Free Bloodlust by Michelle Rowen Page B

the motel room showed we were alone.
    “What—?” I touched under my eyes.
    “It stopped. The blood stopped right after you passed out. Are you in any pain right now?”
    I felt achy, like I’d run a marathon, but there was no intense pain like I’d felt before. “No, I—did that really happen?”
    “I’m afraid so.” His expression was stony, cool, and collected, but his hands were warm as he stroked the hair off my forehead. I settled back down on the pillow. “I was worried about you.”
    “You don’t look worried.”
    His gaze moved to my face and there was again that frustrating flatness to his gray eye thanks to the serum. “My emotions were all fucked up last night, but I’m back to normal now. But don’t think for a moment that I wasn’t worried. That I’m not worried now.”
    “The Nightshade,” I said, my voice shaky. “It’s killing me, Declan.”
    There was a flicker of something this time in that single eye of his. He knew I spoke the truth. “There’s no reason to believe it’s that serious.”
    My throat felt thick and the fear I’d felt before came flooding back. “It felt pretty fucking serious to me. I was bleeding out of my eyes.”
    “It stopped.”
    “So what happens next?” My voice caught.
    “I don’t know.”
    I laughed a little and it sounded slightly hysterical. “Well, at least you’re honest.”
    He brushed away a tear sliding down my cheek with his thumb. The color of it was clear, not dark red, which was a relief. “I’ll never be anything but honest with you, Jill.”
    “Thank you.” I felt guilty for holding information back from him, like who his father really was, but it still didn’t feel like the right time.
    He stood up from the side of the bed and walked toward the window to look outside. “Matthias isn’t here anymore. Your blood was too much for him to handle. I guess when it’s inside of you he can find a way to control himself. When it’s not, he needs to be controlled. For his own good.”
    I glanced around the room again, this time registering uneasily that several things were askew and there was another deep splintered dent in the wall near the door as if a body had been slammed into it. The lamp was on the floor, broken, as was the television, its screen cracked.
    “Looks like there was a fight in here.”
    “It was over quickly. The vampire was weakened, so I handled him easily.” At my look of shock, he continued, “I didn’t stake him, even though I was tempted. He seemed as worried about whether you’d live as he was thirsty for your blood.”
    I grimaced. “I don’t suppose there’s a Hallmark card for that, is there?”
    “I’ve contacted Noah.” Declan pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and glanced at the screen before putting it away again. “He needs to step up his game and find out more about the Nightshade formula and what the hell we can do to fix this.”
    “You really think he can get that information?”
    “I hope so.”
    “Me, too.” The achiness was fading away, so I sat up again. “I think I’m okay, at least for now. I feel much better.”
    “Good. I got you some breakfast in case you were hungry when you woke up.” He sat down at the small table in the corner of the room and pulled a large muffin wrapped in cellophane and a small bottle of orange juice out of a brown paper bag.
    “Haute cuisine.” I got up from the bed, testing my legs. Declan looked ready to come to help me the moment I showed any signs of needing him, but he stayed where he was. “Thank you.”
    His attention didn’t leave me for a moment as I made my way over to the table. I was dressed, but the sweater and jeans I’d been wearing last night had been replaced by a large black T-shirt—one of his. I looked down at myself.
    “You cleaned me up?”
    “I couldn’t let you lay there covered in blood.”
    I had to smile. “So romantic.”
    He looked vaguely uncomfortable with the comment. “Eat something. You need your