Leticia (44 page)

“He’s been like this for three weeks now. We tried to wake him, but... there’s never any change
.”

“Did you get all the iron out of him?”

“Yes, but it was inside him for
a
while, there were pieces we didn't find for over a week. They were under his skin.”

“Jackson,” I said, stroking the side of his face. “Jackson, it’s L
eticia, you’re gonna be
OK
I promise
.
”

“Tristan said if he isn’t awake by the end of today, he’s going to inject him with his blood. It might help.”

“Why hasn’t
he
tried that already?”

“Watch.”

She pulled
a
small knife out of the bedside
cabinet
, then proceeded to cut hi
s
arm. After only a few seconds, the cut had healed.

“You see, his body is still working, so giving him vampire blood was going to be
the
last resort.”

“
Why
?”

“Have you ever
drunk
it?”

“
No
, why would I?”

“I have and
it’s
addictive. Extremely.
One drop of
it
and
you’re
hooked; then it’s like trying to get yourself o
f
f heroin. It can take months for you to recover.
”

“Why did
you
have it?”

“I was hurt, a few decades ago. A vamp w
ho
wanted Tristan for herself attacked me
; s
he
shot me several times with iron bullets. I was out cold for a week
and
it was Tristan’s blood that brought me back. But God, Leticia, I was in a
mess;
I craved it, turned violent when he refused to give it to me. In the end Jackson locked me in the basement of the house we were living in. The only time I saw anyone was when they were bringing me food or drinks.”

“But you got through it.”

“It took about four weeks for me to return to normal.”

“So then
it’s
worth it.”

“I’d rather have gone through that than die, but, Jackson is a lot stronger than me. There’s no saying we would be able to lock him down the way I was. If he gets free,
G
od only knows what will happen to him.
If other
supernatural’s
find out he’s addicted, they
’ll
kill him.”

“Both Tristan and I are here now though.”

“Jackson is
incredibly strong as it is, but with vampire blood inside him that strength
will increase, and at the moment yo
u’re not at your full strength. So we would struggle with him.”

“
Then give it a few more days until I
’
ve recovered fully.
I mean I’ve been out of it for the same amount of time as him, and I’m back.
OK
, so I’m weak at the moment but that won’t last forever. Maybe he will snap out of it today too.” I said, hopeful.

“Oh god I hope so.”

There was a knock on the door and Tristan walked in.

“It’s nice to see you up and about,” he smiled at me. “Now we just need Jackson to wake up.”

“I know. Thank you for helping me.”

“You’re very welcome, but I’m
not finished with you yet. It seems, looking at you, that there is still silver in your system. I think we should get it out.”

“You mean you’re gonna bite me again?” I asked
.

“Only with your permission.”

“Do it, the sooner I’m back to normal the sooner we can
decide what to do about Jackson.”

Nancy explained to him what I
’d
suggested, thankfully Tristan was in full agreement.
They decided to give me some time alone with Jackson, then when I was ready, Tristan would come to my room and try to rid me of the silver.

I moved so I lay next to him, laying my head on his chest and wrapping my arms around his waist.
He felt cooler than normal, but I put
it
down to the fact that he hadn’t been moving around.

“You better wake up, do
you
hear me
,
” I said, squeezing him tighter, tears rolling down my cheeks. “You told
me
not so long ago that I wasn’t allowed to leave you when you’d only just got
ten
me. Well, now I’m telling
you,
you are
not
allowed to do this to me. You can’t leave me, not like this
; I won’t let you.”

I moved so I could look at him and ran my fingers through his hair.
Although he was
asleep and
pale; he was still beautiful. Quite possibly the most handsome man I’d ever had the pleasure of seeing. Even now, after seeing
him
almost every day, I would still get butterflies in my stomach whenever he looked at me.
One thing was for certain, even though I hadn’t known him very long and we hadn’t spent that much time on our own. I was definitely falling in love with him; and I couldn’t stand the thoughts of him leaving me before I’d had the chance to tell him.

“Please open your
eyes,
” I begged in tears. “Please baby. I’d
do anything... anything at all. I want to see your eyes.” I hoped and prayed, but he didn't move at all. I lay my head on his chest again, just listening to him breath
e
. At least he was still doing
that
. “
As
soon as you’re well again and all this
is over, we’ll be able to be a proper couple. We can do what
ever
we want, whenever we want. For as long as we wish.”

I lay there for quite a while, not wanting to leave him; but the pain
I was experiencing was getting worse. I needed to let Tristan help me. I dragged myself off the bed and
leaned
over,
kissing his cheek one more
time
, before heading for the door. As I was about to walk out, Nancy walked in.

