Impassioned |Book 1|

Chapter 13

Once I had calmed down, Grayson had picked me up, carrying me out the shop and outside where Preston was. Preston gave me an apologetic look, stepping closer to brush a piece of hair that was stuck to my cheek behind my ear. "You did good, Grace." he mumbled, giving me a small proud smile.

I gave him a tiny nod in acknowledgment, my eyes shifting to Blane, who was sitting on the street curb, holding his head. "Blane?" I called out, watching as his head slowly picked up at the sound of my voice.

His eyes lit up, and he slowly stood, limping his way towards where Grayson stood holding me. He stopped a few feet away, giving Grayson a cautious look. Grayson stared back, before slowly nodding his head at him. "Thank you, for protecting her."

Blane eyed him, before his eyes met mine. I gave him a tiny smile of encouragement, watching as he looked back up at Grayson. "You're welcome. I'm sorry I couldn't have protected her better." His voice came out defeated, like he was ashamed of himself.

Preston gave him a warm smile, shaking his head. "You did good. You're a new hunter, I can sense it."

Blane nodded, getting uncomfortable at the word used to describe him. "Yeah, I, uhh, need some more training."

Preston chuckled, clasping his hand on Blane's shoulder encouragingly. "You took on a vampire without hesitation. It bought us time to get here. Don't be so hard on yourself."

Blane gave him a smile of thanks, replying. "Thanks, Man."

Grayson cleared his throat, glancing at Preston. "I'm gonna get her home. Meet me there once you get everything taken care of here." He then glanced to Blane, focusing his words on him. "I'd like to speak to you also, if you're not injured too badly."

Blane nodded, rubbing his head gently with his hand. "I'm alright. Where do I need you to meet you?"

"Just ride with Preston to my place." I said, my voice not trembling as much as I thought it would. "You don't need to drive after hitting your head like that."

Blane nodded, glancing at Preston, who had began picking up Terry's dead body and moving it. Grayson began walking away, before tucking my head into his chest as he began running. He used his hand and arm to shelter my face from the wind, reaching my home in under ten minutes. He climbed through my window with ease, immediately going into my bathroom, and sitting me on the sink counter. Without any words being spoken, he turned on the shower, before making his way back to me and helping me get undressed. Once my bloodied clothes were removed, he helped me step in the shower, before removing his own clothes and following me in.

I stood under the hot water, grimacing as the water turned red with blood at my feet. "Hey," Grayson's soft voice said in my ear. "Close your eyes. I'll wash it off you."

I nodded, closing my eyes like he said, feeling his hands begin to gently scrub the blood from my skin. Once my skin was clean, he reached behind me, grabbing the bottle of shampoo and squeezing some into his hand. He began running his hands through my hair, which had been caked with blood. Once it was clean, he directed me under the shower head, washing the shampoo from my hair. Next, he massaged conditioner through my strands, rinsing it out after a moment. His hands softly scrubbed the remaining blood from my face, and finally, I was clean. I opened my eyes, moving back so he could step under the stream of water, washing the blood from his skin. Once we were both clean of blood, neither of us spoke. I laid my head on his chest, my arms wrapping around his midsection, hearing the faint, slow beat of his heart. His hands rested on my hips, his head on top of mine, pressing a kiss into my wet hair.

We stood like that for what felt like hours, but in reality, was only minutes. Neither of us spoke a word, just held one another as the hot water beat down on us. Finally, Grayson spoke, breaking the silence. "I thought I lost you tonight." he mumbled, one of his hands moving from my waist to the back of my neck. He moved my head to look up at him, his gaze intense as he stared down at me. "I'm gonna have Graham's heart when I return home. I swear it."