Once Bitten, Twice Shy (11 page)

"During a takeout—"

"No. Always."

Vayl stood, blocking my path, making me stop and look at him. "I know where you are going with this. I will not. I cannot—"

"Why not?"

Vayl looked at me a long time, his jaw clenching and unclenching as if the words he was about to say needed to be chewed first, ground under his molars until the sharp edges wore away.

"Jasmine…" he stopped, thought a minute, tried again. "I do not know what it would do to us. You would be stepping onto a path that could lead you to vampirism."

"Not if you don't drain me. Not if I don't drink your blood."

"You are right. But because you are a Sensitive you could, you probably would change." I must've looked puzzled because he kept trying to explain. "The kind of—joining—you are suggesting is not one-way."

"So, what are you saying, that there's magic in your backwash?"

The tightness around Vayl's eyes eased a little, and a dimple appeared in his right cheek. "You could say that."

"What might happen to me?"

Vayl sank back onto his couch and I sat beside him. "I have never done such a thing with a Sensitive, so it is impossible to predict." He took my right hand between both of his, lacing our fingers together, rubbing my empty ring finger with his thumb as he stared at the memories he'd projected onto the wall.

"Could you make it so I can fly?" I asked.

That got his attention. "What?"

I felt a little self-conscious, but figured the time to guard my ego had long passed. "I've always wanted to fly," I confided, "like Superman, only without the ridiculous costume."

"It is not…"

"Or how about superhuman strength so when I throw people they sail clear across the room?"

I suddenly understood what the word 'flummoxed' meant. I'd never really known before this moment, when Vayl's eyes went all round and confused, and the only thing he could say that sounded remotely like English was, "Wa." It didn't last long. Vayl snapped back to himself and grabbed me by the shoulders.

"This is serious!" His eyes bored into mine, twin obsidian pebbles that looked ready to bury me under a great big avalanche. It ticked me off. Here I was, offering the guy his life, basically, and all he could do was threaten me with metaphorical boulders! "You have no idea, Jasmine. The two of us will mix at a very basic level.
I
cannot predict the outcome.
You
cannot know the risk!"

I grabbed the lapels of his jacket, considered shaking him 'til his teeth rattled, thought better of it. "Vayl! Calm down before I slap you! Damn, but you're grouchy when you're hungry!"

That got him. His hands dropped from my shoulders. He dug the heel of his palm into the furrows between his eyes. "You are insane, you know that?"

Ouch
. "I'm just being practical. I knew someday I might have to bare my throat to you. Pete and I discussed that very possibility. As for danger and risk-taking, that's what Pete pays me to do. And you and I both know he intends to get his money's worth."

"Jasmine, I cannot—"

"Why not!"

"Because you are
not food
!"

I stared at him for a minute, then I started to grin. I couldn't help it. "Vayl," I tried to keep my face straight, "I'm not asking you to eat me."

Vayl's jaw dropped and I burst into peals of laughter. Eventually I heard him chuckling along with me and I knew we'd be okay. When I had my warped sense of humor back under control I said, "It's just a temporary solution. Until we can figure out something better. Okay?"

When he sighed and his shoulders dropped out of defensive mode, I knew I'd won. "Then I will not wait any longer. You must take this," he said. He pulled the chain he wore out from under his shirt. Off came the ring and away went my smile. I knew from the look on Vayl's face this was serious times ten.

He held the ring out to me and I stared at it as it sat in his palm. Intricately woven golden knots formed the band, and in the center of each knot glittered a superb little ruby. The exquisite craftsmanship made the ring resemble a magical artifact, like a token of love left at the bottom of the Lake of Dreams by some broken-hearted nymph.

"Oh, wow." I touched it as if it was crafted of spun glass.

"You like it then?" Vayl took it and slipped it onto my finger. Though it sat on my right hand, the feeling still spooked me, as if we'd just agreed to some sort of unmarriage.

"It's gorgeous," I said, holding my arm out to see it better. I dropped my hand to my lap as a thought occurred to me. "I can't keep it."

"What?"

"It's too much, Vayl. Too expensive. Too beautiful. Too personal. Plus Pete would kill me. Remember what he said about not accepting gifts?"

