Chapter 14

My mind slips in and out of consciousness. I'm not sure how much time passes. Enough for me to start growing the semblance of a beard, I guess. My limbs tense as I shift positions in the cold chair holding my weight. I suddenly miss Kelly's dilapidated couch. Even though it was barely usable, it still managed to mold to the form of whoever sat on it the longest.

Kelly flinches in his sleep. His arms have been freed of the metal bars, but there are bruises left behind as a reminder of where they once were. His eyelids flutter, and I wonder if he's having a dream. Or maybe a nightmare. It wouldn't surprise me if it was the latter. I want to reach forward and readjust his blankets, or maybe even hold his hand while he sleeps, just so he knows he's not alone.

I don't, though.

Instead I lean my elbows on my knees and keep my distance from my best friend. When he first woke, he was panicked, but Helena kept on assuring me 'this was to be expected.' I'm not sure how many days have passed since then, but he's not getting better. If anything, his health is regressing – both mentally and physically.

Maybe I should have waited to explain everything and answer all his questions. Helena warned me to take it slow; I didn't. I just wanted to get Kelly back to his normal self. Now I'm coming to the bitter realization that the version of Kelly I once knew is gone. Yes, he's human again, but the pieces and memories he had as a vampire have stayed with him as well. It's changed him.

My stomach rumbles at my silent protest against food. I haven't eaten anything since the moment I stepped foot into this medical unit. I'm not sure how long it's been, but I haven't started hallucinating. At least, I don't think I have. That's a good sign.

"Human."

Something stirs to life within at the sound of his voice. I don't turn around, but I feel Bogdan as he moves beside my chair. It's the first time I've heard his voice or been in his presence since he stormed out of the medical unit upon seeing Kelly's condition.

Maybe I should've ran after him to try and explain, but I couldn't leave Kelly's side. And selfishly, I didn't want to see even a hint of betrayal in Bogdan's gaze after hearing my explanation. At this point, I just can't handle it. Does that make me a coward?

A shaky breath escapes my lips when Bogdan's cool hand touches my shoulder to gain my attention. It's a light, hesitant touch, but my skin aches for more. With what little courage I have within me forces me to meet his gaze. His eyes have become a brilliant, searing red. They're no longer appeased by satiety, and my heart sinks realizing I've also forced Bogdan to go days without eating as well.

"I'm sorry," I whisper. "I just couldn't leave him."

Bogdan cocks his head to the side. The florescent lights provide an iridescent halo around his head, yet his sharp features cast shadows as he stares down at me. A fallen angel. How can one man be so beautiful?

"You need to eat," Bogdan whispers. "I'll sit with him while you're away."

It's not a question or a command, but rather a request that's said with enough conviction that I don't argue. I stand from my chair and wince. Everything aches. Nothing sounds better than throwing myself into Bogdan's arms and begging him to help me figure all of this out. Instead I move past him and nod in agreement.

"I'll grab a quick bite and shower. Shouldn't take me too long."

Bogdan's eyes linger, and I try not to fidget having his attention. My mind is probably playing tricks on me, but it almost appears as if he's concerned about me. He crosses his arms over his sculpted chest. I swallow back a stale mouthful of saliva.

How I should broach the subject of Bogdan's lack of sustenance? Should I ask him to step out and pick a vein? I'm normally not this uncomfortable, but my brain is fuzzy after a lack of sleep and food. My already-limited ability to gauge his thoughts are now reaching a nonexistent level.

"If you want," I stammer, "I'll ask Reyo to hook me up to a blood bag. I'll bring it back to you when I return."

I want him to turn it down and ask for a live feeding instead. Pathetic? Maybe. But everything that's happened the past few days – heck, the past few months – has taken a toll on me. Truthfully, I ache for him.

Bogdan narrows his eyes. "You'd trust him to do that?"

There's accusation in his tone, and his gaze flickers over to Kelly as a means of driving his point home. My cheeks heat. He knows. Without us talking, somehow over the past few days Bogdan has found out that it was my blood that changed Kelly back into a human.

