style="font-size:15px;"> ‘And you have… you have blood at home?’
‘Nae, but I can rest. I can… please. I’ll explain. Later. I just…’
‘You’re a-a-a vampire, then.’ Gabriel said it like he was trying out the idea for size, and finding it an uncomfortable fit.
James closed his eyes and wished the world would go away. ‘Aye.’
A right guddle, aye. What a mess.
‘And the man who attacked us? Also a vampire?’
‘Aye.’
‘Like the man under the bridge.’
‘Aye.’
The silence continued and James, eyes still closed against the unbearable world, began to shudder with the pain.
‘Please. Gabriel. I’ll nae hurt you. I swear I willnae hurt you. Just get me home, please. Then you can pack and leave. I won’t stop you. I understand. But please, believe me. I wouldnae hurt you, ever.’ He was shaking so hard his teeth were chattering.
Against all expectation, James felt fingers brush across his cheek. ‘Of course you wouldn’t hurt me,’ said Gabriel softly. ‘You’ve been promising not to all this time. And you haven’t. You’ve looked out for me.’
James’s eyes were scrunched shut now, and if he were capable of producing tears anymore he might have been crying. ‘I’m sorry,’ was all he managed to say, before another bout of pain reduced him to speechless shaking.
‘No. It’s all right.’ Gabriel cradled James’s body. James couldn’t understand how Gabriel could be so calm, and speak so gently, to the monster he held. ‘Well,’ Gabriel amended, ‘it’s clearly not all right. But you’ve just saved my life, possibly for the second time. I wish I knew the first thing about… about your biology. You need blood to heal, though, is that right?’
This time when James shuddered, a whimper escaped his clamped teeth.
‘Fuck, I’m sorry, banging on instead of helping. Here, bite that.’
James opened his eyes enough to see that Gabriel held his arm out to him in an unmistakable offer.
James flinched. ‘No.’
‘Don’t be an idiot, James. You’re seriously hurt and you’re in pain. I expect the woman who’s watching us from her bathroom window has called the police, and I haven’t a clue what we’re supposed to say to them. And… and ashes-to-ashes there was talking in the plural, “we”. If his mates show up, I won’t stand a chance without you. Your being noble could get us both killed.’
James tried to form another protest, but a wave of pain shuddered through him. ‘Gabriel. I promised… I’ll nae… I won’t hurt…’
‘Just do it,’ said Gabriel tensely.
James let the pain take him, triggering the small but necessary change. He bared his new-descended fangs and, as gently as possible, bit the offered forearm.
Gabriel stifled a gasp, but held still as James’s teeth pierced the skin.
James bit to open the small wounds further, then sucked at the flow. A few mouthfuls. Nothing more. He didn’t need more. He refused to take more.
Then he swirled his tongue over the two holes and felt them close up. Done, he pushed Gabriel’s arm away roughly, as though placing it firmly away from temptation.
‘All right?’ Gabriel’s tone was steadier.
‘In a minute.’ James wiped the back of his hand across his mouth, then licked the smear of blood from his hand. No point wasting any.
‘Do you normally drink human blood?’ Gabriel asked, suddenly uncertain.
‘Not often, and not directly, like that. I drink animal blood from time to time.’ James didn’t think that was as reassuring as he tried to make it. He made his teeth retract safely away. He didn’t like to think about Gabriel watching his teeth while he talked. He didn’t want Gabriel worrying about what they meant. ‘Mostly, I drink tea.’ He tried to laugh, to make it seem normal.
‘Is that what all the tea is about? Crushing the craving?’ The questions came rushing out, anxiety spilling into curiosity. ‘What about tea does that? How effective is animal blood for the… I suppose you get cravings. Do you? Is that what it’s like? Do you spend a lot of time looking at my neck?’
Of course Gabriel would go thinking exactly along the lines where James didn’t want him to go. ‘Actually,’ said James, peeved, ‘I spend a lot of time looking at your hands.’
‘My hands?’
‘You have beautiful hands.’ James could feel his strength returning with the gift of Gabriel’s blood, along with the slight itch of the wound in his chest mending.
‘Oh. Well. That’s a relief.’ Gabriel’s grin at him was something in the order of a miracle.
‘Not weird, then?’ James asked, with a trace of their old humour.
‘Quite weird,’ Gabriel’s mouth twitched in a tentative smile. ‘But more reassuring than you obsessing over my throat.’
‘I do not spend time pining over your carotid artery, you plonker. When I need human blood, I sneak blood samples at the clinic. Things go missing at the NHS all the time. What do you take me for?’
Surprisingly, Gabriel seemed heartened by the irritated outburst. ‘You’re feeling better.’
James lifted the jumper to inspect the damage. The healing had accelerated and his diaphragm showed only a minor and vanishing scar.
‘Time to go.’ Gabriel held out his hand and helped James to his feet. James didn’t need the help, but took it gratefully. That way, he could pretend for a little longer that everything would be okay with him and Gabriel.
James buttoned the suit jacket over the tear in his shirt and straightened his tie. They jogged away, sticking to shadows, darting from street to street, but they weren’t followed and they weren’t found. At the main road, they flagged a cab. It was an extravagance, given the state of their mutual finances, but neither of them could face either public transport or a walk.
James was pensive on the way home, waiting for further questions that didn’t come. All Gabriel said was, ‘Your accent comes out when you’re stressed or hurt. Did you know?’
‘I know.’
‘It’s gone again.’
‘I’m fine now.’
After that, Gabriel lapsed back into contemplative silence and James waited.
Then, two steps through the downstairs door to Ivy Gardens, the questions and comments started again, so rapidly fired that there was no time to answer a single one.
‘How long have you been a vampire? Is that the
