back, urging him to step forward so he could talk to Clarisse without hiding behind her.
Ashi did take a step forward. He cleared his throat, considering his words. “I would like to be your donor” was an outright lie. He didn’t think he could pull it off with a straight face. After some very noticeable hesitation, he spoke up.
“I would be very grateful if you accepted me as your donor.”
That sounded pretty good.
Clarisse just stood there, staring, for quite a long moment before giving a short bark of laughter, long black ringlets flying as she shook with mirth. “Aw, that’s endearin’, lovey. Sorry, but you’re not much my type.”
“Oh, come on, Clarisse,” Jessica chided. “You could give him a chance.”
Clarisse frowned, folding her arms. “He’s not askin’ me because he likes me, ye silly bint. I donnae want a donor who flinches from me whenever I come a’callin’. He does nae want tae have John touch him again, an’ that is nae reason enough for me tae take him on.”
Jessica frowned right back, turning to Ashi. “You wouldn’t flinch from Clarisse, would you?”
Ashi glanced between Clarisse and Jessica. After a very drawn-out moment of silence, he heaved a sigh. He felt tired now, no longer weightless and nervous and dreamlike. He was just a lump of exhausted Ashi.
“Flinch? Of course I wouldn’t flinch,” he mumbled, rubbing his face. “I would downright cower or possibly try to fight. Christ, this is nuts. I’m afraid of all of you and I have to figure out someone who scares me the least so they can drink my blood. I have a million horror stories from my pack swimming around in my head and I keep remembering details from them. Lev tore pretty girls apart. Rosa would skin her donors once their beauty faded. Saojin—”
“—strung people up by their intestines until the crows pecked through and they fell. Masrik cut the feet off his slaves and made them dance. Hayabaki tore his donors’ faces off and made them return to their villages until the entire countryside was filled with monstrous people.” Christoph was wandering by in the hall. He reached over and smacked the back of Ashi’s head. “Grow a pair. Also, be less of a total asshole.”
Ashi covered his face. “I’m going insane.”
Jessica was exchanging horrified looks between Ashi and Christoph. She covered her mouth with her hands, turning a curious shade of green as she edged away from them both. Clarisse scowled and rubbed her temples.
“Laddie, ye hear the horror stories of our kind, but ye dinnae seem tae acknowledge what’s right in front of yer eyes. Do ye really see me or Mouse or Alec or Angus or Ken—anyone in this building—except for John, the scutterin’ gobshyte—doing any of those things?”
She brushed past Ashi to Jessica’s side, putting a comforting arm around her shoulders. It was a little awkward considering how much taller Jessica was, but she seemed to appreciate it, nonetheless. She was speechless after hearing those gory descriptions of the monsters out of Goliath legends.
“There are those of us who do monstrous things, ‘tis true. But not a one of them live in this building or work for Alec Royce.” Clarisse narrowed her bright green eyes, staring at Ashi with disdain. “If ye think ye can get yer head out of yer arse long enough tae see that, I’ll take ye on as a donor. But if ye can’t get over lumping me in with those monsters, then I’ll have nothing tae do with ye.”
Ashi, again, was quiet for some time.
“Maybe I can see the people here in a different way,” Ashi said, halting, unsure. “You’re obviously not like John or Rosa or any of the other vampires that... that... terrify me to the core of my be—”
Christoph slapped a hand over Ashi’s mouth. “Please realize he left at 6:00 AM and has been running ever since. He’s tired. I’m sure he would love to be chummy with you.”
Ashi was still mumbling behind Christoph’s hand.
Christoph turned to Jessica. “I’m sorry we upset you. We have happy stories, too. And I don’t think of the people here as belonging to same group as Masrik and Saojin Fung, trust me. I’d be hiding in the closet with Ashi if that were the case. A real closet. In a totally manly way.”
Jessica was still pale, her eyes wide as she stared at Christoph. She was too shocked to laugh, though Clarisse managed a faint chuckle.
“God, that’s horrible,” Jessica whispered. “How could they