Love Bites

LOVE BITES Chapter 20 : Bite Me

Chapter 20 : Bite Me

Alastair's POV

"That was..." She couldn't seem to find the words. "Magic."

I smiled, stepping closer. "Yes, Nikki, it is magic." My hands slipped into the pockets of the trousers I wore and I asked slowly, "Do you... remember? When you were younger?"

She gasped. "That was how we got on the roof." Realisation shone through the depths of her big blue eyes. "I couldn't work out how... Alastair, that was amazing!" Her eyes lit up, an electric blue, and she crawled to the other side of the bed. "Do it again!"

She must of moved too quickly because in the next instant she was swaying and toppling sideways on the mattress, the pillows acting as a soft padding beneath her. She clutched her head as a cloud of dizziness whooshed over her. My body moved to help her but she held up a hand to tell me not to.

"It's okay," she said while wincing in pain. "It'll be over..." she pulled her hand away and opened her eyes with a silent exhale, "and it's gone."

"Nikki..." I trailed.

"Will I be able to do the disappearing act?" She dismissed my worry for her with another question. I nodded in response.

She wasn't pushing herself to understand everything she'd missed in the past 13 years, was she?

"What other powers do you have?"

I counted it on my fingers. "Naturally advanced smell, sight, hearing..."

Her eyes widened slightly. "Smell?"

I gave her an odd look. "Yes?"

"So that means you could smell when..." she pulled her legs up and buried her face in her hands. "Oh my god. Every month you could smell when..." she shook her head vigorously, mumbling incoherent sentences.

I felt like I had missed something crucial but then, realisation dawned.

This was most definitely not within the borders of my comfort zone. Alas, topics such as these were inevitably bound to arise and I was prepared for such.

I cleared my throat, understanding her insinuated proposal. "Nikki-"

"No! Stop." She threw her hands out to silence me. Crimson had washed up her neck, colouring her entire face and even her ears. "I'm sorry," she squeaked, "it's just...  I can't believe... could you seriously...? Don't answer. I mean, I need you to answer its just... wow."

She stared at the ground, sucking her bottom lip between her teeth. An action as minor as that from her made the fangs in my gums ache. I paced the floor.

"Sorry," she said. "I know this is really awkward it's just I can't very well talk to anyone other than you... it's not like I can ask Brianna because, you know, she's not a..." A frown grew between her eyebrows.

"A vampire?" I offered, ceasing my stride. I couldn't help the light laugh that escaped my mouth. "No. Brianna is most definitely not a vampire." Nikki was still frowning, appearing lost in thought. "What's wrong?" I asked quickly.

"Nothing," she mumbled, "it's just... there's something about Brianna that I can't quite put my finger on..."

"Lady Marisa didn't seem to be troubled by... what you're asking now," I tried to explain, my hand rubbing the back of my neck. "I believe it's safe to say that once you are immortal, that, stops."

Nikki peeked up at me, still gnawing on her plump bottom lip. "Really?" she asked. "Well I guess that's one good thing about being a vampire then." She was silent after that, twirling the ends of her hair before asking absently, "Who else knows that I'm an Imperial? Other than you, me and that freaky warlock at the library, who else?"