Macy nods, and then we start walking back toward the castle—Macy, Grace, and me. I nod to the Order to stay where they are until the crowd starts to disperse, so that’s exactly what they do.
Grace and I walk in silence for a minute or two until she turns to me and asks, “What are you doing out here anyway? I thought you weren’t going to join the snowball fight.”
I don’t have an answer to that, so I prevaricate with, “Good thing I was out here, considering the mess Flint got you into.” I very deliberately don’t look at her to keep myself from saying something stupid.
“It really is no big deal,” she assures me, but there’s something off in her tone even before she continues. “Flint had me. He—”
“Flint very definitely did not have you,” I snap, her defense of that damn dragon setting me off like few things have in a very long time. I stop to face her, determined to make her understand. “In fact—” I break off, eyes narrowing at the flicker of pain that flits across her face. “What’s wrong?”
“Besides not being able to figure out why you’re so mad?” She brushes off my concern.
But that doesn’t stop me from looking her over from head to toe. “What’s hurting you?”
“I’m fine,” she insists.
“You’re hurt, Grace?” Macy joins the conversation for the first time, and I’m embarrassed to admit I almost forgot she was even with us. Then again, next to Grace, everyone pales in comparison.
“It’s nothing,” Grace repeats, but it’s not very convincing. Especially when she continues to walk—and winces with every step she takes.
I grind my teeth together and resist the urge to make a comment about just how stubborn she is. Instead I ask, “What hurts?” and give her a look that tells her I’m not budging on this until she’s honest with me.
She stares back, giving as good as she’s getting. But eventually she backs off with a disgruntled sigh. “My ankle. I must have twisted it when we hit the ground.”
As soon as I know what’s wrong with her, I kneel down and probe her foot and ankle as gently as I can through her boot. She gasps a little, and the fact that I’m hurting her, even accidentally, goes through me like a particularly powerful current. “I can’t take this off out here or you’ll get frostbite. But does it hurt when I do this?”
She gasps, and I ease away, pissed off that I hurt her. Even more pissed off that I let her get hurt to begin with.
“Should I run ahead and get the snowmobile?” Macy asks. “I can be back before too long.”
“I can walk. Honest. I’m okay,” Grace says, but her voice sounds as pathetic as she looks.
I shoot her an incredulous look as I reach down and help her to her feet. Then, because she very obviously can’t walk, I swoop her into my arms. And do my best to ignore the fact that holding her feels better than anything has in the entire hundred years of my existence.
If You Want to
Feel Better, Never Ask
an Evil Vampire a Question
—Jaxon—
I’m out the front door before Grace can even make it down the first step.
I know I should probably stick around, but I can’t do that. Not right now. Not when she’s got that bandage on her neck and other ones on her arm and cheek. And not when I know that I’m the asshole who did it to her.
I close my eyes for a second—just a second—and it all flashes back. The earthquake. The window exploding under the force of my power. The moment the glass sliced into Grace’s neck.
I’ve never been more terrified in my life. Fear isn’t something I experience very often—when you’re the scariest thing in the night, you tend to not worry about what else is bumping along next to you. But watching that glass hit Grace, watching her blood spray all over the room and realizing the glass had sliced an artery… Yeah, terrified doesn’t even begin to cover how I felt.
The next five minutes are a blur. I remember licking her throat closed in an effort to stop the blood, remember bits and pieces of gathering her in my arms, but fade full-out for Marise as Grace lay white and still in my arms.
I’d nearly killed her because I couldn’t control myself.
Nearly killed her just because being near her makes me feel so much that I can’t lock it away.
Nearly killed her because when it comes to her, I’m weak. So weak that I unwittingly let the energy build up and nearly mated her without even asking her permission.