To Love a Vampire - A.K. Koonce Page 0,34

that decorate the walls.

The pictures are old, from ages ago. From a time when medicine wasn’t just for the dying but for the sick and the elderly. It was all but wasted on such minor issues it makes me sick to my stomach. Imagine what a plethora of medicine like that could do for the people back at camp.

“So, what is it? You going to put a band aid on this limb or what? Listen, I’ve tried and the whole band-aid thing doesn’t make it much better. Prettier; but not better,” Gabriel says with a half-smile.

“Do you always talk this much?” Luca asks, her back still turned to us, her fingers brushing over a framed picture of a doctor helping an elderly lady with a walker.

“Only when I know people are listening,” Gabriel replies, his body shifting toward her voice.

Ignoring their banter, I start pulling the wrappings from around the item within the box, my excitement increasing with every piece of tissue and plastic I pull away.

Asher grows serious as he watches me. Our eyes meet for just a moment before I look away from him. A strange fluttering awakens within my chest, a feeling that he’s given me since the day we met.

Luca turns to me just as I pull away the last of the plastic wrapper from around my gift to Gabriel. Her surprised intake of breath is audible and Asher’s eyes widen as he stares down at it.

The room is entirely silent. The item is smooth against my palms, a symbol of something clean, new and full of hope.

“How the hell did you get that?” Asher asks, his eyes never leaving it.

I pause not wanting to discuss that topic. I busy myself picking up the paper and plastic that surround my feet and stuffing them into the box.

“Declan got this for you, didn’t he?”

“What is it? Can someone spare a moment for the blind? Anyone?”

Asher’s jaw clenches, a look of vacantness filling his smooth features when I offer him a tense smile in reply. I ignore him, not letting the excitement slip away from me. He doesn’t trust Declan but he doesn’t know him either.

I stand and walk slowly toward Gabriel. My palm slips over his arm, he tenses under my touch. His limb is smooth, the tissue nicely healed. A good sign. Asher was careful with his work even if it was rushed.

“You know if you wanted to get me alone, I’d be happy to tell Asher to get lost,” Gabriel whispers loudly to me, leaning his body intentionally closer.

He’s nervous, I can hear it in his uneven voice even if his face doesn’t show it. Hybrids don’t seem short on confidence even if they can’t see the world around them.

“Don’t ruin this, Gabe,” Asher says laughing, pushing his friend’s shoulder lightly.

I settle the metal carefully against his limb. It aligns perfectly. The strap slips over his wrist, I fasten it a little tight, making sure everything is in place before activating it. It hums quietly to life at his new metal fingertips.

“What – What the hell is this?” he asks harshly as the tendons in his arms shift beneath the skin and the fingers wave slowly.

“It’s a bionic prosthetic,” I say quietly, my eyes mystified by the fluid bionic actions.

I’ve never had access to anything so medically perfect. Things like this aren’t made for lower class mortals. It especially isn’t made for a mystic. Just like Ky, we’ve fumbled around with supplies that aren’t making anyone’s lives any easier. Ky was lucky to have been approved for a prosthetic at all. If Gabriel was mortal they’d never waste a prosthetic on him. Not when he still has one other good hand.

Flawlessly it moves without any tics or pauses, as if the hybrid was born with it. My heart booms and an enormous smile consumes me with a feeling of achievement. Without sound or struggle, he waves his new hand at us. He brings his other hand up to meet it and steeples his fingers together, the hard metal pressing against smooth flesh.

Asher’s dimples appear as a wide smile slowly crosses his face, all thoughts of Declan are gone. I’m captivated by every small move he makes with it. When I look to Luca, I expect the same reaction to the bionic hand but she isn’t looking at it at all. She’s watching Gabriel’s face, a small smile pulling at her parted lips.

“What’s it feel like?” Asher asks, his silver eyes catching the glare off the