Darkness by Joann I. Martin Sowles Read Free Book Online Page A

ourselves. It’s my dream to build such a place for us.” He kissed the back of my hand then, and that’s when I realized that when he said “us” he was talking about us . I felt that sudden flutter of my heart and my stomach felt like it dropped a mile. It was a good feeling, as uncomfortable as it was.
     
    The store wasn’t far. We stepped inside as the doors slid open and a cold burst of air-conditioned air hit me and I shivered. Oliver got us a cart and we started down towards the aisles. I hit the cereal section first. Two happy red boxes later we were heading for the next aisle.
     
    Once I’d loaded the cart with my typical snacks we headed for the dairy section. Oliver told me we couldn’t get too big a carton of milk because he had to stash it in his closet fridge, which wasn’t that big. So I got a few individual ones.
     
    “That’s it,” I said with a big, happy smile. I was so excited for my kind of food. It felt like it had been days since I’d really eaten.
     
    “One more thing,” Oliver said as he pulled a folded piece of paper out of his front pocket.
     
    “What’s that?”
     
    “A list. Felix wants me to pick up some meat for Carter. He seems to think it might be something he could keep down, since nothing else seems to be sitting right.” He unfolded the list like it was it was toxic, then we headed for the meat section. And up until that moment, he had been like anyone else. But now, in front of the meat section at the grocery store he began to act a little iffy. I took one of his hands in mine and squeezed it gently. His eyes, the pupils a little bigger than usual, focused on mine.
     
    “You okay?”
     
    He blinked several times. Took his hand from mine and rubbed his eyes. It didn’t help. He handed me the list and took a large step back. “Will you please do it,” he asked, almost pleading. “Apparently you’re not the only one that’s hungry.”
     
    My eyes widened at that. I quickly skimmed the list and picked out the items on it, double bagging them before placing them in the cart. We rushed to the check-out. Paid quickly and then out to the car. I handled all the meat bags as we loaded the groceries into the back of the SUV.
     
    As we started back to the house I could see he was still struggling. “You okay?” I asked again. I reached for his hand but he moved it from the console to the steering wheel as I did so.
     
    “I just need to get back to the house.”
     
    I sat back in my seat and rode quietly all the way to the house. The trip home seemed much longer than the trip to the store.
     
    At times it was so hard to see him as something different. But as he pulled into the driveway, hitting the curb hard enough to bounce me off my seat, jumping from the SUV, and bolting for the front door, he made me realize how different he was. How fresh blood, even that of animals, would send my vampire almost into a frenzy. I’d seen his fangs as we stood there in front of all that freshly cut meat. And I’m pretty sure I was far from safe on our ride back to the house. I hadn’t moved from my seat when I noticed Felix come strolling out of the house and smiling that easy-going, sweet smile of his at me. He wouldn’t let me know I’d been in danger from the man I loved. I was pretty sure he already knew I knew.
     

Chapter 6 - Return of the Gothic Princess
     
    After Felix and I brought all the groceries in, he let me see Carter. It was just a quick visit, not more than five minutes. But in that time I could see that he looked a little better, though he still awful at the same time. A deep gash was healing across his face and his lips were badly chapped. His collar bone seemed to be protruding and I could make out the lines of his ribs. His eyes flicked open as I stood beside the bed and he attempted a smile at me. I smiled back, trying my best not to look horrified.
     
    “You get better, okay?” I said to him very softly. I was afraid of speaking too loudly.