea in her mug.
Wait, why am I staring at her lips? Maybe Iama creep.
‘You can stay here,’ she says eventually. ‘It’s fine.’
‘It’s not fine.’ I finish my tea and take the mug to the sink out of habit. I’ll be damned if I’m leaving it for her to do. ‘You don’t know me.’
‘No,’ I hear her say over the sound of running water. ‘But I know Mina and I trust her, and she trusts you.’
I can’t hold back my smile. I’d forgotten my cousin was involved in this. Mina’s six years younger than me, over a foot shorter, and entirely human, yet she still likes to think of herself as my personal bodyguard. I don’t need it, of course, but Mina rarely lets facts hold her back. She’s one of the handful of people I trust with my secret, along with my sister, Peggy and Wladek, the guys from the bar, and Elias.
Not that Elias needed to be told, obviously.
I turn back to face Lucy, propping myself against the kitchen worktop. The annexe is so small that she’s still only about seven feet away.
‘This was Mina’s idea.’ It’s not a question. I already know the answer.
Lucy nods, waves of her hair untucking themselves from behind her ears. She looks almost ethereal: that light blondehair, the blue of her eyes, the pale cream of her skin. She doesn’t look like she belongs in my world at all. And yet here she is.
‘You don’t have to go along with it,’ I say, and my mouth hitches into a smile again. ‘I won’t tell her.’
She doesn’t react at first, and for a moment I worry that I’ve offended her somehow. Mina will never forgive me. But then she takes a breath and, as if that had reset her, breaks into a huge, beaming smile which makes my breath catch in my throat.
She’sbeautiful.
I mean, not that it matters in this situation– we’ve already covered the reasons why she’s a no-go zone– but it’s an unavoidable truth. And yes, I still breathe, although technically my body doesn’t need to. Elias says it’s a side effect of the way I choose to live. The longer it’s been since I ingested human blood, the closer I’ve come to being like my old self. I breathe, I go out in the sunlight… my heart even beats a little from time to time, though it’s sporadic and I’m not kidding myself that it’s actually doing much pumping. Just a reflex now.
‘Mina’s like family to me,’ she says, adjusting her position on the sofa. ‘And you’re actual family to her. That makes us… well, not related, exactly, but I still don’t want you to come to any harm.’ She chuckles, and it sounds the way I imagine angels’ laughter would– soft and melodic. ‘She’ll never forgive me.’
It’s my turn to frown. ‘You’re serious.’
She nods. ‘I would never have offered if I wasn’t. It’s not ideal for either of us, but the mix-up wasn’t your fault either.’ She smiles again, gesturing to the seat underneath her. ‘Sleeping on this sofa will be punishment enough.’
Eh, I’ve slept in worse places.
She’s right, though, even though I still don’t love the idea. It wasn’t my fault any more than it was hers. And it’s only for a night. She’ll be upstairs, and I’ll be downstairs, and as soon as I wake up tomorrow I’ll sort something else.
I blow out a breath– an acceptance. ‘Well, thank you,’ I mutter. I’m not sure what else I can say.