Bad Blood (22 page)

“You shouldn’t have done that,” I scold. “Cutting yourself like you did. That was really stupid, you know?”

He reaches up and touches my cheek with light, feathery fingers, causing chills to run up and down my spine. “Maybe,” he says, with a shy smile. “But it was worth it, all the same.”

“Worth risking your life to save a vampire you’ve never met?”

“Worth risking my life to save
you
.”

My heart skips a beat at his words. “Oh, Jayden.” I sigh. “I don’t know what I’d have done if something had happened to you.”

He meets my eyes with his beautiful green ones, his expression solemn. “You’d be okay. You have your boyfriend.”

“Yeah.” I stare down at the floor. “I guess I do.” My boyfriend who’s more concerned with his job than he is about me. I mean, would Magnus have risked his life to save mine? Or would he have been too worried about leaving the coven without a leader? I’m not sure I’d ever want to bet my life on his loyalty to me. And that, I realize, is a huge problem.

“You okay?” Jayden asks. “Is something wrong?”

“No . . . yes . . . I don’t know.” I smile sheepishly. “It’s just . . . well, sometimes you go through life just accepting things as they are—even if they make you secretly unhappy. Then something—someone—comes along and shows you how things could be. If only you knew how to let go of the situation that you find yourself trapped in.”

“Have you been unhappy, Sun?”

I think about it for a moment. “Yes,” I say finally. “I have been. Though I haven’t wanted to admit it. I’ve been unhappy with things for a long time.” I bite at my lower lip as I remember the last few months. How lonely I’ve been, ditching my friends, waiting around for Magnus instead of living my life. One week in Vegas and I’ve had more fun than in the last three months back home—even if I did almost get murdered by a bloodthirsty vampire bent on revenge. What does that say about me and the way I’m living my life? And, more important, what should I do about it now that I’ve realized how I really feel?

“Sunny, you need to talk with your boyfriend,” Jayden says suddenly. “Let him know how you feel. Give him a chance to make things right before you make any rash decisions.”

I look at him, a knife twisting in my gut. “Why would you say that? I mean, don’t you . . .” I trail off, embarrassed. Here I am, ready to throw my long-term relationship away in order to be with Jayden and he’s telling me I should work things out with Magnus. Is he just being nice and unselfish, like always? Or doesn’t he want me as much as I want him? “Won’t you miss me?” I finally blurt out, unable to stop myself. “I mean, I know you and I haven’t known each other long, but I’ve felt this . . .”

“Connection?” he finishes. I nod miserably. “I’ve felt it, too, of course,” he assures me, squeezing my hand in his, comforting me. “Usually I’m a loner. More comfortable with animals than humans. But there’s something about you. Something special. I can’t deny it, even though God knows I’ve tried.”

My heart swells at his words and I squeeze his hand back, so tightly he winces. I loosen my grip a little. “Then why . . .” I begin. “Why . . . would you tell me to work it out with Magnus? I mean, don’t you want me?” There, I said it. It’s out there. Naked. Vulnerable. Me.

“Oh, Sunny!” Jayden cries, as if shocked by my question. “Are you kidding me? Of course I want you. In fact, I want you more than anything in the whole world. You’re beautiful and special and smart and talented and in another world, another life, you and I are soul mates—I’m sure of it!” His eyes shine with unshed tears. “But right here, right now, things are complicated for us. You live two thousand miles away. You have a boyfriend. I’d never try to selfishly steal you away from your life and friends and family. I mean, what kind of person would that make me?”

“What if I want to be stolen?” I pout.

He grins at that, then grows serious again. “Look,” he continues. “Everything’s really intense now. You’re fighting with your boyfriend, we’ve just had a neardeath experience—you don’t want to be making major life-changing decisions right now. Go talk to Magnus, tell him what you’re feeling—give him one last chance to make things right between you. And if you’re still not happy after that, well, you know how to reach me.” He grabs my arm, his expression serious. “But give him a real chance, okay? Try to remember what made you fall for him in the first place.”

“Oh, Jayden!” I cry. “I’m going to miss you so much. I—”

He waves me off. “Don’t say anything else,” he says, his voice cracking on the

“else.” “It’s better if you don’t. Just promise me that you’ll always be my friend, Sunshine McDonald. That you’ll never forget me.”

