Part 25 (1/2)
He glanced at Sarafina. ”Are you hurting as much as it feels like you are?” he asked.
She blinked at him. ”What is that supposed to mean?”
”I have all these aches I didn't have before. It feels like I'm the one with the lump on my head, the bruised cheekbone and the wrenched ankle, among other things.”
”You feel my pain?” she asked.
”I figured it was the blood. Don't Misty and Edward...?”
”No.”
”No?” He glanced quickly at her, the bulk of his attention focussed on the road. ”They sure sounded as if they were feeling it when they phoned me.”
She shook her head. ”They crave me like a drug. They think they love me, but it's the blood they love. They don't live inside me the way...”
”The way I do,” he finished for her.
She slid her gaze away from his, trying to look out the window. ”I was furious with them for disobeying me, and they knew it. They ran off into the woods right after they phoned you, which was what I had told them to do in the first place.”
He shrugged. ”Then they didn't disobey. Exactly. They just...delayed obeying.”
She shot him a glance, brows raised.
He felt her pain when she moved. Her head ached. Her neck was stiff. ”What I'm feeling- it's real, isn't it? You're in a lot of pain.”
”We tend to feel physical sensations to an exaggerated degree-by mortal standards, at least.
Pain, pleasure, they're heightened in my kind, along with every other sense. So yes, injuries cause me significant discomfort. Any real damage will heal with the day-sleep, however.”
”But you've got half the night to get through before that.” He shook his head. ”She really kicked your a.s.s.”
Her head snapped toward him, eyes flas.h.i.+ng.
”That wasn't a slam. I'm amazed, is all. I mean, you kicked my a.s.s. I still haven't made peace with that one.”
”Why are you doing this?” she asked, still staring at him.
”Doing what?”
”Making conversation. As if-as if you don't hate me with everything in you.”
He drew a breath, was silent for a moment. Then he spoke. ”I guess it must be because I don't hate you.”
She narrowed her eyes as if she didn't quite believe him.
”I probably should, considering what you tried to do to me. G.o.d knows I've been trying to.
But I don't. Actually, I kind of respect you for taking action to protect two girls you didn't even know. Against a man with whom you felt...connected. Maybe even cared for a little bit. Or am I a.s.suming too much?''
She said nothing, just ripped her gaze away again, aiming it out the side window.
”I'm a.s.suming that's why you didn't just kill me outright. Because of...the bond between us.”
”I didn't kill you because I'd never met a man whose will seemed as powerful as yours.
Breaking it was a challenge I couldn't resist.”
”And that's all it was?”
”That's all it was.”
”Sorry, Sarafina. But I don't believe you.”
Her back stiffened a little. She didn't ask him why not, but he was on a roll, and he wasn't going to stop now.
”You didn't succeed. And you're still with me. And if the challenge of breaking my will were all you wanted, you'd still be trying. G.o.d knows you're strong enough to go a few more rounds with me.”
She turned toward him slowly. ”In case you haven't noticed, Willem, there are more pressing matters right now. I misread the situation and put the Child of Promise in jeopardy. I have to right this situation. And when it's finished, if we're both still alive, perhaps then I'll consider renewing my efforts with you.”
He smiled a little crookedly. ”No, you won't.”
”And what makes you so certain of that?”
”Because you might win. And then you'd never have the satisfaction of knowing whether I'm so f.u.c.king hot for you and out-of-my-head in love with you because of mind control or just because I am.” She looked as if he'd hit her between the eyes with a mallet.
”I am, you know.”
She shook her head, short movements left and right, over and over. ”You're playing with my mind again.”
”I wasn't playing with your mind in the first place. And none of the stuff I did with you back in that room was acting. I wanted every bit of it, and then some. And I can't really blame it on the blood, because I was craving you like a drug before we ever met outside our minds. And I think you know it, because you were craving me, too.”
”No.”
”Yes. And you want to know why. What the h.e.l.l it means. And you'll never find out if you zap my brain the way you did those two zombie slaves of yours.”
She sat rigidly, as far from him as she could. ”You couldn't be more wrong, Willem Stone.”
”You wish I was wrong. But we both know I'm not. At least I'm honest enough to admit it, Fina. I loved every minute of being chained to that bed, forced to submit to your will. You'll love it, too, when I return the favor one of these nights.”
Her eyes widened, and he saw something he hadn't see before.
”Jesus, you're afraid of me.”
She pursed her lips, crossed her arms over her chest. ”Don't be ridiculous. I could snap you like a twig, mortal.”
”Exactly. So what is it about me that frightens you so much?”
”I do not get 'frightened,'” she told him. ”I'm a vampire. I've survived centuries. Monsters.
Attacks of all kinds. Vampire hunters from all ages. Nothing frightens me.”