Dead and Gone

idiots launched themselves at each other.
    I started to jump in to stop them, but the functioning part of my brain told me that would be suicidal. I thought, My grass is going to get sprinkled by a little more blood this evening . What I should have been thinking was, I need to get the hell out of the way . In fact, I should have run inside and locked the door and left them to it.
    But that was hindsight. Actually, what I did was stand there for a moment, hands fluttering uselessly, trying to figure out how to separate them . . . and then the two grappling figures lurched and staggered. Quinn threw Bill away from him with all his strength. Bill cannoned into me with such force that I actually went up in the air an inch or two—and then, very decisively, down I came.

Chapter 10
    Cold water trickled over my face and neck. I spluttered and choked as some trickled into my mouth.
    “Too much?” asked a hard voice, and I pried open my eyes to see Eric. We were in my room, and only the bathroom light was on.
    “Enough,” I said. The mattress shifted as Eric got up to carry the washrag into my bathroom. In a second he was back with a hand towel, dabbing at my face and neck. My pillow was damp, but I decided not to worry about it. The house was cooling off now that the sun was gone, and I was lying there in my underwear. “Cold,” I said. “Where are my clothes?”
    “Stained,” Eric said. There was a blanket at the end of the bed, and he pulled it up over me. He turned his back to me for a moment, and I heard his shoes hit the floor. Then he got under the blanket with me and propped himself up on an elbow. He was looking down at me. His back was to the light coming from the bathroom, so I couldn’t discern his expression. “Do you love him?” he said.
    “Are they alive?” No point in deciding if I loved Quinn or not if he was dead, right? Or maybe Eric meant Bill. I couldn’t decide. I realized I felt a little odd.
    “Quinn drove away with a few broken ribs and a broken jaw,” Eric told me, his voice quite neutral. “Bill will heal tonight, if he hasn’t already.”
    I considered that. “I guess you had something to do with Bill being here?”
    “I knew when Quinn disobeyed our ruling. He was sighted within half an hour of crossing into my area. And Bill was the closest vampire to send to your house. His task was to make sure you weren’t being harassed while I made my way here. He took his role a little too seriously. I’m sorry you were hurt,” Eric said, his voice stiff. He wasn’t used to making apologies, and I smiled in the darkness. It was almost impossible for me to feel anxious, I noticed in a distant kind of way. And yet surely I ought to be upset and angry?
    “So they stopped fighting when I hit the ground, I hope.”
    “Yes, the collision ended the . . . scuffle.”
    “And Quinn left on his own?” I ran my tongue around my mouth, which tasted funny: kind of sharp and metallic.
    “Yes, he did. I told him I would take care of you. He knew he’d crossed too many lines by coming to see you, since I’d told him not to enter my area. Bill was less accepting, but I made him return to his house.”
    Typical sheriff behavior. “Did you give me some of your blood?” I asked.
    Eric nodded quite casually. “You had been knocked unconscious,” he said. “And I know that is serious. I wanted you to feel well. It was my fault.”
    I sighed. “Mr. High-handed,” I muttered.
    “Explain. I don’t know this term.”
    “It means someone who thinks he knows what’s best for everyone. He makes decisions for them without asking them.” Maybe I had put a personal spin on the term, but so what?
    “Then I am high-handed,” Eric said with no shame whatsoever. “I’m also very . . .” He dipped his head and kissed me slowly, leisurely.
    “Horny,” I said.
    “Exactly,” he said, and kissed me again. “I’ve worked with my new masters. I’ve shored up my authority. I can have my own life now. It’s time I claimed what is mine.”
    I’d told myself I’d make up my own mind, no matter how Eric and I were tied by our blood exchanges. After all, I still had free will. But whether or not the inclination had been planted by Eric’s blood donation, I found that my body was strongly in favor of returning the kiss and of trailing the palm of my hand down Eric’s broad back. Through the fabric of his shirt, I could feel the muscles and tendons and the bones of his spine as they moved. My