All Just Glass - Amelia Atwater-Rhodes [57]
She couldn’t see him as prey, as food. She simply couldn’t. She knew she needed to feed; she had resolved herself to that truth, and it wasn’t that she was refusing now, but she didn’t know how to see this obviously willing young man as a source of sustenance instead of as a human being.
She approached him, trying to fake more confidence than she felt. He smiled as she appeared to make up her mind, and then he seemed confused when she sat across from him instead of next to him as Nikolas had done with his chosen prey.
“Hello,” he said while she struggled for words. His tone was partially polite, partially friendly and more than a little questioning. He searched her gaze … no, her eyes. With her transformation, her Vida-blue eyes had changed to black. He was confirming what she was.
“Hello,” she replied. And though she kicked herself for it, she added, “What’s your name?”
“Jake,” he answered. “Jake Frose. I saw you come in with Nikolas.” He left all the associated questions unasked.
She looked at Nikolas, who was just pulling away from the young woman he had chosen—or had she chosen him? It was hard to tell, especially considering that Jake had surely picked Sarah out before she noticed him. Nikolas said a few words to the girl and then flagged down a waitress for her before coming to Sarah’s side.
“Jake.” He greeted the young man with a smile. “You aren’t performing tonight, are you?”
Jake’s face immediately took on a glow when Nikolas recognized him and addressed him by name. “Not tonight,” he answered.
Nikolas explained for Sarah. “Jake performs here a couple nights a month. He’s a student at the Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music and one of the local artists that Kendra sponsors. He has a singing voice that can break your heart.”
Jake ducked his head modestly but did not deny the praise.
Nikolas continued with his usual assertive honesty. “Jake, my friend Sarah is very new to our world, and she had a less than glowing impression of what that world is like until recently.”
Jake’s eyes widened with surprise, and he blurted out, “You’re the hunter?” He immediately blushed and said, “I’m sorry. I’ve heard of you. Most of us have heard of you.”
Probably not in flattering ways, Sarah thought, given her recent occupation. Yet he was being nice to her. She didn’t understand. Was he that desperate?
He seemed to have grasped her concerns. He said to Sarah, “Kendra made it clear to me when I first met her that I don’t owe anything to anyone. She pays a lot of my bills, but she asks for music in return and nothing else. Anything else I give, it’s because I choose it, because I want to.”
“Why?” Sarah finally managed to ask.
So many of the bleeders she had met didn’t care if they lived or died, just as long as they could bleed. They gave up everything else, betrayed other humans to the vampires, sacrificed their dignities and their souls for the feeling that came when there were fangs in their throats.
Was Jake one of those?
Jake shrugged. “Why not?” he asked. “It doesn’t hurt, and it doesn’t injure me. I don’t donate on performance days, but other times, I don’t mind. Look …” He stood up, hesitated just a moment and then sat by Sarah’s side. “I’m offering,” he said. “I know you won’t hurt me. Nikolas won’t let you, even if your self-control isn’t perfect yet.”
He sat close to her, as if he would kiss her. He reached out to touch her cheek and then closed his eyes, turning his head to the side to bare the long line of his throat.
Nikolas set his hands on Sarah’s shoulders and said, too quietly for Jake to hear, “You’ve had that Vida control clamped down so tightly, you’re not even letting yourself acknowledge him with your senses.”
I don’t want to do this! she thought, glaring at Nikolas with a spike of frustration. How long before had