Page 13 of Tainted Blood

Alive. Confident. Motivated.

I took a deep breath, then shook my head, not wanting to continue. There was so much I was thinking recently, and tonight was the first time I’d wanted to voice it, but we were about to be in New York with other vampires, ancients who could give Alexius a hard time if they wanted to try. I didn’t want to unload my newfound emotional changes on him. Weirdly, my gut was telling me that I wanted to tell anyone but Alexius.

“Everly?”

“I don’t want to get into it,” I said softly, still looking at the string coming off my jeans. With a simple pull on the power in my veins—the power I was beginning to recognize was there—I made my nails grow and change. They turned black from the beds to the tips until they were inky black. Alexius had me work on controlling this small transformation for weeks until I mastered it. When I looked up, he was watching me intently, as if I were a puzzle he was trying to solve.

No, not a puzzle… Is he concerned? Is that worry?

I couldn’t tell, so I let the nails recede back to their natural form, looking perfectly normal and human.

“Don’t abuse that. You’ll get hungry faster than anticipated.”

“Sorry. I was just thinking.”

“Yes, that much is clear. I know I’m not… the best companion, but I am always willing to listen. Even if you haven’t put all of your thoughts together, I am willing to listen while you try.”

“We’re both learning, right? You’ve never helped a new vampire learn about the transition from human life, and I’m adjusting to being a vampire. Let me think a bit more. I’m sure you sit around thinking about stuff you never tell me.”

“You would be correct,” he confirmed, leaning back and getting more comfortable. “Would you like to watch a movie with me?”

“No, I think I’m going to study some more.” I reached for my bag, but it was taken before I could get what I wanted.

“You will be fine,” he said, putting my bag in the empty seat beside him. “Cram when we get there if you wish, but for just this moment, turn your mind off and just enjoy the flight. Please.”

“But—”

“You’ll make me look bad if you know all of their names better than I do,” he finally said with a soft growl. He looked pissed, but it didn’t last. It softened until he cracked that small smile I knew from him.

I went from thoughtful, confused, and even frustrated to laughing in less than a heartbeat.

“Then you should study!” I said, pointing at my bag.

“I don’t want to.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s a very enjoyable and petty power play to treat these sorts of vampires like they’re beneath my notice, and I’m not above being petty on occasion,” Alexius explained. “They don’t make choices to get my attention, so I don’t give it to them. They also prefer it that way. I am nearly certain you have memorized every single one of these names, and you don’t need to study anymore. If you haven’t, then we can use that to our advantage as well. I don’t care about them… therefore, why should you? Why would I teach you all of their names if I don’t care about them?”

I crossed my arms, studying him carefully.

“So, you’re cutting me off to preserve some image you have?”

“No, I’m cutting you off because you’ve been stressed about this all week. I am offering you an alternative to ease your mind about how others will take your knowledge or lack of it.” Alexius let go of my bag, but I didn’t grab it.

I didn’t want to tell him that I had been hyper-focused on it to avoid thinking about the email. I didn’t want to give him any reason to think I was terrified about something happening. The email had rattled me, and the sender had to be someone on the guest list. Knowledge was power. The person emailing me had all of it. They probably knew exactly what I looked like, where I came from, how I became a vampire, where I lived now, and more.

The last time someone had all the power and played games with me, he killed me. I had technically won by revealing their killing of Jacob, but Edwin still killed me in the end.

I took his offer to relax, tried at the very least, my foot tapping incessantly for most of the flight, even when he tried to stop it.

We landed two hours later, not in New York City, but in a small airport outside of the city. We were allowed off the plane before anyone else.

I was hyper-aware as my feet touched the ground in a new place. Alexius stayed close to me, his hand gently pushing my lower back to keep me moving as I looked around. I could see a group of people and noticed their distinct lack of heartbeats. It was so dark, it took me a moment to recognize Isaiah standing at the front of his group. The others seemed like an entourage, phones out as they typed and made gestures to each other, showing others what was on their screens. One leaned toward Isaiah and whispered, but I couldn’t hear what was said.

“Good,” Isaiah said, the first thing at a normal volume since I walked off the plane. “Tell our people to bring the cars out so we can load up our friends.” Without missing a beat, Isaiah turned to us, smiling. “Alexius, Everly, it’s good to see you.”

“Good evening, Isaiah.” Alexius pulled his hand from my back and held it out to Isaiah, who took it quickly, the smile not dropping. “Before you ask, the flight was comfortable and quick. Thank you for letting us borrow it.”

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