that none of them had been aware of. We had just saved each other’s lives and he had nearly let me drain him. I glanced at Peter. He had to know the truth. His expression had closed down, and I could feel his aura vibrating. He knew… didn’t he?
I ignored him and looked at Haine and Leah. She picked up the knife he had tried to kill her with. She took a step closer and I jumped. “No! You can’t do this. He…” Peter crossed the space between us in two steps and grabbed my arm, jerking me away from Haine’s side.
The beautiful old vampire didn’t look away from Leah’s eyes as she drew the knife. Peter’s power over me held me still, and I couldn’t fight against it. I clenched my eyes shut, praying to God for a miracle. How could Leah be so blind?
Then the smell of blood filled my senses and my eyes flew open. It wasn’t Haine’s blood. It was Leah’s. She offered her wrist to Haine and he hesitated only a second before he took it. “This vampire is mine.” She spoke for the benefit of the room at large, but her eyes never left Haine as she gazed down at his bent head.
I let out a sigh of relief and Peter let me have my will back. “I thought she wouldn’t get it.” Haine had been in love with Leah for some time now. Apparently, she wasn’t as oblivious as he thought.
The room was quietly emptying, now that Leah had bound her attacker. Peter took my hand and pulled me out the door. “You’ve done your good deed for the day,” he said flatly.
I didn’t ask where we were going. I didn’t care, as long as we could be alone. If I never saw another vampire again for as long as I lived, it would be too soon. The politics, the customs, the stupid magic that bound them- us - together… I was just sick of it all. Neither of us spoke as we made our way through the park. I had no idea what he was thinking. The emotions coming off him were all confused, and I was too tired to sort them out. The moon was a beautiful, golden color and its reflection danced across the water as we stood at the river’s edge.
A night bird called somewhere, breaking the silence. “Are you safe?” Peter’s voice was gentle. “That monster… will he be back?”
I shook my head in the darkness. “No.” I was absolutely certain the ancient thing wouldn’t ever trouble anyone again. “I…I broke him.” I had stolen what was left of his will. He was nothing now. He would fade, something that should have happened long ago.
Peter let out a sigh of relief. “Good.” He took my hands and turned to face me in the moonlight. “When you were alive, I got used to caring for you. You were weak and I could protect you with my strength.” He snorted depreciatingly, “but now… now the things that you struggle with aren’t physical. I’m useless.”
I shook my head. “You’re wrong. You helped me tonight. You trusted me… so much that you did nothing.” In the heat of the moment, I had been angry at him for just standing by so callously, but now that I had cooled down a bit, I could see what he had done for me. If I hadn’t begged him to help, if he hadn’t had enough faith in me to trust that I was right, he would have acted as the soldier he was. He would have killed Haine, and me.
He chuckled and pressed his forehead to mine. “Just please, please, never do that again. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do to stand there and watch you like that.”
I closed my eyes, thinking how I must have looked, curled up on the floor in the fetal position, screaming. “You think you had it bad? That thing was in my head!”
He pulled back, snorting with laughter. “That? You think that was the worst thing you did tonight?”
I crossed my arms and frowned at him, wondering just what the hell he thought was so funny. He was still laughing. “You think a little headache was the worst part of the evening?”
I tapped my foot, agitated. “Look, you didn’t have that thing in your head!” I tried to remember everything that had happened. It was just too much. I jumped when Peter appeared in front