I wonder if the spell is even active anymore. I mean, my contract has technically been broken, right? It’s not like I can work for Madame now.
“Um…” I point to my neck at the bite marks that are still healing. Reule had pointed them out to his roommates earlier, and I’m pretty sure they’d even used the word ‘vampire.’ Only, they said it kind of weird so it sounded more like vam-peer. But still, I figure that means they’re at least somewhat familiar with the creatures. I repeat the strange pronunciation of the word and hope I’m right. “Vampeer?”
Reule, Caelan, Maalik, and Audun give me their complete attention, and they look horrified at what I’ve just said. Audun gives me these sad-but-adorable puppy dog eyes and touches his canine teeth, and softly brushes his fingertips over the side of my neck as he repeats the word. “Vampeer?”
“Vampire,” I nod, pronouncing it the way I normally would.
Audun smiles a little, and points to the brand on my wrist to silently ask whether or not it came from a vampire too. I start to nod, and then change my mind and shake my head. I have no idea how to explain Madame to them, so I figure I’ll just do my best to explain what happened with the vamp that bit me and died from it. I gesture to the sketchbook and pen that Audun left on the counter behind him, and he hands them to me without question.
The book is still open to his drawing, and my mouth drops in awe when I see that it’s a drawing of me. It’s an unfinished sketch of my face, but it’s already so fucking good and I’m ridiculously flattered. He even drew the crown I’m wearing, and I grin broadly at him before I flip to a blank page. He smiles back bashfully.
I quickly scribble a little cartoon of a girl and a vampire on the page. I’m nowhere near as good as Audun is at drawing, but I’m not normally this terrible. I hope I get a chance to show him something better later, and I’d at least like to see more of his work if he’ll let me.
“Isla, vampire.” I point to the drawings. I feel kind of dumb demonstrating this way, but it worked well enough when I was trying to explain who Bryson is. I point to the vampire drawing and chomp my teeth together, tapping the side of my neck. All of the guys frown, and Caelan lets out a low, keening whine.
“This mark,” I tap on my wrist and take a shaky breath. I’ve already cried about what happened, but I didn’t realize it would still be so difficult to remember how terrifying and awful and painful it all was. I grimace at the cartoon I’ve drawn and point to the vampire, and then I slice my finger across my neck. Reule seems to understand what I mean right away, but I draw an ‘X’ over the vampire for the other guys just in case.
“It saved my life,” I say quietly. After all the time I spent working with Madame Deverell, I never truly thought she cared for me. I was just useful to her. I’m sure the only reason she went to such lengths for a protection spell had more to do with her interests than mine, but I still hope someday I’ll be able to thank her for it somehow.
All four men stare at me in horror, and Caelan pulls me into a hug. He wraps his arms around me protectively and kisses the top of my head, and Reule begins stroking his hand over my hair from behind me. I close my eyes and relish in their attention. Even if they don’t know exactly what happened or why, it’s incredibly sweet of them to offer me so much comfort. It feels like they really do care about me.
I’ve never felt that with anyone but Alistair. Maybe I convinced myself I felt that with Bryson for a short time, but looking back now, it’s obvious that I was just projecting a lot of my own desires onto him and our relationship. His feelings for me were never genuine. I was just so desperate for someone to love me and cherish me.
As I hug Caelan back and rub my cheek against his chest, I think I can definitely get used to this. Even if it’s not with him, or with Reule, Audun, or Maalik, this is