“Right now?” I grimaced, wondering if I looked as tired as I felt.
“Why not?” he asked, and standing next to me, he put his arm around my shoulder and held the camera out in front of us. “Hold still. It’s better with no flash,” he said, and pressed the shutter release. He turned the camera around so we could see the shot.
My heart was in my mouth as I looked at the image of myself standing next to this godlike boy. His eyes were half-shut, and in the dim light of the room the circles under them actually made him appear more handsome than ever—but with a hint of darkness.
And me . . . well, I was glowing. Next to him, I looked like I was where I was supposed to be. And I felt it too.
We sat up on Vincent’s bed and talked until late in the night. Finally my eyes began to close on their own, and he asked if I wanted to sleep. “Want, no. Need, maybe. Too bad your revenant insomnia can’t rub off on me.” I smiled, stifling a yawn.
He pulled a light blue-green T-shirt out of a cupboard and tossed it to me across the room. “To match your eyes,” he said.
I rolled my eyes at the cheesy remark but was secretly pleased that he happened to know my exact eye color. The shirt was big enough to come halfway down my thighs. “Perfect,” I said, and looked up to notice that Vincent had turned around to face the wall.
“Go ahead,” he said in a playful voice.
“What are you doing?” I asked him, laughing.
“If I am forced to watch Kate Mercier strip down to her undies in my very own bedroom, I’m afraid I won’t be able to answer to Mamie for what might happen.” The huskiness in his voice made me wish, for just a second, that he would follow through with his threat.
Pulling the shirt over my head, I said, “Okay, I’m decent.”
He turned around and looked at me, whistling under his breath. “You’re more than decent! You look practically edible.”
“I thought revenants weren’t into eating human flesh,” I teased, blushing in spite of myself.
“I didn’t claim we never lapsed when pushed beyond our limits,” Vincent countered.
Wondering if all our conversations were going to be this bizarre, I shook my head with a smile and fished my phone out of my bag. Texting Georgia, I asked her to tell the school I was staying home “for personal reasons” and that I would bring a note from my grandmother on Tuesday.
And soon afterward, sitting on the bed with my back against the wall and my head on Vincent’s shoulder, I fell asleep.
When I awoke in the morning, I was covered in blankets and resting on a whisper-soft feather pillow. Vincent was gone, but there was a note on the table.
Has anyone ever told you how cute you are when you sleep? The urge to wake you up and tell you was too tempting, so I left instead of risking your sleep-deprived wrath. Jeanne’s got breakfast for you in the kitchen.
Throwing the previous day’s clothes on, I walked groggily down the hallway to the kitchen. When Jeanne saw me walk in, she gave a cry and, running over to me, grabbed my head between her plump hands and planted a huge kiss on each of my cheeks.
“Oh, my little Kate. It’s good to have you back. I was so happy when Vincent told me you were stopping by last night. And he actually ate this morning, for a change! I thought he was on a hunger strike, but he was just so sick over losing you. . . .” She stopped herself, putting a hand over her mouth.
“Listen to me run on, and you having just woken up. Sit, sit. I’ll get you some breakfast. Coffee or tea?”
“Coffee,” I said, flattered by all the attention.
Jeanne and I chatted while I was eating. She wanted to know everything about my family, where I was from, and what it was like to live in New York. I stayed for a little while after I finished eating, but couldn’t wait to see Vincent.
Jeanne could tell. Picking up my empty cup and plate, she shooed me out of the kitchen. “I’m sure you don’t want to spend your day in here with me. Go find Vincent. He’s working out in the gym.”
“Where’s the gym?” I asked, curious about a side of Vincent’s life I didn’t yet know.
“Silly me, I keep thinking you know your way around, when you’ve only been here a couple of times. It’s in the basement. The door to the left as you leave the kitchen.”
I heard them before I saw them. The clang of steel against steel. The heavy breathing, groans, and exclamations. It sounded like the special effects sound track for a martial arts film was being played full blast in an echo chamber. I got to the bottom of the stairs and gasped as I looked around.