I recoil another step away from him and run a hand through my shaggy hair. My finger catches on an entanglement of knots, and pain prickles over my scalp.

"No," I whisper. "I don't."

Bogdan's frown softens. He stares at me for another beat of silence before nodding towards the door. "Go eat. I'll be here when you get back."

___________________________

By the time I get through showering, shaving, and putting on clean clothes, I've depleted what's left of my energy. My eyes slowly blink open and closed. Everything feels like it's moving in slow motion, and I give a fleeting look to the neatly made bed.

The idea of a nap sounds incredibly inviting, but what if Kelly wakes up and asks for me? What if he needs me?

I shake my head. No, a napping is not an option. I force my feet to keep moving and close the door behind me. Flames flicker along the hallway. It's barely enough light, but I keep to the center where the rock is the smoothest and the most well-traveled.

It isn't until I'm standing in front of Reyo's office door that I realize I have no idea where the dining hall is located. Every meal I've had has either been in my room or with Reyo. The guards standing on either side of the door stare down at me. Their green uniforms remind me of the wasps in Kelly's room.

"Do you have an appointment with the Primary?" the one on the left asks.

I shake my head. "I was actually wondering if you could point me towards the dining hall."

The guards exchange a hesitant look, and the one on the left knocks a single time on Reyo's door. What – they can't give me directions to get food without getting permission from their leader first? The door swings open almost simultaneously, and Reyo's eager face pops out. He smiles at me. The guards immediately step aside and give a simple bow of respect to their leader.

"Finn," he welcomes, and his voice is filled with warmth. "I thought I heard your voice. Please, please come in."

He leaves the door ajar and walks back into the room, not giving me a chance to decline. The guard grunts for me to follow their leader's instruction, and I step through the threshold. This isn't the time for me to be in Reyo's presence. My senses are dulled, and if I was in my right frame of mind, I'd be screaming at him for what he did to Kelly. For what he did to me.

I walk through the familiar room, eyeing the table filled with various fruits and chocolates. My mouth salivates, and I hesitate before reaching for one.

"Help yourself," he says, as if reading my mind.

I swipe up an orange and begin peeling. My fingers are frantic, digging at the skin until my nailbeds are burning with pain. Reyo grins and situates himself at his computer. His blue eyes glance back at me every once in a while, but I refuse to meet his gaze.

"I have good news for you," he tries again.

My random orange peels sit in a haphazard pile atop the wooden table. It looks absurd against the neatly arranged chocolates and fancy fruit bowl. I pop the first piece in my mouth. The flavor bursts across my taste buds, and I greedily pull off another piece.

"What's that?" I ask through chews.

"Your friend – Leo – has been taken off of medical leave. He's been cleared and is currently..." Reyo clicks on a few buttons until a wide camera view is pulled onto his screen. "...eating something delicious, it appears."

I squint at the screen behind him. My stomach squirms as I study the moving picture, confirming Reyo's statement. Sure enough, my ex-lover and prior professor is currently dining beside a handful of Secondaries – one of them being Tegan, I recognize. His disheveled hair has been cut and styled. His tattered clothes have been traded out for black pants and a gray shirt. He looks healthy again.

Tegan reaches over him for another roll. He leans to the side to give her room, and I'm stunned that he doesn't even flinch. She's the reason he almost died, after all. How can he act so calm around her? His face seems relaxed, happy even. I chew on my lip staring at my prior lover, wondering if he's upset I haven't had a chance to visit. He risked his life for me in order to help Bogdan and me find the Secondary population. Does he think it's worth it?

I feel Reyo watching me, and it makes me self-conscious. He might not be able to sense my emotions the way Bogdan can, but I know he studies me closely. He watches every slight change in my body language and disposition. I drop my gaze from the screen and pop another piece of orange in my mouth.

"Thank you for the update. He looks well."

Reyo turns in his chair to face me. "He is well, Finn. I'm glad we were able to save him."

