To Love a Vampire - A.K. Koonce Page 0,35

sleek metal.

Gabriel touches the wall with his new hand, brushing over the concrete, his nimble fingers effortlessly open the blinds. Then he bends to unlace and re-lace his shoes with quick fluid gestures.

“It feels like a memory,” he says, standing still now turning his hand back and forth before us all. “It feels simple and easy and taken for granted and,” he pauses, his eyebrows arching, “normal.”

A mixture of pain and happiness pushes into my chest, Asher reaches out without looking at me and takes my hand in his, his warm fingers fitting perfectly against mine. I can feel his simple happiness spread into me from the small touch.

“So, you like it?” I ask, trying to contain the smile that threatens to consume my whole face.

“It is better than a band-aid.”

He swallows and looks away from us, his white eyes shining in the sunlight that he let in from the open blinds.

It’s that easy. The government has this technology laying around and millions of people all over the world need it, but only the deserving receive it.

Gabriel deserves it and more. He’s survived so much. So much that he’s no longer living. Just surviving. Taking each day with the expectancy that it might be his last. He smiles freely, he laughs loudly, he talks candidly. Because he knows there isn’t time to wait. Time doesn’t wait. It presses you forward whether you’re ready or not.

Gabriel’s been there, to the place time took him against his will. He lost so much.

But I can give him this. The best medical technology the world has to offer and it’s now at his fingertips, a gift of power and love offered between a human and hybrid.

“What you did today, for Gabriel. That was amazing,” Asher says, breathing me in as his hands hold me tightly to his chest.

His head rests in the nook of my neck, his breath fanning down my back, sending a tingling sensation across my skin. Another perfect night in his arms.

“Just be prepared for an endless stream of Fallon lent me a hand once jokes.” I laugh quietly at his words. “No seriously, I already heard it three times today and he doesn’t show any signs of stopping anytime soon.”

“I hope he doesn’t. I like his jokes.”

“Oh, for the love of everything good in the world, please do not tell him that.”

A smile consumes my face, a happiness I feel deep in my chest… in my heart. Everything is so easy now. Asher and I, even if we are only ever friends to one another, we click. He’s like soil and I’m a seed and with him holding me together, supporting me, something beautiful grows. Something undamaged and untouched by society.

His arms tighten around me, pulling me flush against his chest. Warmth spreads into me, his scent filling the air around me. My eyes drift involuntarily and a peaceful sleep falls over me.

For a few hours at least.

Before the voices return, clawing into my subconscious and settling in there.

Twelve

What I wanted

The Infinity witch’s words have been on my mind relentlessly lately. Every time I catch Asher looking at me, I can’t help but dissect his appearance, trying to see what he holds in his eyes when he watches me.

But I don’t see it. He’s the same handsome hybrid he’s always been.

Except right now.

He nods his head, motioning me to follow him into the shadows. He walks away, leaving Gabriel blankly staring after him. The redhead gives me a knowing smirk as I follow discreetly after Asher into the night.

The firelight and laughter is left far behind as I search blindly through the darkness for the one mystic I can’t seem to stay away from.

I find him lying near the Emerald Ocean, an enormous cliff is just a few feet away from him. The moon is full tonight and seems to cast down on just him, highlighting his body against the dry, scorched land.

The sound of my steps are quiet, my boots falling softly with each careful step I take. He looks up at me as I stand over him, the moon directly behind me. A smile hesitates against his lips.

“Lie down with me.” It isn’t a question or a command. His voice is almost… unsure, like I might walk away from him at any moment.

I don’t of course. I lie down, leaving a few inches of space between us until he drags my body against his, swooping me up into his arms in one quick motion. My head rests against