• 𝓜𝓪𝓮 •

Later in the day, Luca entered my room with a stack of books, some paper, and some pens balanced on one hand. He grinned at me, flashing me his fangs as he set the things down on my nightstand. He wore a black t-shirt that showcased the tattoos running down his arms, and dark wash jeans that sat low on his hips.

I eyed him, waiting for him to say something snarky. When he didn't, I became curious. Something about him being quiet didn't sit right with me, especially since he'd been so talkative within the last twenty four hours.

"Can I ask you a question," I asked as he turned towards my door to leave.

He paused, then slowly turned and looked back at me. "You mean, on top of the question asking if you can ask a question?"

There it was.

I raised an eyebrow. "Yes."

He shrugged one shoulder, his lip quirking. "By all means, ask away."

"Do you enjoy being a vampire?" It wasn't an innocent question asked purely out of curiosity. It was a test, in a sense, to see how he truly felt.

I couldn't bring myself to trust a vampire who enjoyed being one. Even if he'd been turned right after we were taken as children, he had to have known what happened out in the town. What we were used for. What we were put through.

He glanced past me, to the window. He didn't speak for a moment, and I wondered if he'd even answer. It was a pretty basic question, but maybe he knew the reason behind me asking.

"I do," he finally answered, his blue eyes meeting mine. "I know how you feel about us, Mae. And while some of that feeling is justified, I think that if you gave a couple of us a chance, you'd find we aren't all bad."

"You helped bring me back here," I accused.

He tilted his head. "Yes. But so did Noah, and I see how you're warming up to him regardless of that fact. I'm not going to pretend to hate who I am to save your feelings, darling."

He took a step towards me, and when I didn't retreat, his eyes glittered. He continued towards me until the toes of his black shoes just barely touched my bare toes. His hand came up and he gently caressed my throat, his eyelids fluttering when his skin touched mine.

"You have so much pent up anger." He traced a line across my throat, where I knew a light bruise still resided. "But you're aiming it at the wrong people. There is still good in this world, Maeve. You just need to open your eyes."

The way my name slipped past his lips made my body stiffen. I hated when people used my full first name, but from him, with his deep, hushed voice...all I wanted was for him to say it again. Like my name was a secret best kept between us.

"We aren't all bad," he reiterated, and I saw a bruise begin forming on his throat as he touched me.

"Are you," I asked, watching the bruise form to look like a handprint on his throat.

He hummed, his fingers wrapping around my throat gently. He didn't press into my skin, but I didn't doubt he could do a lot of damage if he so much as squeezed. I could feel his strength thrumming beneath the surface of his skin, and the threat he didn't have to mutter.

"I can be," he said, a finger moving up to run across my lips. "But not in the way you fear. I wouldn't hurt you."

"What about other humans," I asked, trying to ignore the way I itched to rub my thighs together to relieve some of the ache his proximity and touch was causing.

I hated vampires. Hated them. So why...?

"I've never hurt a human more than they've requested to be hurt." He slid his hand down over my left shoulder and down my arm until it fell away.

"What the hell does that mean?" I held myself back from pushing him away. I wasn't sure I had enough strength to actually move him, but I didn't want to show that he got a rise out of me.

He raised his eyebrows. "Not sure, little smut reader? Think about it for a minute."

I shook my head, still not understanding. When I opened my mouth to tell him to get fucked, it finally clicked.

Christ.

He stood in front of me for a moment longer, smirking when he caught the understanding, before taking a step back. He muttered something about having one more day through a sigh. I had no idea what that meant, and I didn't particularly care to know. I was too busy hating myself for my reaction to him.

As far as I knew, he was being honest in his answers. I half expected him to say that he didn't like being a vampire, just to - as he said - save my feelings. But he didn't. And that last answer was probably a little too honest for my liking, especially after my conversation with Noah, but to each their own.

He eyed me again before he turned his back to me and walked to the door. I didn't stop him this time, watching as he quietly left, shutting and locking the door behind him.

I lifted my fingers to my throat and pressed against where the bruise had been, noting with some shock that there was absolutely no pain.

I went to the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror, staring at the unmarred skin that had only minutes before been an odd shade of yellow, purple, and green.

I thought back to the way Luca's throat had bruised as he touched me, and only then did I realize what exactly he'd done. Noah healed me until the pain was almost nonexistent. Luca finished it by transferring what was left of my wound to himself.

I stared at myself in the mirror, my fingers still resting on my throat.

We aren't all bad. There is still good in this world, Maeve.

I blew out a breath, letting my hand fall to the countertop. Maybe there was good in the world, but it was few and far between. If they took two seconds to walk around South District and really look at the faces of those humans they fed on, they'd see what they were doing to us. Breeding us just to raise children to adulthood so they could be fed from and bred. Maybe the other districts weren't like that, but here? Titus made sure we knew what our position was.

And that was at the bottom.