Rare Blood

Chapter Eighteen: Baby Steps

"Don't. Don't you tell me to relax. I'm on my way to freakin' Montana to hide amongst Werewolves from some crazy ass Vampires that think I'm something I'm not. Who the hell knows how long this mess will take to clear up and I don't have a change of clothes, or a toothbrush, or even a pair of socks. I have nothing so don't you tell me to relax."

He could solve a few of those issues and said, "I'll take care of you. We'll stop and get whatever you need. I have money. Whatever you want, it's yours."

Her brows drew together and her upper lip curled slightly on one side in a kind of snarl and he knew he said the wrong thing. What would have been better he didn't know. In fact only one thing was clear and ironically it was his cluelessness as she confirmed his thoughts saying, "I don't want your money. I want you to make this go away. You said you could erase memories. Erase mine," and her voice was sorrowing. The red of her tear-filled eyes was a stark contrast against the emerald green. The gold at the center seemed completely gone. Seeing her like that asking for him to wipe out her memory started the tightening in his gums and a bottomless ache in his motionless heart.

He clutched at his chest with one hand, fisting the fabric of his shirt as if he could pull the feeling out. His fangs dropped and he growled, "That will solve nothing."

She stepped back from him with her eyes wide and her heart pounding wildly. Shit, he thought and moved back towards the door to give her room.

"I'm sorry. I did not mean to growl at you."

"Can you put those away," she asked softly.

"I'm working on it."

"What makes that happen?"

"Thirst, and… certain emotions."

"Are you, are you mad that I asked you to erase my memory?"

"No."

"Then what is it?"

"I can't seem to stomach watching you cry," he admitted but left the rest of it out.

He wasn't about to tell her his feelings were hurt. It wasn't him and he took a moment to mentally remind himself, I'm more than two-hundred years old. I could rip the heads off anyone in the vicinity in twenty seconds or less. I don't have hurt feelings like some grade school child. It didn't help, not even a little.

He can't watch me cry, Faye repeated his words in her thoughts with disbelief. She wouldn't have thought so, but when he came in the door all she wanted was a damn hug. She didn't want words of reassurance. She just wanted to feel close to someone, even if that someone was a Vampire.

She didn't really want to forget him she was just feeling overwhelmed and he pissed her off acting like money would make her feel better.  He was only trying to help her she knew but it was the wrong thing to say and when she looked at him she realized she wasn’t the only one struggling with this whole mess.  He seemed genuinely upset which she found kind of funny. 

Here he was some six foot something scary ass Vampire and he couldn't watch a girl cry. She would bet money he's made women cry before and that started her wondering if it was just her he felt that way about... "Screw it," she said and went over to him. She didn't wait to see what he would do she just wrapped her arms around him. When he immediately encircled her squeezing her so tight she could barely breathe everything felt better. She felt him inhale and then he lifted her so her feet were off the ground. "God, you smell good," he whispered against her ear and she was about to ruin the moment by saying don't bite me when a knock at the door beat her to it.

 "Excuse me, this is not the kind of place where we allow fraternization between the sexes in the ladies room," a man's voice came through the door. Cyrus stiffened and lowered her so her feet were on the floor. He spun her behind him and opened the door. Faye thought she would feel embarrassed walking out of the ladies room having been busted with a guy regardless of what they were or were not, doing, but the feeling never came. The gas station clerk took a step back, then another, and another.

Cyrus didn't even have to speak and the man was weary enough to keep his mouth shut. Cyrus held her hand firmly in his cool iron grip and led her straight to the truck. He opened the passenger front door and paused looking down at her, "Or would you rather ride in the back?"

She climbed up and in figuring if she could hug him she could sit up front with him.

When they were back on the highway she asked, "So did you flash him a little fang?"

He glanced at her, "What?"

"The guy back there. He got right out of your way and I'm wondering why..."

"No fang," he said amused then continued, "I did give him a look though."

"Let me see. Show me," she said almost daring.

"You sure," he asked.

"Lay it on me," and he did. His eyes narrowed and flashed to the eerie grey. His jaw dropped slightly opening his mouth just enough to complete the expression without revealing any teeth. It was pretty scary. "I'm impressed... but how come your eyes don't always change when your fangs come out," she asked.

"The eyes I can change completely at will. It's like having night vision."

"Thats creepy, but kind of cool."

"It's useful."

"I bet. So why'd you scare that guy?"

"Because he interrupted us, and I didn't like what he implied. And you know what… you should know I'm not, soft."

"Soft," she repeated smiling at his choice of words.

"I mean that guy was lucky all I did was scare him," and the weight behind what he said was tangible. Faye laughed at her self nervously.

"Is that funny to you," he asked looking over at her perplexed.

"No, no. There was nothing funny about what you said. I just wasn't sure what you meant, I, well... never-mind."

"What," he asked smiling at her.

"My mind was in the gutter," she tried to clarify and if he didn't get it that was fine she wasn't going to elaborate further.

"I'm happy to hear you laugh. I love your laugh," he said and she looked over at him.  He glanced at her and there was a familiar glimmer in his midnight blue eyes that she wasn’t ready to get sucked into yet and she turned away quickly.  Every time she stared into his eyes something happened. She may have found a bit of humor but that didn't mean she was ready to process her feelings for him. 

After a few minutes of avoiding his eyes she asked, "So how long will it take to get to your cabin anyway?"

"About thirty hours if we don't stop for too long."

"Oh good lord, I will go crazy by the time we get there."

"I can drive it straight through but if you want to crash somewhere tonight we can."

"Please."

"But only for a few hours. We can't stay in a hotel all night. We'll check in late and leave real early. That's something else you should remember, and always pay cash."

Survival tips... how sobering, she thought and went back to staring out the window.