My eyelids weigh about a thousand pounds each right now. The limo's interior is a blur of black leather and soft lighting, everything gently swaying as we cruise through the empty streets of Salem at 3 AM.
"Hey," Maeve says, her cool fingers threading through my hair. "No sleeping."
I jolt upright, blinking hard. "I wasn't sleeping," I lie. "Just resting my eyes."
Maeve doesn't look up from her iPad, but her lips curve into that smirk I'm starting to recognize. Her fingers continue their gentle strokes across my scalp, which is absolutely not helping my stay-awake situation.
"Just a few more hours," she murmurs, her voice low and musical in the quiet car. "Then you can rest."
"Yeah, yeah," I mumble, rubbing my face with both hands. The motion makes me notice Emily slumped in the seat across from us, her head tilted at an uncomfortable-looking angle against the window, eyes firmly closed. "What about her?" I point accusingly. "Emily's sleeping. How come she gets to sleep and I don't?"
Maeve glances over at her. "Emily operates differently. She's up during the day and night. She sleeps whenever she can."
I squint at Emily's unconscious form. Even in sleep, she looks tense, like she might snap awake and stab someone at any moment. "Must be exhausting, being half-vampire."
Maeve's eyes flash with something dangerous. "Don't waste your sympathy on her."
"Aww," I say, fighting back a yawn. "Is that jealousy I hear in your voice? Worried I might care about someone else besides you?"
Her hand freezes in my hair, fingers tightening just enough to make me wince. "Jealousy? Don't be ridiculous. I own you, Vincent. Every part of you belongs to me. Your blood, your body... your concern."
I can't help the smile that spreads across my face. Something about ruffling her feathers feels incredibly satisfying. But as I open my mouth to respond, I feel blood drip onto my upper lip from my nose.
"Oh shoot," I mutter, quickly covering my nose with my hand. "Do you have a tissue?"
When I look up at Maeve, my heart nearly stops. Her expression has transformed completely. Gone is the mild irritation from seconds ago. In its place is something feral, primal, her eyes glowing so intensely they seem to illuminate the dark interior of the car. Her pupils have dilated, leaving pools of black that lock onto the blood seeping between my fingers.
A sharp gasp from across the limo makes me turn. Emily is suddenly wide awake, her blue eyes blown out to impossible proportions as she stares at me with a mixture of horror and fascination.
"What the fuck is inside his blood, Maeve?" she whispers hoarsely. "I can feel it from here."
Maeve's eyes burn into me like twin flames. "Why the fuck are you bleeding?" she demands, her voice dropping to a dangerous growl.
"It's nothing," I say, still holding my nose. "Sometimes I get bloody noses when the seasons change. It's always been a thing with me."
Emily is hyperventilating across from us, her chest heaving with each breath.
"Emily. Out." Maeve's command cuts through the tension like a knife.
For a second, Emily doesn't move, seemingly transfixed by my blood. Then she lurches backward, banging her fist against the driver's partition window with enough force to make me jump.
"Stop!" she shouts, her voice strained and ragged. "Stop the car!"
The limo pulls over with a smooth glide, and Emily fumbles with the door handle, practically falling out onto the street. She straightens herself quickly, trying to regain her composure, but I can see her hands shaking even in the dim light.
Maeve leans toward the open door. "Grab a ride to the other apartment. I'll be in touch."
Emily nods stiffly. "Alright, boss." Her eyes flick to me one last time, hungry and conflicted, before she slams the door shut.
The car pulls away, and before I can even lower my hand from my nose, Maeve is on me. Her cool tongue sweeps across my upper lip, tracing a path up to my nostril, lapping at the blood with delicate precision. I freeze, my heart hammering against my ribs as she works her way methodically across my face, not missing a single drop.
"You get these a lot?" she murmurs against my skin, her voice vibrating through me.
I try to keep my thoughts coherent while her tongue continues its meticulous cleaning. "Mostly when fall turns to winter or when winter turns to spring. Weather changes mess with my sinuses."
Maeve's tongue darts out one more time, capturing a stray droplet at the corner of my mouth. She savors it for a moment, her eyes half-closed in obvious pleasure.
"You almost broke Emily," Maeve says as she licks a trace of blood from her lips.
"I'm sorry…"
"If she ever takes even a droplet of your blood," Maeve interrupts, her voice dropping to a deadly whisper, "I'll kill her." There's no emotion in her tone, just cold certainty. "Slowly."
I swallow hard, trying to process the casual way she just threatened to murder her right-hand woman. "Well, I'll... make sure that's not necessary." I try to sound confident, but the words come out a bit shaky. Strangely, I'm not shocked by her threat. Something about Maeve screams "I've killed hundreds before and I'll do it again" from the moment you meet her.
"Good," she purrs, her eyes still fixed on my hand where a few drops of blood remain.
Before I can even think to wipe it off, she grabs my wrist and brings my hand to her mouth. Her tongue is cool and precise as she licks every trace of blood from my skin, making my breath hitch.
When she finally releases my hand, she sits back with a satisfied expression, like a cat that's just finished a particularly delicious bowl of cream.
"We're going to the Bruins tomorrow night," she announces, casually adjusting her position on the leather seat.
"Oh, that sounds fun..." I say, trying to inject some enthusiasm into my voice despite my complete lack of interest in hockey. But if it makes Maeve happy, I guess I'm now a hockey fan.
"I go to all the home games," she says, her tone matter-of-fact as she returns her attention to her iPad.
"Why?" I can't help asking. She doesn't strike me as the rabid sports fan type.
She looks up, those crimson eyes fixing me with a stare that suggests I've asked something incredibly obvious. "Because that's what I do."
I blink at her, waiting for more explanation, but apparently that's all I'm getting. "Well... alrighty then," I mutter, stifling another yawn.
"You'll be coming with me from now on."
"I figured."