Page 74 of Thirst

“As for Shawn, he nearly died. He had a fractured skull and a broken jaw, along with internal bleeding and hemorrhaging. I knew he wouldn't make it. So I did the only thing I could—I bit myself and forced his mouth open. It took a fairly decent amount of my blood to heal him, but it did the trick. However, giving someone that much vampire blood causes changes in them. He's much stronger than your average person now, ages a bit slower, and we can communicate telepathically.”

Aaliyah immediately gets up and faces me, her expression bewildered. “What?”

“It’s true. When I choose to connect with his mind, speaking to Shawn is the same as speaking to me. I hear everything he hears and says, and he can speak to me without ever having to open his mouth. We’re connected, which is why we’re so close now, and up until very recently, he was the only person I trusted with my secret.”

Aaliyah’s mouth drops open as she shakes her head. “So you've heard everything I've ever said to him?”

“Yes.”

“That explains the elevator. He said you’d told him to stop being sentimental. He was being literal.”

“He gets all weepy when he talks about how I saved him and how he owes me so much. We’ve been over it a million times already, but it means a lot to him. I was just messing with him when I told him to stop being sentimental.”

“Yeah, but you actually told him that telepathically. Every second there's something new. I don't even know how I'm supposed to take all of this. You killed a guy for trying to kill Shawn. You had the perfect method to get away with it. You had to give Shawn your blood just to save his life, and now you two are connected mentally. Damn. Can he hear all of your thoughts, too?”

“Nah, but he can call to me in his head to get my attention, like a phone call I have to answer to establish the connection. If I wanted to hear his thoughts right now, I could, and he would know I'm listening. I could keep the connection active full-time, but that would drive us both crazy. No privacy.”

“Wow. Unbelievable. I guess it makes sense why he calls you Mr. Goddard. I thought he was older than you, but you're older than … well, everybody. I should've known that you meeting fifteen years ago made him twenty at the time because he said he's thirty-five now, and that would've made you fifteen. It’s crazy what we’ll overlook or what we miss when we like someone. I gotta do better.”

“Yeah you do, because that one was pretty obvious,” I say with a chuckle.

Aaliyah laughs too, then says, “That explains so much. To keep it real, I can't say I'm happy about how much manipulative power you have as a vampire.”

“I know. That’s why I promised to never use it on you.”

“But it’s deeper than that. If we’re gonna do this exhibit for my art, I don't want you Influencing the buyers either.”

I grin. “Ah, so you do wanna have the exhibit?”

Aaliyah nods her head as conviction takes over her face. “Yeah, I do. Being so close to it and having it snatched out of my grip has left me feeling empty. I need to experience what Stanley promised me.”

“And you will,” I tell her, feeling instantly motivated to provide for her. “You deserve it, and you won't need me to Influence anybody for your art to sell. You're gonna do great. I know it.”

“You really think so? You think I'm good enough?”

I place a hand on her knee. “I saw every piece in the exhibit. They're incredible. Especially that main piece. You know which one I'm talking about.”

I smirk at her because we both know who is painted as her feature piece, but Aaliyah tries to hold her smile back.“Yeah, I know which one. I didn't really mean to do that. I had a dream about you and just had to paint it.”

“I love it. I'm gonna have to have a fang grill made for real.”

“Oh god,” she says, rolling her eyes before lying down again and placing her head on my chest. “Please don't. I don't need you looking any better than you already do.”

We both laugh and I wait for it to die down before saying, “I'm glad you came back. I wasn't sure you would.” I pull her close, wrapping my arms around her again and trying to keep myself from squeezing too hard.

“I'm glad I did, too,” she says. “I still can’t believe any of this is real.”

“I can't believe you wanted me to bite you.”

“Sshhh,” she says jokingly as she reaches up to cover my mouth with her hand. “Don't even bring it up. I couldn't help myself, okay? I got caught up in the moment. It won't happen again.”

“Something tells me it will”.

“Nope. Uh-uh, we’re not talking about it. In fact, I'm going to sleep now. So goodnight. No more conversation about anybody biting anything.”

“Oh, you're going to sleep now. How convenient.”

“Wait,” she says suddenly. “What if I really do fall asleep? Last time I woke up with the sun beaming in my face and you were gone. You have to avoid the sunlight, right? Should I go? I don't wanna mess up whatever routine you have.”