Free Blinding Light (The Bloodmarked Trilogy Book 2) by Alicia Deters Page B

most of the pain. As nice as it would be to lean on him for support, I had to stay strong and deal with this myself. I couldn’t start looking to him for help and protection in every perilous situation I encountered. The last thing I wanted to become was a burden or a weakness to him. Worse obstacles loomed ahead, and I had to be prepared to face them, alone if it kept others out of danger. So I forced the lingering grief back into the farthest corner of my mind where all unpleasant things sat locked away.
    When he determined I wasn’t in need of rescuing, he turned toward the car parked a mere five feet away on the side of the road. He still hadn’t spoken, so I broke the silence.
    “I have to leave town as soon as possible.” We already discussed this, but voicing it helped me cope with the urgency of it.
    He didn’t look in my direction as he climbed into the driver’s seat and put his sunglasses on. I just stared at him, unable to help myself when it came down to it. He was a gorgeous specimen, but nothing compared to seeing him now.
    “What?” he finally asked, sensing my not-so-stealthy perusal. He kept his eyes on the road as we drove further away from the cemetery.
    “It’s daytime,” I explained, rather precisely.
    His brow arched, and I noticed a tiny twitch at the corner of his mouth. “So it is,” he replied plainly.
    “Well, it’s one thing to find out you can stand under the sun but another thing to actually see it.” And, boy, was it ever a sight to see in broad daylight. The image tattooed itself on my brain. Worse than a tramp stamp. This was the type of permanent brand that ruins a girl.
    I could use a hobby, or a few vampires to kill.
    His smile never fully emerged, but I could tell he struggled to keep it at bay. He allowed me to gawk awhile before he spoke again.
    “Everything’s arranged. We should arrive at Helen’s shortly.”
    And with that, the silence stretched out, along with the strange new distance between us.
     
    †
     
    The nagging feeling like something was changing followed me all the way to Helen’s place. We pulled up along the curb in front of her apartment, and I paused before exiting the car. I merely sought some kind of reassurance Gavin was still on my side. A distraction from everything that’s happened or was about to happen would also be nice. Maybe I wasn’t ready for it.
    He stopped with his hand on the door handle and gave me a questioning glance. Finally snagging his attention, I asked, “Can we just sit here another minute?”
    His gaze softened, and he relaxed back into his seat. “Sure.”
    “Will you talk to me? About anything. I don’t care. Tell me about your day. Tell me about how you saved my life again.”
    The last time he tried telling me about his heroics on the night I was born, I got a little pissed at him and couldn’t quite think clearly.
    He let out a hesitant sigh before delving into the topic. “Your heartbeat was fading so fast when I approached your mother. We both knew what was about to happen. The only thing that I could think to do was something I thought was impossible. When I suggested it to your mother, she said, ‘Do it. It’ll work.’ We didn’t have much time, so I drank from her to get more of her blood out of her system so that she could take my blood and it would get to you faster. I wasn’t sure of anything, but then I caught glimpses of her thoughts. It was like your blood was aiding this connection between us. I saw her fears of losing you, her intentions for you. I even saw some of her memories.”
    “That makes a bit more sense now. When you told me all those things she had explained to you, I wondered how she was so chatty on her deathbed. I thought they were embellished sentiments that you made up to convince me you were innocent,” I admitted.
    “Well, I didn’t. So score another one for me for telling you the truth,” he deadpanned.
    Then, the most glorious thing happened. A smiled cracked through