My heart breaks at his words. Unable to resist a moment longer, I throw my arms around him and squeeze him tight. Well, as tight as I can without crushing his chest wound. He hugs me back, running light fingers up and down my back, electricity crackling from his touch. God, how am I going to leave this guy?

As our hug extends, my mouth seems to develop a mind of its own. I kiss his throat greedily, then move up to his cheek. Just one kiss on his soft cheek and .

. . Oh God—I’m kissing him on the lips and I can’t seem to stop. He kisses me back, our mouths moving against each other, wild sensations coursing through my entire body, an endorphin rush of epic proportions. And neither of us seems capable of stopping it.

“Oh, Jayden . . .” I moan against his mouth. “I—”

“Hey, Sunny, I was able to get out early and—”

Jayden and I break apart and I bolt upright at the sound of Magnus’s voice. I whirl around and see he’s at the door. His face reddens as it must dawn on him what he’s walked in on.

“Oh dear,” he says, clearing his throat. “I . . . um . . . I didn’t know that you were . . . excuse me, I did not mean to interrupt.” He backs out quickly, shutting the door behind him.

I stare at the door. “Oh God,” I murmur, my heart leaping in my throat. This was not good. Not good at all.

“Boyfriend?” Jayden guesses correctly. I nod.

“I should . . . I mean . . .”

“Go,” Jayden instructs. “Talk to him. Give him a chance to make good.”

I throw him a grateful look—he really is the most understanding guy on the planet—and dash out the door and down the hall. “Magnus!” I cry at his retreating figure.

He turns slowly, shoulders slumped, looking, suddenly, all of his thousand years. “And to think,” he says slowly, as I rush to approach, “you were worried about
me
replacing
you
.”

My heart pangs in anguish at the hurt look on his face. I remember all the pain I felt from seeing him just
talk
to Jane. I can’t imagine what he must be feeling now—having walked in on his girlfriend making out with another guy. A million excuses whirl through my mind, but I know in my heart he deserves better than that. At the very least, he deserves the truth. Not to mention an apology.

“I’m sorry,” I say weakly, not knowing quite where to begin. It’s only been a few days since I last saw him, but it feels like a lifetime ago.

“I know,” he replies, his voice sad. He reaches out to me with both hands and no reservations, pulling me into a forgiving embrace I’m not sure I deserve. I collapse into him, grateful beyond belief at his understanding, while feeling unworthy of receiving it. He strokes my hair with long fingers, soothing me as sobs rack my body and tears burst violently from my eyes.

“Oh God.” I sob, my mouth against his shoulder. “I never meant to . . . I mean, I was actually saying goodbye and . . .”

“Shhh,” he murmurs, his cool breath brushing my earlobes. I’d forgotten how nice it was to be held securely in his strong, vampire arms. “It’s okay. You don’t have to explain. I think I understand exactly what’s going on here.”

I pull away from the hug so I can look at him. My vision’s still blurry from all the tears. “You do?” I ask.

He nods, a regretful look on his face. “Let’s face it; I haven’t taken very good care of you these past few months. I’ve been so preoccupied—so busy guarding the affairs of my coven—that I’ve ended up neglecting you and your needs. And then . . . then I took off to Vegas with another woman . . .” He hangs his head in shame. “Just like your father did so many years ago. Leaving you feeling abandoned and alone, I’m sure.”

Part of me wants to deny it. To tell him it’s not a big deal at all. But what good, at this point, could my being self-protective really do? It’d only succeed in pushing the problems we’re facing back under the rug—not exactly a great long-term solution. We both know we need to deal with these issues head on, if there’s any way to save this relationship.

“I’m not trying to be selfish,” I begin. “I mean, I know running the coven is important and I love the work that you do. I’m willing to deal with a workaholic even.” I give him a half-smile, then grow serious again. “But when you didn’t believe me about Jane—when you dismissed my fears and suspicions without even a moment of consideration that I might be right . . .”

My voice breaks. “You shut me out. Called me jealous and childish. That really hurt.”

“I can imagine,” Magnus says, his face full of anguish. “If I were you, I’d probably have let Sasha do her thing . . . leaving me to flounder in my own stupidity. But instead, you kept going. Refusing to give up helping me, even though I demanded you stop.”

“What else was I going to do?” I ask. “Sit around and watch you die?”

