It felt like someone broke my spine.
It literally felt like someone held me by my back and snapped it in two. The events of last night were a blur in my head as I groaned myself awake.
My head pounded furiously, as if punishing me for an unknown crime. I felt immobile. I could feel my limbs but I couldn’t move them.
I kept my eyes shut, but slowly I was drawn back to reality. The bed that I was in dipped a little, and a gentle touch brushed against my forehead, making me already know who it was.
I forced my eyes open, blinking to adjust to the light--or lack of rather. Still, it only caused my head to pound harder as the image of Drew became clearer.
“You’re awake,” he whispered as he continued to caress my forehead. I tried to nod, but I realised that I couldn’t. In fact, being fully awake heightened the pain in my body even more.
I was used to pain. I fight vampires for a living, after all. There were moments when I got pretty hurt. But this was on a whole other level.
I tried to sit up, but Drew’s worried eyes told me otherwise and my body agreed.
“What happened?” I croaked, which was followed by a series of coughs.
“You don’t remember?” he asked, looking surprisingly relieved. I tried to speak again, but my dry throat only sent me coughing. This, of course, worsened my already killer headache.
“Here.” Drew held a glass at my lips, and I greedily titled my head to gulp it all down. I felt much better once I was done, and Drew looked pleased that I evidently seemed better, even if it was by a small amount.
“What happened?” I asked again, wanting desperately to know what the hell happened. I knew I was in a fight with a vampire, but everything else was blank. I only remembered fragments of what happened.
I remember seeing the vampire feeding on a man, taking my gun, then seeing his head off his body. It was like my mind was trying to save me from the embarrassment of reliving it all. I lost a fight.
I, Amber Rousseaux, lost to a vampire. Wow.
“You got hurt,” Drew mumbled, avoiding the details. Maybe it was for the best anyway. His face looked pained, as if he stayed up all night watching me. He looked pissed, tired, sad and concerned at the same time. If that’s even possible.
“Ugh. I feel like death.” I groaned as I laid still in the bed. At this point if I move a muscle I’d be plunged into more pain.
“I can make it go away,” Drew said as he trailed his thumb to my cheek, admiring me in a way no one has ever before. “Just say the word and I’ll make it go away.”
“How?” I asked in a quiet voice. His eyes and voice seemed like they were pulling me into a trance.
“I didn’t want to do it without your permission. But-“
“Wait, are you suggesting turning me into a vampire?”
His eyes widened as he quickly shook his head. “What? No. It’s not that I can…” He sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “My blood can heal you. But I didn’t want to feed you my blood in your sleep without asking you first.”
I blinked a few times as I processed it. “Drinking your blood will heal me?” I wanted to ensure that I was hearing properly.
“Every single thing,” he confirmed. The very thought of drinking blood gave me chills, but I really didn’t have a choice, did I? It was either this, or endure pain for what might be weeks.
Besides, what would I tell my dear mother?
I reluctantly nodded. “Okay.”
I watched carefully as he emerged his fangs and sank them deep into his palm. He gave me a final questioning look, and I nodded in confirmation as he brought his bloody palm to my lips. I squeezed my eyes shut as I let the warm liquid slide down my throat.
Surprisingly, it tasted like regular blood, but almost immediately I felt my wrist snapping back into place, and the soreness in the back of my head disappeared.
The pain in my body subsided completely, I only felt a tad sore here and there. But I was as good as new.
Shocked and afraid, I stared at Drew with wide eyes. “How is this even possible?”
A smile pulled on his lips as he gripped my hand in his and placed a lingering kiss to my knuckles. “You’re welcome,” he mumbled as I rolled my eyes.
“Thank you. I really do feel better.” I was completely healed, so I was able to actually sit up in the bed.
My head still throbbed a little, but it was bearable. I took the moment to take in my surroundings--something I wanted to do since I woke up.
I noticed that we were in what seemed like a master bedroom. It was uniquely decorated, and seemed like it belonged to a man. I knew it was Drew’s. I didn’t need to ask twice.
Drapes were drawn in front of each window, which made the room seem dark, but I could see that it was already morning.
His bed was huge and I was wrapped in thick blue sheets. But unlike last night, I wasn’t in my own clothes. I could feel that I was still wearing my underwear, but my fighting gear was gone, and my hair was pulled from my ponytail and fell around my shoulders.
“You change my clothes.” It sounded more like a statement than a question as I met his eyes. He looked nervous for a second before he answered, but oddly I didn’t feel violated or exposed. In fact, I was happy he got rid of the dirty, sweaty, bloody clothes.
“Blood was all over you, some wasn’t even yours. So I had to. I placed you under the shower fully clothed, and then I put some of my clothes on you because well, you would’ve gotten sick in the wet clothes. I promise I didn’t see anything. I was moving at vampire speed so it was all a blur-“
“Drew.” I held onto his cheeks so that he was looking at me. I actually giggled after seeing how red his cheeks were. He was so nervous. “Thank you. I wouldn’t have wanted to wake up in blood and dirt anyway.”
He chuckled in relief as he shuffled beside me, immediately wrapping me in his arms as we sat against the head rest.
I felt safe there--in his arms. We stayed like that for a while, just enjoying each other’s presence. He held onto me extremely tight as if trying to assure himself that I was there.
When I pulled away to look at him, he seemed far away, as if he was deep in thought.
Images of last night suddenly kept rushing back, and I tried to focus in order to remember completely.
Slowly, piece by piece it came back and I remembered everything about seeing that Australian vampire, how he killed that man, and how he almost killed me.
And by the look on Drew’s face, I could tell that he was thinking about the same thing. He knew something. I could see it in his eyes. I could tell, because he didn’t look unsure or confused like I was. He looked like he was trying to think of a way to fix whatever problem there was.
And I wanted to know.
“Drew,” I whispered as I rested my hand against his cheek. His eyes immediately drifted towards me and softened. It’s so odd how not even three nights ago, we were enemies. Now look at us.
“I need you to tell me what happened yesterday. You told me you were coming back to me, and you didn’t. Then you saved me from that Australian vampire, so I knew you were in town. What happened? What do you know?”
He sighed, looking unsure but only so because it was clear that he didn’t want to tell me.
“You remember,” he mumbled in what almost sounded like regret. Why didn’t he want me to remember?
Maybe he wants to protect you, my inner voice said.
Seriously. She needs to choose a side!
“Yes, I remember. I was frozen in my spot when I saw him killing that man. I have never seen a vampire from here feed like that before.”
“That’s because he’s not from here.” Drew confirmed before meeting my gaze again. “And he isn’t the only one.”