Page 5 of Love Lives

"What if I did?" This should be interesting. Remy always tried to appear so calm and composed and in control of things. It was fun to rattle him. Make him see who he was really dealing with.

Remy's expression turned grim. "Then it's my fault for sending you."

"Oh, I'm pretty sure anyone I kill goes on my list of sins, not yours." Aldrich leaned back in his chair. "You can relax, though. I didn't kill her. She won't even remember what happened to her."

For a long time, Remy studied him without saying a word. "You don't feel even a tiny bit bad, do you?"

"Why would I? She'll replenish that blood. You guys are walking juice boxes. I'm not gonna feel bad for taking a sip." He made a dismissive gesture. "I didn't suck her dry, so there's no reason for you to be upset."

Remy's gaze bore into him, unwavering. "Would you feel bad if you had?"

Aldrich weighed his options. "Do you want me to lie?" he asked, expression serious. "'Cause you know sugar coating the truth isn't really my thing. Don’t ask if you don’t want to know the answer."

Remy turned away, staring at his own lap instead of Aldrich. At the bandages around his wrists and the oximeter attached to his finger.

"You know I'm a killer. I've never made a secret of it." It was all his sire had wanted him for. Kidnapping and killing. Sure, he could blame Zenon for that, but in truth, he'd never been a good person. He’d chosen this life, and he would own that choice.

Remy still wasn't looking at him. Just as well. Aldrich wasn't going to apologize for who he was.

"Why didn't you kill her?" Remy asked eventually.

"Don't get me wrong. I don't feel bad about killing, but I don't get off on it either." That wasn't a lie. Not the whole truth, but Remy didn't need to know the whole truth.

"I guess that's good." Remy said, but he sounded distracted. His eyes squeezed shut as if he were in pain.

“You okay?”

“Fine.” Remy’s eyes opened again but his gaze had taken on this unfocused, feverish quality again that let Aldrich know he was not, in fact, fine. Remy didn’t seem to want to talk about it, though. "Do you think Vlad enjoys killing?" he asked.

"I have no idea what that douche enjoys. Not sure I wanna know either."

"I just had this feeling that he..." Remy trailed off, staring at the wall as if searching for something that existed only in his head. "No, I don't think he wanted to kill because it's fun."

"What are you talking about?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Remy shook his head. A small movement that had him wincing.

"You need to go back to sleep."

"Have you heard from Vlad?"

"Not since the fire." Aldrich crossed his arms in front of his chest and studied Remy a little more closely. His cheeks looked flushed in a way he didn’t like. "Are you running a fever?"

"What?"

Without asking for permission, Aldrich pressed a hand to the mortal's forehead. Too warm. Way too warm.

"What are you doing?" Remy asked, but he didn't flinch away from the touch. Under different circumstances, Aldrich might have chalked that up as a success.

"Just go to sleep, squishy."

"Wha--" Remy didn't get the whole word out before his eyes and his mouth fell shut. Aldrich had pushed just the slightest bit of magic into his palm. A sleep charm. Simple but effective.

"Rest up," Aldrich murmured, removing his hand from Remy's forehead before pushing the button to call the nurse. Remy was going to be pissed at him later, but Aldrich didn't care.

Remy was hot when he was pissed.

Chapter Three