Chapter 13
578words
London streets glowed in the fading light.
He waited casually dressed, absorbed in his phone, his pale profile sharp against the gathering darkness.
His long fingers tapped the screen, the silver watch at his wrist accentuating his supernatural pallor.
Several passing girls stole glances, eventually working up the courage to approach him for his number.
He looked up, slightly startled. "I'm sorry. I'm already with someone."
Since my public declaration at the fight club, he'd embraced his new status without hesitation.
The girl blushed and stammered, "Oh! Sorry to bother you."
I hung back, smoothing my dress and checking my reflection in a compact mirror.
The redness around my eyes had faded.
Taking a deep breath, I stepped forward.
"Sebastian."
He looked up, turning toward my voice. When he saw me, something flashed in his eyes—a crimson gleam, quickly controlled—before his lips curved into a smile.
I hurried toward him.
As he reached to embrace me, I subtly pulled back.
"I'm feeling a bit feverish."
A transparent excuse.
"Oh." He withdrew his hand—so cold the air around it seemed to drop several degrees—though his gaze fell to my wrists.
"What?" Anxiety crept into my voice.
His eyes—now tinged with red—fixed on the bandages circling my wrists.
The crimson in his eyes intensified.
He could smell it. Blood.
Even through the bandages.
"Isabelle, what happened to your wrists?"
I panicked.
The injuries had come from fighting the servants during my confinement.
I pulled my sleeves down, forcing a laugh. "Oh, it's nothing. Just bumped into a door. Clumsy me."
He took my hand, careful to avoid the bandages, his touch feather-light. "Let's go home."
"Mm."
As I slid into the car, I bumped my wrist against the door. A hiss of pain escaped before I could stop it.
Sebastian paused, then crouched beside the open door, fingers hovering near my bandages. "Are you sure you just bumped into something?"
I pulled away.
Meeting his eyes—now fully crimson, the color vampires' eyes turn when they detect fresh blood—I nodded vigorously. "Yes, really. It's nothing."
He studied my face intently, searching for the truth.
I nudged him away. "Come on, let's go."
He finally straightened and walked around to the driver's side.
I flexed my wrist carefully, settling into the seat with a quiet sigh.
…
Sebastian stopped at a pharmacy. As twilight deepened into evening, I waited impatiently in the car.
Nearly thirty minutes later, he returned with a small bag.
"You took forever. Thought you'd abandoned me."
Though I was clearly annoyed, he responded with gentle certainty. "Never."
He closed the door and explained, "The first place didn't have your preferred antiseptic. Had to go to Boots."
With the window cracked, the evening breeze cleared the car's stuffiness.
London's lights flickered to life around us.
Stopped at a traffic light, I impulsively leaned over to kiss him.
His cool lips met mine.
The movement jarred my wrist. I winced slightly.
The tiny reaction didn't escape his notice.
His eyes had shifted fully to crimson.
Blood scent and emotion—a dangerous combination for vampires.
"Isabelle, you're hiding something."
My heart skipped. "No, I'm not."
"Are you certain?"
Guilt forced my gaze away. "Of course."
He let it drop, for now.
The crimson slowly receded from his eyes, returning to their usual deep brown.
I suppressed a sigh of relief.