"From clients, not from each other. Jasmine—" frustration furrowed his eyebrows, edged his tone, "why do you always have to make everything so difficult?"

My first instinct was to argue, but I had no basis. Vayl had made this wonderful gesture. Did I really have to spit in his hand? "It's just, I don't understand why you would give this to me when, you're right, I have been a pain in the ass lately."

"Because it is more than a gift." Vayl brought my hand to his lips and kissed it. An old fashioned token which should never have gone extinct. "You wear a ring made by my father's father on the day I was born. It is called Cirilai—which means 'guardian.' My mother, as she lay dying from the difficulty of my birth, had a vision of
my
death. She knew it would be violent. She knew it would endanger my soul. Cirilai contains all the ancient powers my family could muster to protect me. As long as it exists, I may lose my life, but I cannot lose my soul."

Holy crap in a shipwreck, I'd heard fables about such artifacts. To actually have one wrapped around my finger though? Well, to be honest it made me feel kind of nauseous. "Why in the world would you give something so precious to me?"

If I'd known him for years, maybe I could have read the answer in those amber eyes. He must've spent a minute trying to tell me things with them that words could never express. But too much of the unknown still stood between us to allow a translation. That's what I told myself. Maybe I was just too scared to let myself understand. Finally he said, "I gave you Cirilai because the ring will protect you as well. And because I sensed in you the same power that is invested in the ring. The two of you belong together—with me."

At the risk of sounding like a two-year-old, I repeated myself. "But, why?"

Thank goodness that, unlike mine, Vayl's patience isn't tied to a lit fuse. His hands tightened on mine. "You and Cirilai remind me that, while I am no longer human, I am also no better than human."

"Is that all? We keep you humble?"

"Think of what happens to people who possess such powers as mine when they decide their ideas, agendas, race is superior to all others."

"Napoleon," I whispered. "Hitler. Hussein."

Vayl nodded solemnly. "In guarding my soul, you protect the world. And that is why I need you as my partner. My avhar."

Grateful to be sitting now that my knees felt like wet spaghetti, I looked down at our clasped hands until I could speak without sounding like a reality-show confessor.
Jerry, I swore never to love again until I met someone who could earn every ounce of respect and affection in my body with a single gesture
. Ick. It would never work anyway. Reasons? God, I could make a ceiling-to-floor list. But mainly, because I didn't want it to. Did I?
No. No. No. No. No
. So. Back to the task at hand: making sure my vamp, er, boss didn't run off for some high-risk blood-letting with his willing donor. I took a deep breath. Made myself focus. "Are you telling me this now because I need to know, or because you're putting off the inevitable?"

"Maybe both," he said, shaking his head. "You, me, the ring—we each possess a power that is potent all on its own. Combining the three, well, if the bomb squad knew what we were planning they would probably stick us in a lead-lined bunker."

"Vayl, you're not talking me out of this. It's the right move. So quit lecturing and get to it."

Vayl hesitated one more minute, then he drew me into his arms. "I will not take much," he assured me, "only what I need and no more."

No more, no more, no more.

His fingers grazed my neck as he swept my hair aside. His lips brushed my earlobe, moved down to my throat. One arm pulled me closer as the other hand tipped my head sideways. I sighed as I felt his power settle over me, warm and comforting as an old quilt. He kept nuzzling me with his lips, caressing me with the tips of his fangs until something new rose between us, a force that sizzled and snapped, making the very air churn. I could hear my breath coming in gasps.

"Vayl… please."

"Yes," he said, his voice hoarse with desire. For me? For my blood? I wasn't sure there was any difference just then. I wanted to share this new insight with him, but my frontal lobe chose that moment to completely shut down. Even the pain of his teeth penetrating my skin didn't wake it up.

Vayl's arms tightened around me. I reached down, digging my fingernails into his thighs as he drank me in. The air shimmered with power. With magic. My head buzzed with it. Through half-closed lids I watched colored bubbles of light dance across the walls. The darkness came so quickly after that, I never even knew it had taken me until I returned to myself and realized I was lying on the couch with one leg flung over its arm. Vayl sat on the other couch, staring at me like I'd grown an extra head as I struggled to sit up. A tightness on my neck caused me to reach up, but when my fingertips encountered a gauze pad I dropped my hand back into my lap.

