Not waiting for him to answer, she just whirled around and stalked away. Four doors led off the main room, she took a wild guess and headed for the nearest. It actually led into a large bedroom, with windows that stretched across one wall looking out onto panoramic views of the city of London. Definitely an improvement on her previous accommodation.
Opposite, was a second door and she went through this and found herself in an enormous bathroom, with a corner bath and a huge walk-in shower unit. She’d been going to shower, but now she locked the door behind her—in case Ash hadn’t left—and turned on the taps for the bath.
Once in the water, she unfastened the bandage around her shoulder. The wound had nearly healed. She knew that wasn’t normal. But what was normal in her world anymore? She was bruised, the marks beginning to show dark against her skin, but none of them hurt, she wondered how strong the painkillers had been.
An hour later and she felt almost human. She’d avoided thinking about everything, vampires, demons, fae, Ash, keeping her mind blank and letting the hot water soak away her tension.
Now, she needed clean clothes. No way was she putting her bloodstained shirt back on. Instead, she wrapped herself in one of the fluffy, white robes hanging on the door and stepped back into the bedroom. She half expected Ash to be there, but the room was empty.
The bed looked so inviting that in the end she forgot about everything else, tossed off the robe, and crawled between the smooth, cool sheets. She was asleep as her head touched the pillow.
…
When she woke, the room was in darkness, except for the glow from the lamp beside the bed. Straightaway, she knew she wasn’t alone. She rolled her head to the side and found Ash in the chair by the bed. His hair was damp from the shower and he wore faded jeans and a white shirt, his long legs stretched out in front of him. At first, she thought he was asleep, but then she caught the gleam out of his half-closed eyes.
“You do know it’s sort of creepy to wake up and find you sitting there watching me?”
He sat up and stretched, raising his arms above his head. “I brought you some food, but I didn’t want to wake you.”
Food sounded an excellent idea. Her stomach growled in agreement. “I might forgive you in exchange for food,” she said.
“Wait there. I’ll bring it to you.”
She didn’t think anyone had ever brought her food in bed before, except maybe her mother when she’d been little and ill with the measles. Ash switched on the main light as he left, flooding the room with light. He disappeared out the door. Faith considered getting up and putting on the robe but in the end, she just sat up and tucked the sheet around her breasts.
When Ash reappeared a few minutes later, he was carrying a tray and accompanied by the fragrant scent of sweet-and-sour chicken. He placed the tray on the bedside table and sank back down to his chair. There were also two bottles of beer, and he picked one up and took a swallow.
Faith breathed in. “That smells so good.”
“I’d like to say I cooked it myself, but it came from the restaurant on the corner.”
She picked up the plate and a fork and began to eat. After a minute, she glanced up to find Ash watching her closely as if he didn’t quite understand what was going on.
Join the club.
“What time is it?” she asked.
“A few hours until dawn.”
“Do vampires really have to sleep all day?”
“Not the stronger ones like Christian. The younger, less powerful vamps will die in sunlight. Christian would get nothing worse than a bad sunburn. But they are night creatures and prefer to rest during daylight.”
“Is Christian the strongest?”
“Piers is probably stronger. But he’s also older.”
“Jesus. That must make him…?”
“Over two thousand years old.”
She couldn’t even begin to comprehend living that long. Getting through the next day was a challenge. Something occurred to her. “Are there any female vampires?”
“No. They die during the transition.”
“Oh.” She went back to eating. If she was going to die, whatever else happened until then, she was going to enjoy life’s pleasures. She cast a sideways glance at Ash—all of them. She didn’t think he was angry anymore, but she’d never met a man who was so good at hiding his feelings. He raised a brow when he caught her studying him.
“You want some?” She held out a forkful of chicken.
He shook his head and she ate it. The meal was delicious and she didn’t pause again until she had cleared the plate. Then she sat taking stock. Actually, she felt okay. No headache, which was a relief.
She picked up her own beer. It was icily cold, and she drank it slowly, savoring each swallow. Finally, she looked back at Ash. “How’s Tara?”
He shrugged. “Good, I presume. I’ve not seen her since shortly after we got back.”
“Why doesn’t she like you?”
She thought he might not answer, but in the end, he shrugged again as if to say—why not? “Until six months ago, I thought Tara had perished with her mother. We were separated. I blamed Christian Roth.”
“Why?”
“It doesn’t matter now. But I blamed him, and when I got the opportunity to exact a little revenge, I did so.”