He hangs his head. “Half of me thinks I would have deserved it.”

“Look, I know you’re older than me,” I continue. “And I know you have more experiences to fall back on than I do. But if this is going to work, we have to be equal partners. I’m not a child to be seen and not heard. And if you think of me that way, then it’s not going to work.”

“Sunny, sweetheart,” Magnus says, “I was a fool to think that. Blinded by my own stupid arrogance—and look—my pigheadedness nearly cost me my very life.” He shakes his head sorrowfully. “I promise you, I swear to you, I’ll never treat you less than an equal ever again, for the rest of my life.”

“That’s all I’ve wanted,” I reply, my voice choking with emotion. “I know I can’t be your blood mate, but I just want to be your partner. Someone you trust and want to share your life with.”

“About the blood mate thing . . .”

I suck in a breath. “Yes?”

“I don’t want one,” he declares. “Not now—and not ever. And I’m going to go to the council as soon as they convene and inform them of that so we’re not put in this situation again. After all, I am Master. I do get to make the rules, right?”

He smiles lovingly at me. “And you’re the only one, my dear, who I want to be bonded with for eternity.”

My heart wrenches at his words. “But . . .” I say, not wanting to be selfish. “If you need help running the coven . . .”

“Then I’ll hire an employee,” he finishes. “We vampires have become so set in our ways—so stubborn about following tradition that we don’t often think outside the box. But really, why does my co-ruler have to be bonded to me by blood? There are those in my coven that I would trust with my life—bond or no. Like Jareth, for example,” he says. “I’m thinking of promoting him to second in command. He’d make a great co-ruler, I think, don’t you?”

I nod wordlessly, feeling overwhelmed with all that’s happening. It’s as if someone opened my secret wish book and made every last one of them come true.

“Sunny, I’m so sorry I put you through all of this. And I plan to spend the rest of my life making this up to you.” He reaches out and strokes my cheek with cool fingers. “And vampires,” he adds, “live a very long time.”

I smile ruefully. “Let’s not even get into that whole thing. I mean, in a few years when I’m old and gray, people are going to think you’re hooking up with your grandmother.”

He chuckles, his fingers trailing to my hair, threading through the strands. “And they’ll still be jealous that I have you and they don’t,” he says.

“Mmm-hmm. Sure they will.”

We look at each other for a moment, neither saying anything. Magnus is the first to speak.

“That guy in the hospital bed,” he starts, his voice hesitant.

“Jayden.” The name is suddenly painful to speak.

“Do you . . . have feelings for him?”

I consider lying, but realize it won’t do any good. I nod slowly. “I kind of do. Not the same as I feel for you . . . but he’s . . . I don’t know . . . special, I guess. And he almost died trying to save me.”

“Right. He protected you while I was busy playing big, bad vampire leader.”

Magnus sighs deeply. “I suppose I owe him my eternal gratitude. As long as he doesn’t start kissing you again.”

“I think we’re done kissing,” I say, feeling my face heat with embarrassment.

“But I do want to be his friend, if that’s okay.”

“Sunny, I trust you with my very life. I would never forbid you from being with the people you love,” Magnus replies. “But I plan to keep you very, very busy, from now on,” he adds, a teasing look in his eyes. “Worshipping you, waiting on you hand and foot, doing whatever it takes to make you smile. So there might not be much time left for such . . . friends.”

“That’s fine by me,” I say, grinning from ear to ear. “I look forward to you being my vampire love slave.”

20

It’s five minutes ’til curtain and I’m backstage at the Hotel Sun theater, shaking like a leaf. This is no high school play—this is a real Vegas revue. People have paid actual money to see my performance onstage. Okay, I don’t have the hugest role in the world—I don’t even have to speak—but still!

“You ready?” Jayden asks, coming up behind me, a big fanged smile on his face. For tonight only, he’s playing Cornelius’s part of Dracula, until they can recast the part. At least now we know no one in the audience will be bitten for real.

I went back to his hospital room after talking to Magnus the night before—to apologize for the kiss and let him know that Magnus and I were going to try to make things work between us. He looked a little sad, but said he was happy for me, and wished me luck, once again making me promise we’d always stay friends. An easy request to agree to.

His only other stipulation? That I play Mina against his Dracula one time. How could I refuse?