Sweet Last Drop (49 page)

“I know you know already—you can probably smell it on me—but I needed to say it,” I said in a rush. “The last time I saw you, I didn’t know if you were going to live, if either of us would live.” I narrowed my eyes on him. “You could have warned me about the bonds between us. Don’t think you’re off the hook for that.”

“Had I warned you about them, you wouldn’t have agreed to them.”

I raised my eyebrows. “That’s your defense?”

He shrugged. “Sometimes it’s more prudent to act in the moment and to ask for forgiveness later.”

I crossed my arms and waited.

He sighed extravagantly. “Must I apologize for something that benefits both of us? That helped us survive?”

“That helped
you
survive,” I reminded him. “And yes, you must, because you put my life at risk without warning me.”

He nodded. “You are correct about that. I do apologize for not informing you that you were at risk.”

“Thank you,” I said, mildly shocked that I’d actually extracted some form of an apology from him. “It’s a kind of betrayal, you know, to bond our lives like that without my permission. It’s not something I would’ve wanted.”

Dominic leaned forward. “But?”

I sighed. “
But
—” I continued, “I’m glad that the bonds were in place when they were, so I was able to keep you alive. Rene disintegrated into ash in Bex’s arms. If you—” I shook my head; the thought of him floating away on the air like that made my gut squirm in ways I’d never thought applicable to him. “I don’t like you, Dominic, but I don’t want you to burst into flames and ash.”

Dominic’s smile was instant and rapturous. “Oh, you more than like me.”

I pointed my finger at him. “Don’t push—”

He held up a hand. “I’m glad for the bonds as well, and if the time comes—God help us if they do—I hope they serve you as well as they’ve served me.”

“Without the bonds, would you have died as quickly as Rene from the arrow through your heart?”

“Yes. A wooden stake through the heart is a lethal blow, and I should have burst into ash within moments. The same goes for sun exposure for most vampires, but I can burst into flames and still survive, as you well know.”

I bit my lip, thinking of the last moments before I’d given into unconsciousness and who had saved me. “But you always burst into flames?”

“Always.”

I rubbed the back of my neck, uncertainty warring with the proof of everything I’d witnessed. “I don’t think the Day Reapers were ever in town, Dominic. I think Walker was right about Bex attacking Ronnie and the other night bloods.”

“Careful of who you accuse of what, especially Bex. She’s our ally, and we’ve worked hard to keep her that way.” Dominic narrowed his gaze on me. “Veronica Carmichael was attacked and transformed during the day. You said so yourself. And Rene never saw her last night. After you sent her in search of him, no one has seen her since, so we can’t confirm either way who her maker is.”

“I know what I said, and she
was
transformed during the day, but I don’t think Day Reapers transformed her. I don’t think Day Reapers came here to resolve our situation with Nathan, either. Have you actually encountered any Day Reapers? Wouldn’t they have made their presence known to you, to deal out punishment or fines or whatever they do?”

Dominic straightened from the wall. “What’s your point, Cassidy?”

“Bex didn’t burn in the sunlight,” I whispered. “She stayed with me, sobbing over Rene’s ashes, and then after I let Nathan drain me, she picked us up and brought us to the hospital. We were in full sunlight, and she didn’t burst into flames or turn to ash. I’ve seen her skin boil and steam in the sunlight before, but this time, she didn’t even wince.”

Dominic was on me in an instant, his nose centimeters from mine, his eyes blazing with that inhuman internal glow, and his fangs bared mere inches from my lips. My heart plummeted in a hard fall into my gut.

“Don’t speak of it again. I don’t know how Bex was able to withstand sunlight, if she was able to withstand it.” He eyed me quizzically. “You were dying and near unconsciousness. You don’t know what you saw.”

“I know exactly what I saw,” I insisted, despite the threat of his fangs and lethal strength. I reminded myself that he couldn’t kill me without inadvertently killing himself because of the bonds, and that gave me courage.

“No, you don’t. She could have formed bonds of her own with a night blood.”

“With Walker?” I scoffed. “I don’t think so.”

“Bex doesn’t claim allegiance with the Day Reapers, and her allegiance is all I care about until the Leveling. What you saw is our secret. Swear it.”