“Hey,” she smiled. “Come on, let’s get you sorted out.”

After walking me back to my room she shouted for Tristan.

“Where are we by the way?” I asked,
while
waiting for him.

“We’re in the Peak District, not too far from Castleton. Jackson bought this house a few years ago, it was a shell, but he worked hard on it. He toyed with the idea of selling it but then decided against
it
just in case we ever needed to move. Looks like he made the right decision.”

“
OK
Tish, are you ready?” Tristan said, walking in.

“Yeah.”

“I don’t need
to be here for this
,
” Nancy told us, walking out.

“She didn’t stay the last time I did this.” He explained.

“Why?”

“She doesn’t like it. Don’t take this the wrong way, she trusts me
and
you, but she knows it’s quite
an
intimate thing. So naturally, she doesn’t like it.”

“I don’t really see it that way.”

“No?”

“No, why would I? The last time you did it, it was to save your life. The last thing I thought about was it being intimate. This time, it’s to save
me
. Again it’s not intimate it’s a necessity for survival and I certainly don’t get a kick out of it.”

“I bet she’d like to hear that.”

“Then I’ll tell her.”

“Great, well
let’s
do it then. Now I won’t take anywhere near the amount I took last time. You’ll go tired and probably sleep again. But as you know, once you’re awake and you’ve eaten, you heal
quickly
. If it’s not all out of your system, then we’ll do it until it is. How does that sound?”

“Great
,
” I sighed. “Seriously though, thank you, I appreciate it.”

“
You
saved me, now it’s
my
turn
,
”
h
e smiled.

I smiled back and lay on the bed. This time
he didn't bite my neck, he took it from my wrist. The same adrenalin rush feeling I had last time swept through me.
T
he longer he was doing it
the more tired I became, but
the less my blood felt like it was burning. It was
definitely
working.

“That’s all I’m taking for now,” Tristan said pulling away from me, and watching as the two puncture wound
s
healed. “Get some rest, see how you feel later. If we need to do it again, we will.”

“Thank you.”

I close
d
my eyes and must have fallen asleep almost instantly. The next thing I knew, Nancy was coming in the room with a cup of tea and a few slices of pizza.

“
H
ere, get this down you, and that pizza is gorgeous, I made it myself.” She smiled
.

“Thanks. Is there any change with Jackson?”

“No, none whatsoever. Tish what if Tristan’s blood doesn’t work?”

“We can try mine
.
”

“Are you as powerful as Tristan?
I mean, would your blood have the same effect?
”

“Yes
it should do
, and
with regards to being
as
powerful
as
Tristan,
in some respects,
I’m
more so.” I told her “I’m physically stronger, but Tristan is faster than me. Also I’m more vulnerable than him. The silver doesn’t affect him, iron wouldn’t either, basically, unless he loses his head,
he’s
drained, or staked through his heart, nothing really damages him. I don’t know why I’m saying all this, you already know, sorry.”

“Don’t worry, it’s just a conversation.

“All of us heal quickly, that’s one of the perks of being what we are. Sometimes, we just need a little bit of
a
helping hand.”

“
OK
, how are you feeling by the way?”

“Hungry
,
” I smiled. “So this pizza came at the right time
.”
I said before taking a bite.

“Do you feel more
like
your old self?”

“Yeah, my blood isn’t on fire anymore, it just feels slightly warm.”

“There must only be a little bit left in
your system
. Tristan will sort that later.”

“I’m gonna ask him to do it before I go to bed. I think I’ve lost enough time being passed out lately. I’ll eat this, then get showered and changed. I’ll meet you downstairs.”

After getting myself ready and checking in on Jackson for a few minutes, I joined Nancy and Tristan downstairs. All
the
time I was looking around me. This house was as beautiful on the inside as the last one. Richly decorated, with beautiful artwork hung on the walls.

“You like it here don’t you?” Tristan smiled.

“It’s lovely.”

“My brother has good taste
;
and rich too. He spares no expense on the houses, he wants them beautiful
,
” Nancy added. “
Anyway
, what do we do now?”

“Well, now that
my
brain is working properly again, I need to get a few things straight.” I began. “
Maybe in the end I’ll remember everything but until then...
I understand we were attacked,
I know you said there were a lot of them that came for us. I was hurt, Jackson went berserk a
nd in the end they retreated...
a
m I right so far?”

“Yes
, pretty much.
” Tristan answered
.

“Then there was an explosion, everyone was hurt, but me and Jackson more so...”

“
Correct
.”

“
OK
, so here’s my next question. Where is Luke?”

“Leticia...” Nancy tried to say.