He says it softly, a gentle reminder of yet another favor he's done for me. I refuse to feel guilty about my anger towards him. Reyo might have saved Leo, but he almost killed Kelly. He also changed Kelly back into a human without even talking to him first. Kelly didn't have a choice; it was made for him.

I peel off a third piece of orange. The skin tears in the process, and a single drop of juice breaks free and slides down my thumb. The acidic liquid burns the tender skin under my nails. I know I should keep my mouth shut, but the elephant in the room becomes too much to bear.

"You didn't even ask him first," I finally choke out. "You gave Kelly the antidote, and he didn't know what was happening to him. He could have died."

Tears of anger and fear lodge in my throat. If Bogdan was here, he'd tell me to tread carefully. I'm in a precarious situation, and I know it. At any moment, Reyo could just lock me in a cell and use my blood as needed. He has the strength and the power of the Secondary nation supporting him. At least right now he views me as an ally in this war. But I'm starting to fear that one wrong move will shift that balance tremendously.

Reyo's silence puts me on edge. Have I already said too much? My palms become clammy with nerves. I don't have the courage to look at him this time. Reyo stands and pushes his chair across the room until he's directly across from me. He slowly sits down again, and my pulse quickens at his nearness.

"Finn," Reyo says. "You came to me as an ally in war – a war in which we have the same end goal. To save mankind. You're right; I didn't ask Kelly prior to providing him the antidote."

I swallow hard, hating the way he admits it so freely. Reyo reaches forward. I watch his masculine hand curl around my knee in a gesture of comfort. Of friendship?

"But had he said no, Finn, we would have been back to square one. And had he said yes, the process of asking would have been wasted time – precious time. Every minute that goes by, humans are dying because of this war. You do realize this, don't you?"

No.

Yes. My shoulders slump. The way Reyo talks speaks of a bigger picture makes me view his actions in a different way. To me it was a direct kick in the nuts in terms of betrayal. To Reyo, he was simply making a decision in war to help us reach the end goal.

I'm only human, just a guy who used to spend his days listening to my best friend play on the guitar while wondering if my stomach could handle another slice of pizza. It's difficult for me to think of the larger picture now - the smaller steps needed to reach the end goal. Besides, Kelly is alive, isn't he? Isn't that what's most important?

"My troops are waiting," Reyo continues, with his hand still on my leg. "When I give them my word, they'll deploy into human territory, capturing vampires by the hundreds. Many good men and women will die in the process of saving what's left of the human population. None of the other vampires will have a choice on whether or not they want to make the change. Changing them back to their natural form is the only way we can win this war, Finn."

"And you need more of my blood to do that."

Reyo nods. "I do, yes."

I chew on my bottom lip, digging my teeth into the supple flesh. My eyes soak in every detail of the floor as I process Reyo's words. He changed Kelly, just as he agreed to do, and now he's waiting for me to give up more of my blood...just as I agreed to do.

He's given me multiple days to tend to my best friend without so much as a whisper of interruption. That's not the same man thinking about winning a war. It's the side of Reyo that many of his people don't realize is there, a side of compassion.

Reyo's hand falls away from my knee. I expect him to put more space between us, but his hand moves closer to my face. He catches my bottom lip with his thumb, gently urging it away from between my teeth. The pad of his thumb moves across my lip in a slow, gentle touch.

The gesture is so unexpected that my eyes snap to his in curious confusion. His gaze is fixed on my lips, and the look in his eyes causes my breath to catch. What's happening right now? Reyo has never shown even an ounce of interest in me before.

Before the moment has a chance to materialize into something more, Reyo recoils. His eyebrows pucker into a frown, and he shakes his head as if clearing whatever thoughts were just coursing through his mind. The silence becomes strained between us, and he glances to the side. Suddenly the tabletop has become a fascinating object of focus.

"I know this is difficult," Reyo whispers. "But at the end of this war, Finn, I want you to walk away knowing you made a difference. Knowing you saved mankind. You deserve that."

"I deserve to know I made a difference?"

Reyo's light eyes meet mine. "Yes, and you deserve to know how special you are, Finn. Because you are. And with every day that passes, I realize it more and more..."