"What?" I asked, trying hard not to cry. I don't know if I was more distressed that I'd blacked out or that I'd missed most of an experience that had promised to be unforgettable. "Did I do something wrong?" I asked. "Did I
say
something out of line?"
What the hell just happened?

Vayl shook his head. "You were perfect. Better than the best. I have never… it has never been like that for me before."

"For me either." We smiled at each other. The hard knot of fear that twisted my heart with every new blackout relaxed. Vayl didn't know. My secret still hid safe. Now that my attention could wander, I realized the experience had left some aftereffects. "I
do
feel kind of funky though," I commented.

He sat forward, his eyes wide with concern. "How do you mean?"

"Umm, like, drunk. But not."

I thought Vayl would come sit beside me, fuss over me a little, but he sat statue still, like a street performer who's run out of gray body paint. Finally he whispered. "I know."

"Know what?"

"It is as if you are an entire spectrum of light that just became visible to me. I can… hear your heart beating. I can sense your hunger pangs. I know you are scared. You are also elated, tired, worried and," his voice dropped, "excited."

"Oh no," I said. "Oh no, oh no, oh no—" I bit my lip hard, stopping the litany with my own blood. Vayl had kept his word. He'd left me plenty. It trickled onto my chin as I tried to stand, but I moved too fast and lost my balance. Vayl caught me just before I landed in a heap on the floor. As soon as I regained my equilibrium I growled, "Back off."

He stepped away.

"No, I mean with your senses or whatever. You were supposed to give me super powers. You were supposed to make me fly. You weren't supposed to march through my thoughts like a lumberjack in a rainforest!"

"Jasmine, that is not how it happened! There is no need to panic."

"I'm not panicking!" But I was, and I had no way to hide it. "I don't want you inside my head," I told him, keeping my voice as reasonable and level as possible considering I just wanted to stuff my face into a pillow and scream. "It's too intimate, too scary. I'm not ready for that!" I realized I was yelling and covered my mouth.

"I warned you. I told you—"

I raised my hand to stop him talking, trying to swallow my oceanic fear as I did. "I can't have you—exploring me like that. There are things you don't know. Things I can't explain." I stopped, took a deep breath to keep myself from babbling on until he
did
discover my secret.

His lips twitched. "Are you really that bad?"

"Well… no, I'm just… not that good."

"Maybe that is why I find you so interesting."

"Huh," was my brilliant reply.

He took my hand and pulled me back down to the couch. "Jasmine, the change has begun. You cannot let it destroy you."

"No, I can't."
Can't, can't, can't
…

"So relax. I promise you, I will not probe. I will not intrude. Your thoughts, your memories, are still your own."

"… Okay." I took a deep breath and sat back.

"I would like to ask you something, however."

Crap
! "What?"

"Why did you rearrange the furniture again?"

"Well, I wanted to work out and… again?"

"Remember Ethiopia? And Germany? And Hong Kong?"

"Yeah. So?"

"So, you have rearranged the furniture in every apartment, hotel and hut we have stayed in since I have known you. And always the same way. I just wondered why."

"Oh," I laughed weakly, wracking my brain for a plausible excuse. "Well, that's the way it always was growing up. No matter what house we were living in, Mom arranged the furniture the same way to make it feel like home."

A damn fine explanation, I must say, and one Vayl swallowed whole.

"I was just wondering."

"Let's go kick somebody's butt," I suggested, thinking it would sure make me feel better. "I feel like I really could throw a bad guy across the room."

"And suddenly we have so many from which to choose." Vayl thought a moment, giving me time to rearrange my brain. Like the furniture, it made no sense to me, but I did recover most of my scattered control. "Any ideas?" he asked.

"Assan comes immediately to mind."

"I am sure it will be a pleasure ending his existence. But he is more valuable to us as he is right now, oblivious and unbruised. First we need to find out where he and Aidyn are storing the virus."