Page 43 of Blood that Burns
He offers a small smile. “I won’t be far. Call out if you need me.”
I nod and he practically runs off.
“Fuck,” I breathe out, brushing my hair back from my eyes. “Breathe, Law. Everything will be okay.” I give myself the pep talk, but it does nothing to quell my growing anxiety.
As I step over the threshold and take in the cells, I realize he wasn’t exaggerating in the slightest. It’s a disaster in here. The facility is short-staffed, and even though things have slowed down, we were so far behind to begin with that it’s left us in a predicament.
We need more resources. More muscle. At any point, the Council—or whoever is behind the new bites—could go on a rampage, and we’d be at capacity and up shit creek. This situation has to be a top priority.
I take in my friends and realize that these creatures embody none of the traits I’d once admired. They’re bodies are battered and their minds warped.
Edward, a former Louisiana senator, has blood caked to his face, and his mouth is set in an O as he bellows incoherently. His hands are wrapped around the cell bars, and he shakes and screams.
Emaline, Edward’s wife, is in the cell next to him, rocking in a corner. Her head is lowered to her knees as she babbles about a phantom baby. I can hardly hear her over Ed’s wailing, but the sight threatens to bring me to tears. I’ve never seen Ema anything other than poised, almost regal in appearance. If she were in her right mind and saw herself this way, it would surely break her completely.
Joshie, the entertainer of our group, twirls around as if muscle memory is trying to coax him back to the stage. Having been a student at Julliard and later a world-renowned Broadway star, he was once magical to watch. Today his movements are stiff, and the twitching of his head throws off his balance.
I can’t even look at the others. They consist of women I’ve bedded over the years and others who played the role of surrogate sister. It just might break me to see what state they’re in.
My hands come to the top of my head as I take in the damage. All those ugly feelings of guilt come rushing back. I pull with both hands at the roots of my hair, gritting my teeth and pushing back tears. I can’t be seen as weak. I’m spiraling and powerless to stop it. This is too much to see.
“Lawrence.” Maggie’s angelic voice calls from behind me and everything goes still. The newly turned vampires are quiet for the first time since I arrived, watching us curiously.
Another point of guilt to add to the overflowing heap of it I’m already experiencing. One more person I care about, whom I’ve let down, has come to push me over my own proverbial edge. Which is fitting, since that’s exactly where my actions led Maggie. Had I been there on time, she never would’ve been forced to jump.
“Law?” she says once more.
My eyes close tightly as I force the wayward self-hatred down so deep, I’m practically choking on it. “What are you doing down here, Maggie? It isn’t safe.”
She huffs. “It’s perfectly safe. They’re in those cages.”
Her disdain for their temporary living spaces is evident. I don’t have to be facing her to know that her nose is scrunched and crinkles have formed at the corners of her beautiful blue eyes.
“They’re in there for their own safety. It’s not meant to be permanent.”
“Exactly. They can’t get to me,” she says, sounding too pleased with herself.
I turn slowly, mouth pressed into a thin line. “Their new bite strength is unpredictable. It’s likely that one of them possesses a maximum amount, and if they really wanted to get to you, they could.”
“Is that why you insisted on coming here... with me?” she cocks her head to the side, eyeing me suspiciously.
“One of the reasons. But as you can see, I had business here.”
She purses her lips. “Calling your friends business? That doesn’t sound like you, Law. What’s wrong?”
She sees too much, and right now I’m too raw, too vulnerable to deal with her prying. Her intentions are good, but I don’t want to break down in front of her. I refuse.
“You didn’t answer my question. What are you doing here?” I put as much steel in my voice as I can muster. I don’t want to hurt her, but I need to push her away. She must go away.
She shifts back on her feet, but takes a deep breath and fortifies herself, shoulders back, head held high. And damn if I don’t want to pull her in to my chest and hold her. Just to feel the comfort that I so desperately need in this moment.
To drink from her.
This is why I keep my distance. My mind is split in half between needing space and needing her blood. It’s been that way since the night I fed from her. Something unlocked within me. Something foreign and aching.
Maggie deserves more than contrived feelings. And that’s all it is. Something forced upon us by the universe or whoever is pulling the strings. We’re simply puppets in this never-ending game of bloodlust. It’s the one thing I haven’t been able to admit to myself since she reappeared. There was already too much to unpack.
“Anderson told me where to find you. He said that you were visiting with your friends.” She walks close to me, placing her hand on my chest, over my heart. “I can only imagine how hard this must be for you. I’m so sorry, Law.”