Bleeder [Blood Magic, Book 1]

Chapter 12: With Friends Like This

Or he might try to spoon with me again.

What the hell had that been about anyway? He made even less sense than human guys did, if that was possible.

When I'd finished eating, I kicked the tray to the side and settled in for the wait. No one would come to collect it until tomorrow, and sometime before then, Keel would show up.

I dozed off once or twice while I leaned against the wall speculating about what our next encounter might bring. I definitely intended to ask him more questions, especially since he seemed to divulge details about the Nosferatu as if they were just another casual topic of conversation. Which - duh - they would be for him.

I would take advantage of that. Oh yes, I would.

And I would not take it for granted, either. Not like I had with Boras. I'd play this smarter.

I knew Keel had arrived before the key clinked in the lock, because I could hear him mumbling something to the guard outside. A minute later he was standing in the middle of my cell, holding court. "You're up," he said, as if that surprised him. "Were you waiting for me?"

Heat blossomed in my cheeks; I hadn't thought of how this would look. Keel grinned broadly.

"Boras thinks something's up," I told him, and he deflated. "He could tell there wasn't enough blood today."

Keel shifted his weight from one foot to the other as he considered this. When he realized he was doing it, he stopped. A second later he ran his hand through his hair, which immediately fell right back into his face. It was fun to see him uncomfortable for a change.

"What'd you do?" he asked.

I didn't answer right away. I wanted to revel in his uneasiness a while longer.

"I lied," I said, when he began to look as if he would shake it out of me if I didn't start talking. Then I told him the stupid-smart story I'd come up with. "I don't think Boras believed me, though," I admitted. "I just pissed him off enough that he stopped caring. As intended."

"You should watch that," Keel said, as he bent over to grab a leftover hunk of roast beef from my discarded food platter. "I heard how you got that scar on your neck."

My hand self-consciously darted up to the knotted mass at the top of my spine, but it was stopped by the bandage. Keel hadn't commented on my disfigured skin before and now he had. I shouldn't care, because it wasn't about him, but I did. It spoke to a core, irrefutable truth: if even the monsters thought I was hideous, what chance did I have? No matter where I was, I'd be alone. Always. Even freedom would be a prison.

"I've been trying to figure out if you're brave or stupid ever since my father told me that story," Keel said, interrupting my spiral down into self-pity land.

"A little of both, I think."

"I knew there was something I liked about you," Keel said, stuffing the last piece of meat into his mouth before walking over and offering me a hand up. "Now, what d'ya say? You wanna get out of here?"

"Pardon?" I said, as he pulled me to my feet. Of all the things he could have said, that was perhaps the most unexpected.

"Do you want to leave this cell?" Keel said it slower, as if he was talking to a child. Totally patronizing.

"I heard what you said," I snapped. "I just can't believe it, is all. Aren't you worried I might escape?"

"I like risk." That mischievous glint I saw in his eyes the night we met was back - with a vengeance. "And I'm betting you won't."