Page 44 of Crimson Born

“Go,” he ordered and turned his back to me, walking to the back of his room.

That was where he remained for the next several days. I came back each evening, and Dr Coppa unlocked the door for me.

“Try not to be offended if he behaves erratically. It may take a long time for the animal blood to work its way out of his system and for him to be completely coherent again.”

I nodded and pulled a chair in front of the barred door.

That’s where I stayed for hours, chattering on about all the things I’d learned in my lessons so far, about my daily routine and the latest funny thing Kelly had said or Heather’s dating escapades.

I tried to keep things light and breezy, not mentioning Imogen or the other rogue I’d seen executed.

Reece stayed away from the doorway, either sitting with his back to me or glowering at me from across the room.

It was hard to carry on a one-way conversation. After a few days I simply ran out of things to say and resorted to reading aloud to him.

One thing I wasnotgoing to do was leave him alone as he’d demanded.

In my opinion, solitary confinement was the worst thing for him, but the medical staff wouldn’t let him out until he improved, and he couldn’t improve until he allowed someone to enter his room and give him injections of vampire blood.

So I kept coming, reading, sometimes commenting on the book’s content. Whatever I could think of to try to snap Reece out of this state of despair and show him he was not alone.

One day about a week into our routine, I arrived at the clinic as usual, Dr. Coppa unlocked the heavy door to Reece’s room, and I dragged my chair in front of it.

When the door opened, I got a surprise.

Reece sat in a chair on the other side of the bars, facing the doorway. He looked lucid, and much healthier, and well... good.

“Hi.” I let out a nervous giggle. “How are you?”

He didn’t answer my question. Instead he leaned toward the barred doorway. “Did you bring the Mars fantasy book?”

I nodded and pulled it from my bag, offering it to him through the opening between the bars. “Do you want to finish it?”

Reece leaned back in his chair. He folded his arms over his chest and answered gruffly. “You finish it. I like the way you read.”

“Oh. Okay, sure.” I took my seat, wondering if he noticed the blush working its way up my face from neck to forehead.

As a vampire it was sort of hard to miss those things—blood on the move got your attention.

Opening the book to the bookmark, I resumed the story from where I’d left off the day before.

With him sitting so close, I felt much more nervous about reading aloud, but Reece seemed to enjoy it. Gradually his posture relaxed. He even closed his eyes while he listened.

I was reading a line about a full moon when he interrupted.

“I always liked your voice. I remember that.”

“I remember too,” I whispered, my mind going back to the night that had begun so magically and ended so horribly. “Are other things coming back to you?”

Reece nodded. “There was a blood moon. And horseshoes. And we sat on the hood of my car and talked. I was kicking myself after you left for not finding out the name of your village.”

His expression of pleasant remembrance transformed into a mask of horror as other memories returned.

“I was in an accident. My car was on fire. I think I remember you being there. Did someone call you to come? Or... wait... you don’t have a phone. I was so tired. I kept nodding off, and then there was something in front of the car—a black buggy. Oh—”

His eyes flew open, and he got to his feet abruptly.

“It’s okay,” I said automatically.

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