“On the certain passage of time?” I asked dryly.

He stared at me, nonplussed.

I sighed. “I swear, I won’t mention Bex or what I saw again. Until the Leveling,” I added.

“Thank you,” Dominic said, and the blazing light glowing from his eyes dulled to a less intense shade.

He stared at me a moment, still inches away—close enough that I could feel the radiant chill of his body—when something minute changed in his expression. His face slackened slightly, his eyes widened, and he stared at me like a stranger stares at someone they think they know but can’t quite remember.

“What?” I asked, feeling more uncomfortable than usual under his gaze. “Is something wro—”

Dominic dipped his head to nuzzle within the curve of my neck. He took a long, deep breath, and the rush of air against my skin tingled down my spine.

He jerked back as if
I’d
been the one to scald
him
. “What did they do to you?”

I blinked. “What are you talking about? What’s your problem?”

“You smell different. Wrong, somehow,” Dominic said.

I frowned, resisting the urge to lift my arm and sniff. “I haven’t taken a full shower yet, but I don’t think I’m really that—”

“It’s more than that,” Dominic dismissed. He leaned in again, slower this time. Carefully and quietly, he sniffed the air around me. His eyes searched mine, as if he could peel away the layers of my mind with a single glance, which was a closer truth to his capabilities than I liked to ponder.

I held his gaze from pure stubbornness, envisioning a mirror in my mind to reflect his commands if he got any brave ideas about entrancing me.

“Describe what transpired from when you left the grove to now,” Dominic demanded. His voice was sharp, formal, and wavering. I’d seen Dominic in many stressful, life-threatening situations in which he remained aloof and stoic, but if I didn’t know any better, I’d say that as he stared at me, his eyes scanning over my face, up and down my body and everywhere in between, he looked near panic.

I shook my head. “I don’t know, exactly. I was unconscious. Why is this so important?”

“It’s more than important. It’s crucial,” Dominic said. “Endeavor to explain in detail despite your unconsciousness.”

I lifted my hands and let them fall back to my sides, at a loss. “I woke up in the hospital. I’m assuming Bex brought me and Nathan here, but whether she flew or took a more conventional method of transportation, I don’t know. Walker’s truck is parked in the garage, so I guess she could have driven us.”

Dominic nodded and lifted his hand in a circle, encouraging me to continue.

I sighed. “When I woke, Rowens visited me and thanked me for my help on the case,” I said, glossing over our conversation. “I reunited with Nathan, stayed the night here as per doctor’s orders, and now, I’m being discharged from the hospital. And here I am now, conversing with you,” I concluded. “That’s it.”

“Doctor’s orders?” Dominic asked. “Why were they concerned that you spend the night in the hospital?”

I shrugged. “I had a mild fever. I suppose it’s standard procedure after a blood transfusion, but I don’t—”

“Blood transfusion?” Dominic growled.

“Yes, I’d lost a lot of blood.” I took an instinctive step back from the ferocity in his expression. “What’s wrong with you?”

“You don’t smell like you anymore. That cinnamon spice that drives me mad, it’s not there.” Dominic said, and I could tell he was truly upset. For a man who prided himself on his control, he was losing it. The tips of his ears pointed through his hair. “You don’t smell like a night blood.”

I narrowed my eyes, not liking what he was implying. “You’re insane. I might have come this close to dying—” I squeezed my fingers together, barely a centimeter of air between them. “—and needed a blood transfusion, but that doesn’t change anything. I’m still me. People receive blood transfusions all the time. It’s a part of modern medicine.”

Dominic eyed me speculatively, and I met his gaze squarely, daring him to argue.

“There’s only one way to find out.”

“I don’t think there’s any way to really prove—”

“Cassidy DiRocco,” he commanded, and I felt the mental twine pull taught between us before I could re-envision the mirror to reflect his command.

“—Oh, for heaven’s sake, Dominic, not again. Your word doesn’t mean shit if you don’t keep your promises.”

“You will forget my name,” he said, and his command reverberated over my mind like all his commands, firing my synapses and forcing my actions, but as usual, my thoughts remained my own. “You will look upon my face and remember me, know me, and trust or distrust me as you always have, but when your tongue shapes to address me, nothing will remain of your memory concerning my name beyond hollow, unforgiving doubt.”

