Blood Trial Supernatural Battle (Vampire Towers #1) - Kelly St. Clare Page 0,95

Was this the real him? If so, wasn’t it hard to cover that kind of power?

My presence in the tower must be a constant drain on him.

“Kyros, I’m better now,” I said. My stomach churned in revolt of the statement.

The vampire didn’t immediately listen, though he’d turned when I spoke. I gave up watching him after a few minutes and closed my eyes, waging war with my stomach.

The car door opened.

I didn’t look at him as he settled into the driver seat. Cars whipped by and we sat in silence.

“Are you okay?” he said in the same tone I used around a skittish horse.

By this point, I had no illusions about the differences between us and could only be surprised I was alive. “Just nauseous. Otherwise fine.”

“You need to eat,” he said, revving the engine. He pulled out in a gap in the traffic.

My appetite was gone, but Kyros’s tone was way off. If I had to guess, I’d pick shame as the predominant emotion—though understanding the feelings of a vampire his age seemed like a stupid thing to do.

Yet he’d shown up at the Ferris wheel to see if I was okay. Whether because of the weirdness between us or to ensure his clan wasn’t under threat… that gesture had wormed its way into my heart.

“I shouldn’t have said anything about Gerome,” I said, keeping my eyes on the dashboard.

“You absolutely should have. Understand that when a Vissimo uses blood compulsion on another, it ties them together in a sense. It’s an impersonal and weak tie, but a tie, nevertheless. It’s considered bad manners to compel a being under another Vissimo’s compulsion.”

“How bad?”

He gripped the wheel. “My brother went too far. A tendency of his.”

I’d intended to drop Gerome in the shit as payback, but not this much. “He did it so my body would know how to do an emergency stop.”

Kyros snorted. “With my youngest brother, the third answer is the truth.”

Good to know. Bastard. “He gave me a one-year pass to the theme park.”

“Miss Tetley, don’t defend him. He will answer for his actions—as he intended and has probably had time to already regret.”

I stared out the window. “Did I just see you at full power?”

He slowed for a corner. “Full power? Without muting at all? No. I just roared.”

Oh my god. There was more? “I couldn’t handle more than that.”

“Most humans can’t handle even that much. Most cannot bear to be within a metre of me, or close to Vissimo in general, and certainly not in the company of more than one. You are resilient.” He sounded surprised to be voicing the words.

I was surprised to hear them. They soothed the raw, tattered pieces of my soul after a hard day.

“Come into the world stubborn, leave it stubborn.” My grandmother said that should be our family motto.

Grandmother. If Laurel wasn’t on Basi duty tomorrow, I’d take a taxi out to see her. I worried at my bottom lip. Would Kyros track my movements though?

I dropped my gaze to my hands.

“You’re sad. Why?” he asked without looking at me, parking in front of a black building.

I ignored his question. “This isn’t your tower.”

“No,” he agreed, hopping out of the car. “We’ll get takeaway here. I’m hungry too.”

I watched him rounding the car, wondering if I should make a big deal of this.

Kyros held the door wide as I stepped out, grabbing my pack.

“You can leave the pack. My shout,” he said.

I put my pack on in answer to that. The only shouting we did was the vocal kind.

The vampire pressed his lips together, shutting the door. “Miss Tetley, you are the most infuriating person that I have ever met. And that includes Gerome.”

Burn. Having met Gerome, I was nearly offended. “That’s just because we’re attracted to each other but haven’t had sex. If we had, you’d think my behaviour was adorable.”

“No kidding,” he muttered.

His mind stopped back at the sex part, if I had to guess.

I stood in the dark laneway and scanned the black three-story building. What was this place? It looked expensive…

Maybe I shouldn’t be stubborn on the money front. Or. “I don’t like this food, I want to go somewhere else.”

“What kind of food is it?” Kyros quirked a brow.

Dang.

I shrugged. “The place has no signage and no handles on the outside. It’s in a dark laneway and in Black. Therefore it’s expensive. I can’t afford it and I’m not letting you pay for my food. But don’t hesitate to eat here yourself. I’ll