Drawing Blood

Chapter Twenty-five

Like a statue coming alive all of a sudden, Adam bounded out of the room, disappearing on me in an instant. I leapt from my chair, following him just as quickly. When I caught up with him, he was in Angela's office, dragging a cardboard box off her desk.

"Where will you go?" I demanded to know.

"Stefan think's it best I go with him." Strolling past me, he began pulling her books off the shelves, acting as if everything was normal, as though nothing had changed; when in reality, I was never going to see him again. "We fly to Sweden Monday night to re-group, and then head off to America. According to Stefan, a group of embracing werewolves are hiding out in Death Valley. He needs someone to track and detect them."

I tried to comprehend what he was saying, but his words made no sense whatsoever. I would have better luck if he had used sign language. "I thought you were helping me with this place?" I threw out a limp hand, pathetically motioning at the chaos in the room. "Who will help me get rid of all this stuff?"

"I'll stay and help you pack, then leave when Stefan calls round tomorrow night."

"He's coming here?"

He heard the shock in my voice, and let out what I thought was a groan. "Don't treat it like it's a big deal, Rose," he said. "He wont stay for long. Besides, I only came back because you needed protecting. Now that you don't, I can leave and go and help him again."

"Did you know this would happen?"

"A part of me did, yes."

I stared at him in disbelief, struggling to find the words to say. "What do I tell Annie?"

"Tell her the truth. Tell her where I've gone."

"Won't it be better coming from you?"

"Okay, I'll call her when I get there." He grabbed another cardboard box from the corner of the room, having finished with the first one. "I'll do it as soon as I can."

"Won't she be angry with you?"

"No," he said rather quickly.

"But you've only just come back."

"I came back because she asked me to protect you. She knows the deal."

I was slow to react. "You protected me for her sake?" As soon as I had said the words, I wished I hadn't. "But, I thought..."

His tone was cold. "You thought what?"

"I thought you ... Last night..."

He stopped packing and threw me a hooded look. It was totally unexpected, and the breath became trapped in my throat. If he had been rehearsing things inside his head, he obviously didn't think he'd make it this far. "You thought there was another reason why I protected you?"

I caught the unmistakable harshness in his voice and shook my head hurriedly, my ego bruised by his actions, by his callousness. "No, I just thought...." Utterly powerless to do anything, I blinked and let my eyes trail the room. I did it so I didn't have to look at him anymore. If I looked at him, I knew I would cry. Changing the subject, I realised my mouth was struggling to function properly. "But America is on the other side of the world."

"That's its appeal." He started throwing more things into another cardboard box.

"It's hot in Death Valley. It's dangerous."

"I know - I've been there twice before."

"Won't that be bad for you? I mean...your blood is warm, isn't it?"

"I'll survive."

He made over to the photographs sitting on the windowsill, making a start on them. I observed his robotic movements out the corner of my eye, my heart snapping into two separate pieces. I felt as though I was breaking up with him, and it was his stuff he was packing - not mine.