He released my mind, and I rolled my eyes at his ridiculousness. “Are you done? My bus leaves for the city in thirty minutes, and I don’t care if I smell like manure. I’m not missing that bus.”

He cocked his head. “By all means,” he said, stepping aside in a gallant gesture. “I hope you have safe and smooth travels back to the city, Cassidy.”

“Thank you, D—” My voice choked and my mind blanked on whatever I was about to say.

He raised his eyebrows and leaned closer. “What was that?”

I cleared my throat. “I said, thank you. I’ll see you back in the city.”

“Say my name, Cassidy.”

I rolled my eyes, but a cold lump of doubt coiled in the back of my throat. I forced a laugh. “You’re being ridiculous.”

“Say it,” he insisted.

I opened my mouth to say something scathing.

He leaned in close, his mouth centimeters from my mouth, his icy eyes blazing into mine.

My breath caught in my throat, and I hesitated.

“Say. My. Name,” he roared, and the low vibration of his growl rattled from his chest.

I screwed my lips shut tight, aching inside from the unforgiving emptiness inside me where I
knew
I knew his name.

But I couldn’t remember.

He leaned away from me, his expression blank and incomprehensible. “That’s what I thought.”

I reached out—not sure what I was about to grab or touch or take hold of, maybe anything of him—but as usual with his frustrating speed and grace and otherworldly, unfathomable illusions, I blinked, and he was already gone, leaving me alone with my thoughts. Leaving me alone with the knowledge that even though I knew without a doubt that I knew his name, I didn’t know if I was still me.

Keep reading for a sneak peek at the next book in the Night Blood Series

Available Winter 2017

I emerged from the rooftop access staircase of my new, vampire-proofed apartment, and Dominic was lounging in my hammock.

I glared down at his reclined form and crossed my arms. “Don’t get comfortable. This is one of the few nights I have with Meredith, and I don’t want to waste it.”

He lifted an eyebrow. “You see Meredith every day. Sometimes you see her every night.”

“I
work
with Meredith every day. We’re hanging out tonight. There’s a difference.”

“So there is,” Dominic patted the miniscule space in the hammock next to him.

I shook my head. “I believe that would constitute getting comfortable.”

Dominic leveled his eyes on me, those otherworldly, icy blue eyes. They often looked through me, seeing my innermost fears and desires, more than they looked at me, but they looked at me now. He knew how I felt about him. He didn’t need proof of it by reading my mind when he could taste it on my skin, feel it like a wood-burning stove wafting from my thoughts, smell it in the cadence of my breath. He knew, but I’m sure the confirmation of it on Technicolor display was gratifying, too.

He grinned, confirming my suspicions. “Would getting comfortable really be so bad?”

I nodded. Dominic was my friend but that didn’t change who and what he was. “Getting comfortable could be deadly,” I said.

“Being comfortable and becoming complacent are two very different things, and I would never accuse you of complacency,” He cocked his head, smiling. “Is this a hard, fast rule of yours, remaining uncomfortable?”

I sighed, knowing from experience what was coming next. “No, it’s not a hard, fast rule. It’s more of a personal preference.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “You prefer to remain uncomfortable?”

I rolled my eyes. “Fine. A cautionary measure.”

He growled. The low rattle was deep and predatory, but it didn’t have anything to do with anger.

Involuntarily, I took a step back.

“Cassidy DiRocco,” Dominic rumbled through the growl. I could feel my mind perk at the call of my name, like how a dog cocks its ears forward to receive the next command. I envisioned a silver framed mirror protecting my mind, like he’d taught me, but I knew that it wouldn’t work against him. Not anymore.

“Come here, and lay next to me in this hammock,” he commanded.

Instantly and uncontrollably, I stepped forward. I went to him as he commanded, my actions not my own, and laid next to him in the hammock. To my credit, I laid opposite him, but that was only because he hadn’t specified the exact position I should lay.

Dominic shook his head at me from across the hammock, his lips tugging into a reluctant smirk. “Even now, you’re impossibly obstinate.”

I smiled. “Thank you.”

“Did you envision something to reflect my command? Did you try to protect your mind?”