I grabbed the lapels of his jacket, considered shaking him 'til his teeth rattled, thought better of it. "Vayl! Calm down before I slap you! Damn, but you're grouchy when you're hungry!"
That got him. His hands dropped from my shoulders. He dug the heel of his palm into the furrows between his eyes. "You are insane, you know that?"
Ouch. "I'm just being practical. I knew someday I might have to bare my throat to you. Pete and I discussed that very possibility. As for danger and risk-taking, that's what Pete pays me to do. And you and I both know he intends to get his money's worth."
"Jasmine, I cannot—"
"Why not!"
"Because you are not food!"
I stared at him for a minute, then I started to grin. I couldn't help it. "Vayl," I tried to keep my face straight, "I'm not asking you to eat me."
Vayl's jaw dropped and I burst into peals of laughter. Eventually I heard him chuckling along with me and I knew we'd be okay. When I had my warped sense of humor back under control I said, "It's just a temporary solution. Until we can figure out something better. Okay?"
When he sighed and his shoulders dropped out of defensive mode, I knew I'd won. "Then I will not wait any longer. You must take this," he said. He pulled the chain he wore out from under his shirt. Off came the ring and away went my smile. I knew from the look on Vayl's face this was serious times ten.
He held the ring out to me and I stared at it as it sat in his palm. Intricately woven golden knots formed the band, and in the center of each knot glittered a superb little ruby. The exquisite craftsmanship made the ring resemble a magical artifact, like a token of love left at the bottom of the Lake of Dreams by some broken-hearted nymph.
"Oh, wow." I touched it as if it was crafted of spun glass.
"You like it then?" Vayl took it and slipped it onto my finger. Though it sat on my right hand, the feeling still spooked me, as if we'd just agreed to some sort of unmarriage.
"It's gorgeous," I said, holding my arm out to see it better. I dropped my hand to my lap as a thought occurred to me. "I can't keep it."
"What?"
"It's too much, Vayl. Too expensive. Too beautiful. Too personal. Plus Pete would kill me. Remember what he said about not accepting gifts?"
"From clients, not from each other. Jasmine—" frustration furrowed his eyebrows, edged his tone, "why do you always have to make everything so difficult?"
My first instinct was to argue, but I had no basis. Vayl had made this wonderful gesture. Did I really have to spit in his hand? "It's just, I don't understand why you would give this to me when, you're right, I have been a pain in the ass lately."
"Because it is more than a gift." Vayl brought my hand to his lips and kissed it. An old fashioned token which should never have gone extinct. "You wear a ring made by my father's father on the day I was born. It is called Cirilai—which means 'guardian.' My mother, as she lay dying from the difficulty of my birth, had a vision of my death. She knew it would be violent. She knew it would endanger my soul. Cirilai contains all the ancient powers my family could muster to protect me. As long as it exists, I may lose my life, but I cannot lose my soul."
Holy crap in a shipwreck, I'd heard fables about such artifacts. To actually have one wrapped around my finger though? Well, to be honest it made me feel kind of nauseous. "Why in the world would you give something so precious to me?"
If I'd known him for years, maybe I could have read the answer in those amber eyes. He must've spent a minute trying to tell me things with them that words could never express. But too much of the unknown still stood between us to allow a translation. That's what I told myself. Maybe I was just too scared to let myself understand. Finally he said, "I gave you Cirilai because the ring will protect you as well. And because I sensed in you the same power that is invested in the ring. The two of you belong together—with me."
At the risk of sounding like a two-year-old, I repeated myself. "But, why?"
Thank goodness that, unlike mine, Vayl's patience isn't tied to a lit fuse. His hands tightened on mine. "You and Cirilai remind me that, while I am no longer human, I am also no better than human."
"Is that all? We keep you humble?"
"Think of what happens to people who possess such powers as mine when they decide their ideas, agendas, race is superior to all others."
"Napoleon," I whispered. "Hitler. Hussein."
Vayl nodded solemnly. "In guarding my soul, you protect the world. And that is why I need you as my partner. My avhar."
Grateful to be sitting now that my knees felt like wet spaghetti, I looked down at our clasped hands until I could speak without sounding like a reality-show confessor. Jerry, I swore never to love again until I met someone who could earn every ounce of respect and affection in my body with a single gesture. Ick. It would never work anyway. Reasons? God, I could make a ceiling-to-floor list. But mainly, because I didn't want it to. Did I? No. No. No. No. No. So. Back to the task at hand: making sure my vamp, er, boss didn't run off for some high-risk blood-letting with his willing donor. I took a deep breath. Made myself focus. "Are you telling me this now because I need to know, or because you're putting off the inevitable?"
"Maybe both," he said, shaking his head. "You, me, the ring—we each possess a power that is potent all on its own. Combining the three, well, if the bomb squad knew what we were planning they would probably stick us in a lead-lined bunker."
"Vayl, you're not talking me out of this. It's the right move. So quit lecturing and get to it."
Vayl hesitated one more minute, then he drew me into his arms. "I will not take much," he assured me, "only what I need and no more."
No more, no more, no more.
His fingers grazed my neck as he swept my hair aside. His lips brushed my earlobe, moved down to my throat. One arm pulled me closer as the other hand tipped my head sideways. I sighed as I felt his power settle over me, warm and comforting as an old quilt. He kept nuzzling me with his lips, caressing me with the tips of his fangs until something new rose between us, a force that sizzled and snapped, making the very air churn. I could hear my breath coming in gasps.
"Vayl… please."
"Yes," he said, his voice hoarse with desire. For me? For my blood? I wasn't sure there was any difference just then. I wanted to share this new insight with him, but my frontal lobe chose that moment to completely shut down. Even the pain of his teeth penetrating my skin didn't wake it up.
Vayl's arms tightened around me. I reached down, digging my fingernails into his thighs as he drank me in. The air shimmered with power. With magic. My head buzzed with it. Through half-closed lids I watched colored bubbles of light dance across the walls. The darkness came so quickly after that, I never even knew it had taken me until I returned to myself and realized I was lying on the couch with one leg flung over its arm. Vayl sat on the other couch, staring at me like I'd grown an extra head as I struggled to sit up. A tightness on my neck caused me to reach up, but when my fingertips encountered a gauze pad I dropped my hand back into my lap.
"What?" I asked, trying hard not to cry. I don't know if I was more distressed that I'd blacked out or that I'd missed most of an experience that had promised to be unforgettable. "Did I do something wrong?" I asked. "Did I say something out of line?" What the hell just happened?
Vayl shook his head. "You were perfect. Better than the best. I have never… it has never been like that for me before."
"For me either." We smiled at each other. The hard knot of fear that twisted my heart with every new blackout relaxed. Vayl didn't know. My secret still hid safe. Now that my attention could wander, I realized the experience had left some aftereffects. "I do feel kind of funky though," I commented.