Page 29 of Collected By the Crow

She smiled wryly, amusement like the flickering of candlelight in her eyes. Why did it always seem she was laughing at him? Why did it make him feel like he was standing too close to a blazing bonfire? “What do you do with all that spare time?”

“Anything to avoid idleness. I tend to get stuck on things. Once I’ve mastered it, I move on to the next.”

“Same. But when I hyperfixate, I don’t reach mastery before I’m over it.” She rapped her knuckles against the table. “I’ll just check the lab and come back for a game.”

“Of course.”

He knew the status of their work, but he understood she needed to see for herself. Besides, with her expertise, he wouldn’t be surprised if she saw something he’d missed.

Qadaire heard Zero waking. He sped to the bedroom and scooped the pup into his arms, then deposited him back in the game room under Cassandra’s chair. He pulled the chair out and stood to the side.

“You’re so gentle with him,” she said softly. She leaned in the doorway, arms crossed, staring at him like he’d sprouted a third pair of arms. “Thank you.”

“He’s important to you.” He frowned at the dog, scenting that the sickness was running hotter than ever. “Is it shocking that I’m not a brute?”

Cassandra rolled those majestic brown orbs and swatted his upper bicep before slipping past him dangerously close. “Based on the myths about vampires, it is interesting.”

Qadaire grunted. Even if he’d wanted to respond, the graze of her fingertips was enough that he was in a hurry to be seated. He adjusted his trousers casually under the table. They played a few rounds of her board game. When he revealed the lotus faster for the second time, he laughed as she grumbled and swatted her knees.

“Ah, who’s the sore winner now?” He chuckled at her glare and reset the board, which his four hands made quick work of now that he knew it by heart. “You mentioned your family last night. Tell me about them.”

“Is this a ploy to throw my head out of the game?”

“Of course not. I’m simply interested in you.”

Cassandra assessed him. He only allowed a sliver of his meaning to slip through his mask, lest she discover exactly how interested he was.

“Well. My parents are dicks. Zero is pretty much my only family.”

“Pretty much?”

“Pretty much.” She sighed as she flipped a tile thoughtlessly and shrugged in a way that undermined her typical confidence. “Last I knew, my brother was overseas studying in Sweden. He left without saying anything.” She shrugged again, this time even more lackluster, and the motion made all twenty of his fingers itch to reach for her. “It was pretty clear where he stood. But that was forever ago, I’ve no idea what he’s up to now.”

“I see.”

She nodded, her thin lips pressed into a line. “So that’s my family. I mean, I’ve forgiven my brother, but what does that matter when he’s never reached out to me?”

“Have you tried to contact him?”

“Nope.” She ended the word with a pop and then her smile was back. “What about you? You’re lucky. Being close to people means losing them, but you’re immortal. So you don’t have—oh shit. My damn foot’s in my mouth again, shit!”

He watched her face pale of color, her gazelle eyes wide and stricken, and couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s fine.”

“I can’t believe I said that.”

“You’re not wrong. If I hadn’t killed Dracula, I would at least have companions other than birds. Fellow vampires. But most of that court was so deranged, I would have left anyway.” For a moment, he traveled back in time, the coppery scent of blood consuming him. Blood of dozens of different species spilled on the floor, the sound of bare feet slapping in the red-drenched tile. He shook himself and fidgeted with his upper hands on the table, wrestling his awareness from the memories before they turned into bodies lying on medical tables. “For the first few centuries, I held out hope that someone from another court would reach out. I tried convincing myself to glamor a human, bestow them immortality, and hope they would spend it with me once they knew what I’d done. I wasn’t able to bring myself to do that, and it’s surprisingly hard to drive a stake through one’s own heart. So here I am.”

“It must be so lonely.”

Every consonant she spoke was rich with compassion. He fisted all his hands but his main right, which he used to flip a random tile. He didn’t want to burden her with something he was strong enough to carry on his own.

“If you turned someone, would you pass on the curse?”

“No. The blood and venom test results match those of any other vampire.”

“Is there a way to confirm?”

“No. I could test on animals, but that would mean nothing.” And he wouldn’t. He wouldn’t expose an innocent creature to the darkness of his venom. Using it to feed was a quick death. Using it for experiments was something different. He didn’t need more demons to torment him. “Every species reacts differently. You saw what he considered entertainment, but you hardly glimpsed what he had his scientists working on. Believe me, you don’t want to know.”

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