I was as tired as Cara looked. My healing capabilities served the double benefit of always keeping me feeling completely fresh and energized. Usually. It seemed walking around in the sunlight every day was tapping my reserves of power to their limits, and certain discomforts and annoyances I thought I left behind centuries ago were coming back.
I stretched my lower back, trying to relieve some tension there.
I covered my own yawn as I watched Cara from the far wall. She looked perfect as she sat there straight backed and amused.
She stole a look my way, then smiled. I found myself smiling back before I wiped the look from my face.
Be strong. Don’t make this harder than it already is.
I’d felt the gradual slip of resistance melting away between us. My willpower could only withstand so much temptation, and day after day of being by her side and enduring her charmingly innocent personality was taking its toll. It was also causing me to be loose lipped with information I was supposed to protect. I knew I’d told her far more than I should have about our kind already. I thought Seraphina and Alaric were only acting like they didn’t care was because they assumed I’d wipe her memories when this was through.
Others wouldn’t care what my intentions were. They’d want to make an example out of her to show anyone else who wanted to reveal our secrets to mortals.
I focused instead on my desire to keep her safe, because I needed to funnel all the built-up energy inside me into some action. Otherwise I would burst.
At least obsessing about keeping her safe would keep me out of her pants. I knew if I let my mind wander, it would go back to the kiss, to that tantalizing taste of life. Kissing Cara was like being alive again. Being mortal. I could close my eyes and forget what my existence had become. I could embrace the warm explosion that had spread into every fiber of my body at her touch.
And yet I couldn’t let myself hope to feel that again. The same taste of life for me was a taste of death for her. A taste of the endless void that was immortality. I’d be true to my namesake if I let our desires come to fruition. I’d feed on her very lifeforce and leave her empty—sucked dry.
Seraphina walked a slow circle around Cara, tapping her chin in thought. “You’re sure I can’t just snack on her?”
“Seraphina,” I warned.
Cara gave me an uncertain look. “Is she joking?”
“No,” Seraphina said.
“Yes. You swore you would be helpful,” I growled.
Seraphina sighed. “Well, it’s not as if there’s a dress code for our kind. What this little human needs is more confidence.” She tucked a finger under Cara’s chin and pulled her head up straighter. She put her finger tips behind Cara’s shoulder blades and urged her to puff her chest and pull her shoulders back. “You need to look like you’ve had decades to cement your own superiority over the human race. And you need to not appear intimidated in front of our kind.”
“Okay,” Cara said.
“Also, eyeliner. I will admit we have a little bit of an unhealthy obsession with it.” She plucked a tube from a bag on the counter and bent down to apply it to Cara’s eyes. “And you may borrow some of my wardrobe, but if you ruin my clothes, I will bite you.”
Cara was perfectly still, but I could sense the fear radiating off her.
I moved closer, allowing the bond to get what it wanted. “You won’t lay a finger on her with malicious intent.”
“No,” Seraphina said. “But I may lay a few teeth on her.”
I bared my teeth. “If you want to lose them.”
“Is this like playful banter, or are you guys actually serious right now?”
“You smell fantastic,” Seraphina said. “So, no. I’m not joking. I would like to feed on you. You wouldn’t even need to remember a thing, and you’d be completely fine. Just a little tired.”
“Seraphina,” I warned.
She gave me a dangerous look, but resumed applying the eye-liner to Cara, who appeared too scared to so much as flinch.
“So, uh, do different people taste different?” Cara asked.
“Yes,” Seraphina said. “You can tell how they’ll taste by the smell. And you smell particularly good.”
“Thanks,” Cara said lightly. “I really like pineapple juice. Maybe that’s why.”
“No,” Seraphina said. “I find the more innocent and virginal the human, the more delicious.”
Cara cleared her throat. “Virginal isn’t strictly accurate. I’ve been sexually active before.”
Seraphina paused with the applicator in her hands. “You’re sure you are mortal, then? Judging by how faint the smell is, I wouldn’t think you’ve been sexually active in centuries. Was it an exceptionally brief encounter? Maybe a particularly unrewarding one?”
“We don’t really need to go into the details,” Cara murmured.