Page 49 of Midnight Kiss

“When I was little, after my parents died, I thought I was going to die as well,” she murmured, her lips parting to let the words slip past. “I used to think that if I prayed hard enough, I would die too and I could join them.”

I squeezed her hand at the thought. “What happened to them?”

“A car accident,” she said. “They died in a car accident. And my grandparents on my mother’s side didn’t want to take me, so I wound up in an orphanage, basically. It was a difficult time for me. I wanted so bad to go back to the way things were before they passed. Isn’t that funny?”

“What?” I asked.

“You can’t tell when you’re in the good times. Like, when you’re having them they feel normal, until things change and then you realize you didn’t appreciate the moments you had, the people around you, while they were still there.”

A tear rolled from her eye into the crook of her nose, and I swept it away.

“I guess that’s why you’re supposed to appreciate every moment or whatever cringey thing they say.” She laughed. “Hey, I am starting to feel better.”

“Good.” I lifted her off the sofa, holding her underneath her knees and behind her upper back.

She gasped. “Alex? What are you doing?”

“Taking you away from that book.” I walked her into her bedroom then laid her down on top of her sheets.

I locked the door and turned toward her. She smiled at me, the color returning to her cheeks.

“Yes,” she said. “It’s much easier to breathe when you’re around. But why? What’s happening? Do you think that book is actually cursed? Maybe I should just throw it—” She cut off the words catching in her mouth, and an alarmed expression passed over her fine features.

“Emily?”

“I couldn’t even say it. The thought of throwing the book—” Again, a choking noise. “I don’t think I can get rid of it.” Her eyes widened, and she struggled upright. “Alex, what am I going to do? This isn’t right. It can’t be real.”

“Don’t panic.” I drew closer to her and sat on the end of her bed. Being near her was torture enough already, especially after the shower I’d given her.

“How can I not panic? I mean, there’s a cursed book out there. Or maybe I’ve got some blood fever and I should go to the doctor?”

Tell her. “I’m not sure that would work. But if you want to go, I can take you.”

“What about your business? Your life?”

“I don’t have one,” I said.

“Everybody has a life.”

“Not me,” I replied. “I’m either working or here. And I prefer being here.”

“Alex.”

“Yes?”

“Please lie on the bed with me,” she whispered.

It was a request that was impossible to deny. I removed my coat and hung it from the hook on the back of her bedroom door, taking time with the movements, giving her the chance to rescind the invitation.

If I bit her, it would be over, but how was I going to do anything with her that didn’t involve my fangs? The restraint it would take would be nearly impossible. And if I bit her, I didn’t want her to forget. I wanted her to know what it meant.

My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I removed it and switched it off, setting it on her bedside table without checking who had been calling.

“Are you sure, Emily?”

“Of course,” she said.

I lay down beside her, awkwardly, on my back, and stared up at the ceiling. If I touched her now, there would be no going back for me.