‘Maybe,’ I reply, and it makes her laugh softly against her free hand.
‘Ok.’ Cam perches on the edge of my bed, beside my feet. ‘How much do you know about the process?’
‘Almost nothing.’
‘It’s quite simple.’ He sounds so casual, like he’s giving me directions, not explaining how I’ll become an immortal being. ‘First, Elias will bite you and begin to suck all the blood out of your body.’ He sees my wince and smiles reassuringly. ‘The proteins in vampires’ saliva have somewhat of an anaesthetic effect, so it rarely hurts, particularly when the transition is not being forced on you.’ He glances at Bram for recent first-person confirmation andhe nods in agreement. ‘Then, once you’ve been drained, he’ll wait until your heart has stopped, and then quickly feed you some of his own blood. That’s all there is to it.’
Elias nods. ‘It takes a few minutes, if that.’
‘I was drunk,’ Bram offers, ‘but I don’t remember it being bad at all.’
My heart speeds up at the thought of being exposed to blood at all, much less ingesting it, but I feel Florence’s sure grip on my hand and I’m buoyed.
‘Does it have to be the same vampire that drains you and feeds you their blood?’ I ask, and Elias shakes his head, raising one eyebrow knowingly.
‘Sometimes it’s a group affair.’
Cam, perhaps seeing where I’m going with this, chimes in. ‘The blood you ingest needs to be Elias’s,’ he says. ‘But I suppose he doesn’t have to be the one to drain you.’
‘Ok,’ I say, and I turn to look at Florence. ‘Then I want it to be you.’
ChapterThirty-Two
FLORENCE
‘I’m not an invalid,’ Quinn complains the following day as Bram and I help him up the stone steps to the flat. Cam discharged him from the hospital earlier this morning, after all his obs remained stable overnight and every trace of his brain injury had resolved.
Bram eyes him with suspicion. ‘You wereliterallyhit by a bus.’
‘And Cam says I’m fine to resume normal activities.’ Quinn rolls his eyes, but I note he waits until Bram has turned away from him before he does it. ‘And he’s an actual doctor.’
I raise my eyebrows at him. ‘I was an actual doctor, too,’ I say. ‘Once upon a time. And I’m pretty sure he saidgentleactivities.’
‘We can do it gently if you want,’ Quinn growls quietly, just beside my ear. One hand snags my waist, grazing the bare skin under my shirt. Tiny bolts of lightning zap through me, warmth following the initial shocks.
‘Good God, man!’ Bram spins to look at Quinn in horror. ‘At least save it until I’ve left the room.’
There’s a chuckle next to my ear. ‘Dammit, I forgot about his super hearing.’
Bram doesn’t reply, just stares back at Quinn, his lip curled slightly. ‘Pretty sure everyone in the bar could have heard that.’
Quinn ignores him. ‘When are you planning to leave?’ he asks, his trademark cheeky smile making that dimple pop in his cheek. ‘Just out of interest.’
Bram sighs so deeply I can almost feel it. ‘Thank you for being there for me in my time of need, Bram,’ he says, mimicking Quinn, his brow cut into a deep frown, and then, in his own voice, ‘Oh, you’re welcome, Quinn.’
I hear a quiet huff behind me, and when I turn to look, Quinn’s face has softened, his eyes earnest. ‘Thank you, man. You know I appreciate you.’
Bram’s face lightens in an instant. ‘Yeah, I know,’ he says, one corner of his mouth hitching into a smirk. ‘I’m just fucking with you.’ He strides off towards the bar, calling out, ‘I’ll keep the others out of here. Enjoy your invalid sex!’ just before he closes the internal door that separates the bar from the flat.
It’s suddenly so silent that I can hear Quinn’s heart beating, the rate speeding up slightly as he spins me into his arms and presses a kiss to the side of my neck, under my earlobe. I want to memorise the sound of it, the pattern of the thumps, the way that it speeds and then slows.
‘Two days,’ he says, gathering me up in his arms. ‘How shall we spend them?’
I mean to laugh, but it’s been days since I felt his hands on my body, and so the press of his fingertips on my skin turns the sound into a rough sigh before it’s even had the chance to leave my mouth. ‘Like this,’ I whisper, as I melt into him. ‘Just like this.’
He smiles against my skin. ‘Shower first, then bed?’
I don’t answer. Not in words, anyway. Instead, I take his hand and lead him into the bathroom, setting the shower running before I turn back to look at him.