Fear and Blood

Chapter 33

Chapter 33

Just like that he was gone.

Before Rome even opened her eyes she knew that Ly wouldn't be there. Just like that, without a word to her, without a goodbye, without so much as waking her up to let her know that he was leaving. If she hadn't promised herself she wouldn't cry over him she would have been in tears.

Even though she knew the day was coming she couldn't help but feel the weight of Ly's absence suddenly hit her and for a moment she felt like she couldn't breath. She curled herself into a tight ball and squeezed her eyes shut, trying with everything she had to keep back the flood of emotion threatening to overwhelm her.

This is stupid, she told herself firmly, taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself down. I've only known him for half a year. I've hardly had any time to get to know him. He's mean and arrogant and...and...and I wish he had never left. No! No, stop this Rome! He's gone and there's nothing you can do for him now but keep yourself calm. He can feel you and if you panic now there's no telling what effect you'll have on him. Stay calm. Just stay calm.

Eventually Rome managed to control her breathing and she was able to open her eyes. The first thing she noticed was that it was dark outside. The second was that she was still in the guest room. She must have fallen asleep next to Ly after they had finished talking.

 The guest room of her house wasn't large and the furniture that was in it filled it until there was little space to move around. No-one had ever stayed in it before, but it felt oddly empty now that Ly was gone.

It was hard for her not to think about him. She wondered what he was doing at that exact moment. Had he confronted Marcus Taylor yet? Had he found out everything he needed to know?

What if he's already seen Taylor? Will there be a lot of other vampire hunters around? Will the president of a hunters club have bodyguards? A prominent politician would. What if there was a fight? Would Ly be all right? What if he's hurt? What if he's already...

No! I will not think about that. There's no point agonising over something that I can do nothing about. Ly will be fine, he has to be fine and I will stay calm until I find out otherwise.

Rome got out of bed slowly, finding it possible to keep herself calm and under control, which was a bit of a surprise to her. Sure Ly's absence hurt, but she wasn't about to go to pieces over it. If the only thing she could do for him now was to stay calm then she would do it.

When she walked into the kitchen a few moments later she saw all three of her brothers sitting at the dinning room table, eating dinner, Rowen having just returned from the hospital after his trip through the coffee table. Her mother and father were nowhere to be seen.

Rome smiled at Rowen as she took her usual place at the table, next to Alex, who gave her an appraising look before turning back to his meal. Rowen smiled back, waving at her with one heavily bandaged hand.

“I see your doing better,” the young woman said looking at his arm before rolling her eyes. “Do you really need all of those bandages or are they a result of mums extreme overreaction?”

Lee grinned as Rowen answered. “The injuries weren't really that bad,” the boy said, looking a little upset, “but mum insists I wrap myself up like this. Really most of the cuts were only shallow, but I lost a lot of blood.”

“Just like Rome did when that monster took a bite out of her,” Alex spoke up suddenly, not looking away from his food. His voice was calm and conversational, as if he was discussing nothing more interesting than the weather.