a vampire, to trust you, a fae, without any concrete reason beyond King Dredward sucks. I already knew that.”
He lifted his cap to rake his long, slender fingers through his shaggy hair. “You have to take my word. I am…on your side.”
“Why? Tell me now, or we’re leaving.”
A muscle in his jaw ticked, and he shifted as though he was in pain. “Because. Dredward is my brother.”
Chapter Seven
Donna hadn’t been expecting that. From the look on Temo’s face, neither had he.
Ishalan leaned closer. “You understand now?”
She nodded. “I think so. Your own brother cast you out.”
“Yes. Well, no.” Another sigh. “I left because he tried to kill me. Any threat gets eliminated, but then, you already knew that.”
Did she? “I suppose I did.”
“Well, you’re harboring the dhamfir. Why else would you give her sanctuary?”
“Because she’s a child, half vampire, and the fae were searching for her with the intention of returning her to a life of servitude. Hunting my kind. What other reason is there?”
Ishalan’s slim brows rose as his mouth pursed in a sort of cat-with-the-canary expression. “You don’t know.”
“Know what?”
“Just that…Dredward wants her dead.”
“Of course I know that.” She also knew he was lying. He’d suddenly decided not to tell them whatever he’d been about to share. So what was it? Did she really care? This didn’t feel like the time to call him out on that. Not with Rico’s time ticking away. She pulled four vials from her interior coat pocket and held them out. “Fill these, and I’ll have your money deposited.”
He took the vials and glanced at the sign for the men’s washroom.
“No,” she said. “Here. Where I can watch you.”
“You don’t trust me.”
“I believe we already established that.”
“I don’t fault you for that distrust.”
“I’ll sleep better at night knowing that.”
Temo snorted.
Ishalan sat down, uncapped the first vial, then put his finger to his mouth and nipped the skin with his jagged teeth. Blood welled up. It was nearly purple, and the rich, metallic scent was so powerful Donna’s fangs descended like the dinner bell had been rung. What would fae blood taste like? What would it do to her? Had any vampire tried it? They must have. Seemed only fair since the fae drank of them with abandon.
Whoa. She was spiraling into a deep hunger way too fast. Enough.
She swallowed the saliva pooling in her mouth and turned slightly to face Temo more. He kept his eyes on Ishalan, as if understanding the battle Donna was fighting. He probably did know. He’d been around vampires long enough.
Seconds ticked into minutes, but before much longer, the vials were filled. Ishalan stayed seated as he held them out, sucking on his fingertip.
Temo took them, saving her from feeling the warmth of the blood through the glass.
Ishalan took his finger from his mouth and inspected it. There wasn’t a trace of the puncture. So the fae healed like vampires did. Interesting. He looked at her, his brows disappearing beneath his cap. “My money?”
Donna nodded. “Right.” She pulled her phone out and opened up the banking app Charlie’d had her install, which Donna had done on the ride here. She logged in and clicked on the link to transfer money. “Your account number?”
Ishalan rattled it off. She plugged it in, set the amount, and hit send. “Done.”
Still seated, he took his phone out and checked things on his end. A few seconds passed before he nodded. “It’s arrived. Thank you.”
She looked at him a little closer. He was pale and a little listless. “Temo, go to the newsstand and get Ishalan some juice and some cookies.”
“On it.” He left them alone, but Donna wasn’t worried about her safety with the fae any longer.
“That is…kind of you,” Ishalan said.
“I’m glad such a display of weakness doesn’t bother you.”
He smiled without any malice, shifting his gaze to look at her without moving his head. “You’re the most interesting vampire I’ve ever met.”
“Have you met many?”
“Enough.” He finally lifted his chin. “You’re not afraid of me, are you?”
“Not until I have a reason to be.”
Temo returned with a plastic bottle of orange juice and a bag of chocolate chip cookies. He handed them to Ishalan, who took both but ignored the cookies to drink half the bottle in one long gulp. His color returned almost instantly. Apparently, even the fae needed a little something after giving blood.
He opened the bag of cookies and dumped half of them into his mouth. His sharp teeth must have pulverized them, because a second later