back the curtain would you be working the controls?” Adin listened for an
answer. “Bran?”
Silence. For some reason Adin began to worry. It was as if they’d left
him in a room all alone. All the voices had disappeared, all the sounds, the
traffic, the helicopter, the EMT’s voices were gone as if they’d never existed.
“Bran?” Adin asked, more urgently. “Bran, where are you? Where is
everyone?”
“Bran’s busy.” Santos’s voice.
“Perfect.” Adin muttered. “Another country heard from.”
Vigil
203
“Here, take this.” Adin felt lips press down on his, dark and seductive.
They knew what they were doing and soon a tongue stroked along his lower
lip and he parted them, surprised by the pleasure of it. Fluid pushed through
to gush past his teeth and over his tongue. Lots of it.
Adin gagged and coughed as a hand came down on his lips and prevented
him from expelling the awful, coppery warm liquid.
“Swallow.” Adin blinked, and when his vision cleared Donte stood over
him.
Adin shook his head.
Donte repeated the word. “Swallow.”
Adin had no choice but to do as he was told. When he’d finally gagged
all the horrible, salty liquid, down he asked, “What the fuck?
Donte
?”
Donte’s face seemed to dissolve, and instead, Santos’s face smiled down
at him.
“Happy Easter, Adin,” Santos told him, his eyes like dark holes that
framed single pinpoints of light. “The oldest and most arcane mystery of
all.” He smiled in a nearly fatherly way and disappeared. Everyone was
gone. Everything was silent.
“Bran?” Adin called out. “
Bran?
”
When Adin woke, the first thing he saw was Edward. He
opened his mouth to say something, but found himself unable
to talk past his dry mouth and scratchy throat. He jerked his head
minutely and got Edward’s attention that way. Edward practically
leaped to his feet to bring him soothing hands and ice chips for
his dry mouth.
Edward’s eyes were red rimmed and swollen. “Adin?” He
clasped Adin’s good hand gently. Adin tried to acknowledge that
in some way but couldn’t seem to make his body move.
“Thank God.”
Adin looked up dully, reminded of all the times Edward had
been there for him. His throat hurt just to look at him. His face
crumpled, but no tears would come.
204 Z.A. Maxfield
“Now…” Edward soothed. “There’s no need for that. You’re
going to be fine, baby.”
A shape detached from the wall on the far side of the room
and swept out the door.
Shit.
Donte. He probably blamed himself
and was currently going to be harder than ever to deal with. Adin
turned panicked eyes toward Edward, willing him to go after
Donte and bring him back.
“Let him be.” Edward glanced back at the door. He gave Adin
an ice chip to suck on. “He should have known better than to
come to you in that condition. What the hell did he think was
going to happen if he—”
Adin squeezed Edward’s hand as hard as he could. “
Go,
” he
croaked.
“
Ow
.” Edward pulled his hand back. “Oh, all right all ready.
I’ll go get him. But if you ask me…” Adin poked him hard and
he left.
Tuan came in after Edward left. He gave Adin a relieved
smile. “Good to see you awake. I had them airlift you here,” Tuan
gestured to the private room, “because this facility has a trauma
center for victims of paranormal events. They’re equipped to
deal with all kinds of… Let’s just say it’s specialized.”
Adin blinked at him. He tried clearing his throat, and it was a
little easier. “
Thirsty
.”
“Yes, indeed, I’m sure you are.” Tuan picked up the cup of
ice chips that Edward had been doling out and placed one on
Adin’s tongue. “Besides trying to track down Donte, Edward will
probably inform the doctor that you’re awake and I’m sure any
restrictions on food and drink will be lifted forthwith.”
Adin nodded. “
Water.
”
“Soon, I promise.” Tuan’s voice was kind. “You won’t be
the first to be treated for near exsanguination by a lover, and
you won’t be the last. Humans are like moths to a flame with
vampires.”
Adin lowered his lashes. Sucking on the ice chips seemed to
Vigil
205
help. He swallowed once or twice to test his jaw. “I am, anyway.”
“It’s nothing to be ashamed of Adin. It’s the way things are.”
Adin wanted to say he wasn’t ashamed at all. At any rate,
anything he said would be taken like the excuses a person makes
for a drunken spouse or an abuser. It would hardly matter to
anyone that Adin was—at last—completely confident with
regard to the strange turns his life had taken. During what he had
thought were the final moments of his life, even as he’d wept
at the thought of losing consciousness for the last time, he was
aware he wouldn’t give up the time he’d spent with Donte for
anything. And he’d nearly lost the chance to tell him…
“Boaz brought Bran. He’ll want to see you. He’s very unhappy
with us that we didn’t bring him in last night. He said something
about you needing him. But to be honest…” Tuan allowed his
normally taciturn face show emotion as he brushed Adin’s cheek
lightly with his knuckles. “It was touch and go. That was…” Tuan
swallowed, “hard to watch.”
Adin feared to ask. “I was never alone with Donte, was I?
Here?”
Tuan shook his head. “The minute we left the helicopter the
medical team took you from us. After you were allowed visitors
Edward and I never left you alone. Donte seemed worried about
his enemies and I… Maybe I was worried about Donte.”
“I need to see him.” Adin’s cracked and parched throat hurt
as fear gripped him. He fussed with the controls for the bed.
“Up.
Please
.”
Tuan helped him to raise the back of the hospital bed. Adin’s
head swam. He pushed against the side rails until Tuan lowered
them. When he tried to swing his legs over Tuan wouldn’t allow
it.
“Stay where you are, Adin. Don’t fight me, you’re not strong
enough to be walking around.”
