“I am?”
“You are.” Talbot squeezed my shoulders. He beamed at me with his dimpled smile. “How does it feel? Wonderful, right?”
Beyond the pain in my bleeding arm, I still felt dizzy and warm and tingly all over—how I could only imagine getting high would feel. I couldn’t believe that I’d staked that demon before he could kill me—with my own two hands. “Yeah, it does.” I took in a deep breath, and as the shock of what I’d done washed out of me, I realized I was positively trembling from the sheer thrill of it all. I’d never felt so in control. So much exquisite power rushing through my veins.
“I knew you could do it, kid.” Talbot squeezed my shoulders again.
If he really thought I could do it all on my own, then why did he come bursting in here? Probably because he’d really thought I couldn’t handle it on my own. At least I’d proven him wrong. I was stronger than even he could imagine.
I raised the stake in my shaking hand. “Call me kid one more time, and I’m gonna shove this where it really counts.”
Talbot laughed and wrapped his strong arms around me. “You’re right. You’re hardly a kid.” He held me in a tight embrace and stared down at me with his bright, glinting eyes. “You’re truly amazing, Grace,” he said in a low voice.
The next thing I knew, his hand cradled my cheek, his callused fingers stroking my skin. He tilted my face toward his. His lips hovered only a fingertip’s distance away from mine. They vibrated with his breath, as if asking me to be the one to meet him the rest of the way.
I couldn’t move.
“Can I?” Talbot whispered.
I gave my head a tiny shake, my lips almost grazing his with the movement.
“Please?” The warmth of his breath made me shudder in his embrace.
“No,” I whispered, but I couldn’t bring myself to back away. “I already have someone.”
“Just once … Please. I have to know what it feels like.”
I half closed my eyes, imagining getting lost in the intoxicating idea of Talbot’s touch, but all that flashed in my mind was the look on Daniel’s face if he ever learned I’d kissed someone else. I turned my head as Talbot tried to press his mouth over mine. His lips lightly brushed my cheek instead. He dropped his hand from my face.
I stepped away from him and crossed to the open doorway. “I need to leave,” I said, my voice barely working.
“Why?” Talbot asked. “You want this. I can feel it. Stop denying yourself what you want.”
Heat flashed through my body. “I just can’t.”
Talbot’s nostrils flared, but then he dropped his gaze. “I’m sorry. I got caught up in the excitement. I’ll never do it again.” He took a step toward me.
I held my hand up to stop him and shook my head again. “It’s okay. We both got caught up. I need to get back to the bus now.”
Talbot reached into his pocket for the van keys. “Let’s go, then.”
I left the apartment and headed for the van in the parking lot. I could hear Talbot following after me, but I didn’t look back.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Need
BACK AT THE REC CENTER
We both knew I was pretending to be in a hurry to get back to the bus—it was a whole hour earlier than I needed to be there—but neither of us said anything about it. I stared out the window at the side-view mirror, concentrating on healing the burns on my hands and the claw marks on my shoulder. I replayed killing that horrible Gelal in my head, embracing the feeling of exhilarating power—the rush of it all—in order to heal my wounds.
We both stayed silent until we parked under the oak tree where he’d picked me up. I pulled on my jacket to cover up the bloody rip in my shirtsleeve and grabbed my backpack, which I’d left in the van during my little escapade. I slung it over my shoulder and was about to get out without saying good-bye when Talbot grabbed my newly healed hand.