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“The clean-up’s done boss,” Dom announces, as I linger in a vacant state in Sara’s kitchen.
I don’t care what’s going on out there on the streets anymore. I don’t really care for much at the moment. I’m lost just like I was below that mountain, chained up in the dark like an animal, having no idea what would happen.
“Boss, she’s going to be okay,” he tries to assure me.
“Leave me Dom.” I bite down, listening to him leave.
Call me impatient, but the longer she remains asleep, the more tempted I am to give her my bite. Four days she’s been here at Sara’s house with wires coming out from her skin. Four days I’ve sat in the corner of that room, watching her, all while I’ve had to deal with Laurie’s extradition to Prague, Nathan, and the grief of losing Connor. I put her in that bed, and I’m responsible for bringing her back one way or another. But I can’t, because taking her life from her would truly end me.
She was so stupid to do that for me. I could have made it without her blood. Knowing that she would do such a thing, to put herself at risk like that, infuriates me. I love her, but now I realise she will always be vulnerable because of me.
“Adrien, get out here now,” Leanna’s tense voice echoes through the house.
I flit into Sara’s dining room, with the hope and expectation of seeing Elizabeth awake. But no, this is about Nathan. Again.
“What is it now?”
“He’s refusing to come to Paris,” Leanna says as Nathan’s bloodshot eyes hit me with hatred. “He’s nearly ready, but I can’t make him go anywhere.”
“Give us a minute, Leanna.” My eyes remain on his, as Leanna walks by me.
At first he was compliant. It was just a case of making sure his awakening was under control with blood. Now he’s changing from new blood to vigore, his rationality is returning. He above all knows I’m to blame, and he was right. But still I won’t put up with his self-righteous interfering attitude.
“Feeling better?” I ask, watching him lean back in the mahogany chair.
“Is Liz?”
Fuckin asshole. “She’ll wake up, soon.”
“So you think you can just send me off to Paris? I can do what I god damn well want. And I’m not...” His body suddenly curls over and he hits his head hard with his hand.
“You’re still awakening, Nathan. Feel like going out there hunting for blood? It will not go away. You need to train yourself, and the best place to do that is with Leanna and Gerrard.”
“Out of your way so you can put Liz in danger again.”
I press my hands down on the table and arch over. “I didn’t want any of this to happen.”
“Oh come on. You are the big cheese here. Any girl you get involved with is dead before the first kiss!”
I slam my hand down on the table. He’s pushing all the right buttons. But as he again flings his body over in pain, I know now is not the right time to take my frustration out on him. I have to be tactful with him.
“Nathan, what do you think will happen if I let you walk out of here? Do you think you can just return to your old life?”
“I’m not one of your ass-kissing minions,” he hisses through his teeth. “You can’t tell me what to do!”
“Do you want to kill those you love?”
“Fuck-off!”
“Your family. Your friends. Elizabeth.” Great, he’s crying again. I do feel for him. He didn’t do anything other than care for Elizabeth. “Nathan, listen to me. Once you have a grasp on what you are, then you can return. You can work, have friends, screw who you please. But you walk out of that door now, then you’ll only leave a trail of blood behind you.”
He rubs his eyes with his thumb and finger, sniffing. “And Liz?”
“When she wakes, you can see her before you go.”
“So I am taking orders from you then?”
“No Nathan.”
The dining room doors open and Sara enters, carrying a box of medical supplies for Elizabeth. She lifts a blood bag out and slides it across the table toward Nathan. I notice the concern in Sara’s eyes as she watches him feed. But she quickly shakes it off, aware that I’ve noticed she has developed a deep care for his wellbeing.
“I’m going to need your help with this,” she says, walking to the staircase.
***
I CLOSE THE DOOR TO the bedroom as Sara sets the box down on the dressing table. I get the same feeling each time I’m near her. Guilt. She looks like an angel, peaceful, beautiful, and warm. The only thing that makes being in this room bearable, is seeing her chest rise up and down, breathing in life.
I take the empty blood bag off the drip stand and replace it with a fresh, as Sara combs Elizabeth’s hair.
“Are you okay?” Sara asks. “I’ve not asked you, because I knew you weren’t ready to answer.”
“And you think I’m ready now?” I brush my fingers over Elizabeth’s warm hand, as I go to my faithful chair in the corner.
“We need to think about the next step,” Sara says as I sit down. “It’s not too late.”
I know what she’s going to suggest, and I’m not going to listen. Not yet. I have to give Elizabeth more time to find her way back to me, even though every minute watching her, is a minute her soul grows closer to death.