Adin wanted to scream with frustration. The barest push of
Tuan’s hand was more than enough to press him back down;
he was so weak. Tuan sat beside him. Adin’s breathing became
206 Z.A. Maxfield
shallower and his pulse more rapid. He had no strength to fight
Tuan’s hold on him. He reached out with his heart instead,
sending Donte a message, hampered by his physical limitations
but carrying the full weight of his determination.
Come back
.
Stay with me. I need you.
And then he thought of that curious dream, the kiss, the
blood, first Santos’s face and then Donte’s, his hand over Adin’s
mouth and had a horrible frisson of fear. Had he woken with a
coppery taste in his mouth…?
Donte, what have you done?
Gods.
It was only a dream, wasn’t it?
Tuan sat with Adin until the door opened and Donte walked
in. He had obviously thrown on casual clothes in haste while
waiting for the EMTs. He wore a fine-gauge cashmere sweater
and a pair of jeans Adin had never seen before beneath one of
his many long, dark coats. This one—a vintage wool military
topcoat very much like Bran’s—swung around his calves when
he turned after closing the door behind him. Donte glowered
and took up a large amount of space in the small, private hospital
room, causing the air to crackle with tension that Adin could feel
in his chest.
Adin cleared his throat. Tuan reluctantly excused himself and
left.
Donte’s hair stood out at odd angles, as though he’d hung
onto the outside of the helicopter while they’d flown from place
to place, but Adin was too tired to laugh, and too dehydrated to
cry. What came out was more like a cough, followed by a helpless
gurgle that went silent when Donte pinned him with an angry
gaze. Donte wasn’t likely to forgive himself. Adin knew he’d have
to tread carefully. He held out a hand, but Donte didn’t come to
him.
“
Donte
.” Adin frowned.
Donte frowned right back and he was better at it. He didn’t
move. “In case it has escaped your notice, I nearly killed you.”
“
Ah, jeez
.” Adin fussed with the sheet covering him. “Yeah.
So what’s your point?”
Donte ran his hand through his hair and Adin began to
understand how it got that way. The usually resplendent Donte
didn’t seem to care what he looked like. How odd. “You are an
idiot.”
“Absolutely.”
“Sciocco,” Donte said explosively.
208 Z.A. Maxfield
“Pazzo,” Adin countered.
“
Imbecile
.”
“I’m a
clown
.”
“Yes. Even that.” Donte inched forward. “You cried.”
“Yes.” Adin stopped smiling. “I did.”
Donte stepped forward once more. “You were afraid.”
“I was.” Adin never took his eyes off Donte’s. “I am.”
Donte’s façade eroded then, and it was painful for Adin to
watch, as if an ancient rocky edifice crumbled and fell away into
the sea. “I cannot do this,” Donte whispered.
Adin held his arms out. “I know.”
Donte was shaking his head no when he moved forward.
He leaned over the hospital bed and wrapped his arms around
Adin’s waist, putting his head across Adin’s lap. Adin pushed his
fingers—IV tubes trailing after them, attached to the back of his
hand—through Donte’s dark waves, brushing them back from
his face. He found the wisp of silver and smoothed it carefully.
Soothing. Caressing Donte’s tense face, using his thumb to
smooth the tightly clenched jaw. He continued stroking until he
felt Donte’s body relax slightly, until Adin felt something shudder
through it as Donte unwound.
“Shh,” Adin said stupidly, because Donte didn’t make a single
sound. He just held on like a limpet, but didn’t breathe, didn’t
move. Cold and lifeless, except for the ardor with which he clung,
and the waves of intense satisfaction that Adin felt through his
skin and his muscle to his very bones. The love he felt surrounded
them like mist.
My monster
.
“Sometimes I hate you, più amato,” Donte said then, and
Adin knew very well that he meant it.
“Right back atcha, my lover.” Adin continued stroking his
soft hair.
Donte tightened his grip—if possible—and stayed that way
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209
for another few minutes before he took an audible breath, more
for show, and stood. He cupped Adin’s face in his hand and
peered at him. “You are weak.”
“I am indeed. And not just in the usual, I’m human, and you
are the apex of—”
Donte tensed. “Not today,
pazzo
, I am not in the mood.”
“All right,” Adin agreed. “I
am
weak. I can’t get out of bed.”
Donte pursed his lips and shook his head. “Bran will wish
to see you since he appears to have adopted you. He was beside
himself with grief. He’s probably going to challenge me to a
duel.”
“And of course you will be a responsible adult and not fan the
flames with your usual insouciant charm?”
“You mean I must handle him with soft gloves?”
“I mean exactly that,” Adin told Donte.
“I hear you. I can’t even be around him, caro. I will not eat
him.”
Adin said nothing.
Donte shifted uncomfortably. “That is an idiom I find less
appealing today.”
Adin laughed out loud. He reached out and grabbed the lapel
of Donte’s coat and pulled him close, pressing his cheek against
Donte’s, then whispering in his ear, “I could not love you any
more than I do. It’s not physically possible. Per sempre, amore
mio, I’m so, so sorry.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for.” Donte cleared his throat.
“You called me back, and I am here. Perhaps I am the fool.”
“Yes.”
“Heaven help me.” Donte pressed his lips to Adin’s, nudging
Adin’s legs aside to sit beside him on the tiny hospital bed. Adin
wound his good hand around Donte’s neck, fussing with the IV
line to get it out of the way. His broken arm was cumbersome
and awkward. He opened for Donte’s tongue when they kissed,
210 Z.A. Maxfield
and pulled him close when he slid down, willing him to forget
everything and take what he had to offer.
All his love. All his faith. His body, his heart, his future.
“Ah, lover—” A commotion outside the door caught their
attention and they broke apart.
Boaz came into the room followed by Tuan and Edward. “Is
Bran here? Have you seen him?”
“No.” Donte stood and covered Adin carefully with the
lightweight sheet they’d pushed down while they kissed. “I