“Are you killing vampires?”
“Like I’m going to have this heart to heart with you when he’s in the car. Not to mention, why did you call him? I thought you hated the guy. Now you’ve got him on speed dial? I still can’t believe that you showed up with him.”
I ignored that. “Are you killing vampires? And we’ve been over that—I had to.”
Kates scorched me with those sapphire eyes and I gulped. “I am not talking about this with him in the car—with him in any close vicinity at all. And what if I was? I’m not saying that I am, but what if I was? So what, Davy! I’m a slayer. It’s what I was born to do. You don’t know what it’s like to have this thing inside of you, this darkness or something. I am programmed on the inside to do one thing. Kill vampires. I’m not allowed because some stupid decree made a decision that they could patrol their own. Well, that’s just…” She trailed off, almost sad.
“You don’t think I might know a little bit about that? I can feel inside of people. Remember what it was like in the beginning, before I upped my blocking levels? It was hell, Kates. You should remember that. I had this thing that came from inside of me and I couldn’t control it. I do understand a little bit about what you’re talking about.” I felt wrung out just talking about it, but I remembered those first few years. I would do anything to not remember them.
The air was thick. I heard the swish of the car’s wipers and a part of me realized that it had started to rain, but I concentrated on Kates, just Kates. She was so still with her face turned towards the window. I glanced at her reflection and wasn’t surprised to see a lone tear trickle down the side of her face.
“I don’t care what you’re doing. I just can’t lose you and I know that if you are doing what I feel is taboo to talk about right now—then just stop it. Okay?”
Kates sniffed. That was rare.
“Fuck off.” That was the real Kates.
I fell back in my seat and glimpsed my dorm through the window. Roane turned the car into the parking lot and slowed to a halt just before the quad’s archway. As soon as we had stopped, Kates scrambled out and slammed the door. The car rocked from her force.
“That went… stupendous,” I sighed.
Roane shifted the car into park and turned it off.
I didn’t care if the car sprouted roots and became a tree. I just knew that my butt had no desire to follow a pissed off vampire slayer, especially when my roommate was probably still sleeping.
“She heard you. That’s all that I really hoped for the night.”
Huh?
Roane added, “She knows that I know what she’s doing. She knows that you know and that you’re worried for her. That’s all we can hope. If she stops, then good for all of us. If she doesn’t, then it’s my problem. Not yours.”
“I didn’t follow anything you just said.”
“You don’t need to. You tried. That’s all you can do.”
“You’re very supportive for being a vampire.” I couldn’t stop the sneer. Then I felt the same coldness from before. I looked up and gulped when I felt his coal eyes on me. They were colder than normal.
“You need to get over your ex. Things will go a lot smoother for the both of us when you do.”
“What are you talking about? I felt that Kates was in trouble and for some screwed up reason, I got you to help me. Whatever. We both saw how well the ‘slaying intervention’ just went. You and me, that’s never going to happen again.” I felt brave and bold, but a part of me trembled on the inside. I just didn’t know what or why…. Then I burst out, “Why was your name in her head? Why did I have to call you? You’re the one…” I called her executioner. That’s what I did. So… why? That question burned me.
I was surprised to hear sympathy in his voice. “I know that she’s breaking vampire law. I was in her head because she fears me and she needs me. I’m the one that has to stop her.”
“But…”
“You’re the friend who can help me do that. No one else can do that.”
That explained some of it, but there was other weird stuff going on too. “Why are there so many vampires?”
“Because…” He trailed off. For the first time, I didn’t sense all of his attention on me. It felt liberating and yet, I got a sudden sick feeling. He was the primal predator. When their attention wasn’t on the prey that meant it was on some other prey, something worse…. He blinked, once, and the spell was gone. His fierce eyes turned back on me and I felt all that attention once again. “Does it matter?”
“I think it does.” My throat was dry.
“Talk to your friend. Plead with her again and maybe you and I won’t have to do this again.”
He’d dismissed me. Just like a flip of a switch. “And here I thought you were a little more human than most vampires. You proved me right. You’re just as much of a dick as most guys I know. Thanks for that, it’s very human of you.” I threw open my door and stalked off. When I reached my dorm I glanced over my shoulder and saw that he was gone. Ass.
As I moved through the first lobby and darted up the stairs, I paused before my dorm door. I didn’t know if I could handle what was on the other side. I was tired. The hallway smelled of moldy toast and I grimaced when a bad aftertaste formed in my throat. I stood there for awhile and took a deep breath.