Page 62 of Don't Bite the Botanist
There should be a tingle. There was always a tingle when they touched. But now there was nothing.
“No, please God, no.” He’d never believed in a higher power, but he knew Tressa had mentioned the whole Adam and Eve thing, so he would pray to whoever he needed to if they saved her. “Tressa, baby, I need you to say something. Tease me about the rose on my ass. Call me a silly name. Please, I need you. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean it. I can’t do this without you.”
“I never want to see you again.”
Cold. She was so cold. She’d never been cold before. He’d always read in stories that vampires were supposed to be icy and pale, but that wasn’t his goddess. Not his perfect Sunflower. She was warmth and light, even when his darkness was so strong.
She couldn’t be gone.
“I never want to see you again.”
“No,” he stated firmly. “I’m not losing you, Tressa. I’ve lost everyone in my life, but not you.”
He laid her down and began pumping her chest, doing his best to administer CPR. He felt as much as heard a sharp cracking noise, and a wail erupted from his lungs.
He kept going, though, because some logical voice in the back of his brain calmly reminded him that you weren’t doing it right if you didn’t break a rib.
So he pumped.
And pumped.
And screamed for help.
Nothing happened. The blood squelched through his fingers with each compression, but she didn’t move. Didn’t wake up.
“I never want to see you again.”
“Damn it, Tressa! You are not leaving me alone,” he growled,increasing his efforts.
“Wake.”
Thrust.
“The fuck.”
Thrust.
“UP!”
Throwing his head back, he howled his anguish to the heavens, then slammed his hands down on her chest.
Specks of violet light erupted from his fingers, swirling in a glowing mist before sinking into Tressa’s body.
Transfixed by the tiny sparkles that flowed out of him in a thin gentle stream, Ethan resisted the urge to yank his hands away. He didn’t know what was happening, but maybe, just maybe…
They hadn’t had this conversation. Hadn’t gone over the details of all the different things that vampires could do. Later. He’d said he wanted to discuss everything later. He’d fucked up.
In so many ways.
“I never want to see you again.”
“Come on, baby,” he whispered, keeping his glowing hands pressed to her chest. “Come back to me.”
Her fingers that lay limp against his leg twitched slightly, but that was nothing compared to what he heard.
A thump. A single resonant thump.
And then another.
