Chapter Eleven

This knock sounded different. A single rap, sharp enough to jerk me awake. Will had already come and gone, and his knock had more deference. Someone seeking medical aid would have pounded with greater insistence. I waited to see if they'd knock again.

They did not.

Curiosity, however, got the better of me. I crawled off my bunk and, after turning up the lamp so I could see, went to the door.

"St John, let me in."

I felt the whisper more than heard it, and to my own surprise, I opened the door.

Aharon Davies fell toward me, and I caught him. "What's wrong?"

He weighed less than he should have, little more than a sack of grain. He struggled to stand without my aid. I let him, though kept a hand on his waist in case he should fall.

"Close the door," he said, his voice weak. I did as he bid me and moved him toward the bed with a gentle nudge.

"Tell me what has happened."

"Do you have salt?" he asked, managing a smile at my quizzical look. "The priest…Fr. Dominic…" He shut his eyes and grimaced. "A line of salt in the doorway will keep him at bay."

"I do have a jar, though I admit I've only ever used it to treat swelling."

He nodded, all but collapsing on my bed. I shouldn't trust a vampire. What if he did something horrible to me and the salt prevented me from getting help? In the glow of the oil lamp, his cheekbones jutted and his eyes were pools of shadow. Something horrible had happened, but to him, not to me.

Besides, a month ago he'd been a man, a creature of flesh and blood, his heart beating, his lungs drawing air in and out. The vampire who'd killed Jeremy Thorn had had no soul. There had been emptiness in his eyes. When Aharon Davies looked at me, however, he saw me.

And I saw him, saw the man he had been.

Fishing the jar of salt out of my bag of medicines, I did as he asked and sprinkled a thin stream in front of the door. He lay so still and pale I would have taken him for a corpse. "Now," I said, screwing the lid on the jar. "Tell me what happened."

He still wore the robes he'd had on in his earlier visit, his dark hair falling lank around his face. For a long moment, he did not say anything. I pulled out the chair and sat at my desk, giving him time.

"The priest has decided to end me now," he whispered, so soft it was clear that he feared someone would overhear him. "He didn't want me in this"—he tugged at his robe—"and rather than die, I turned myself into mist and slid out from under the door."

"So you can change your form." I spoke with more enthusiasm than the situation called for, since I shouldn't be pleased that my vampire acquaintance had an additional power.

Still, I wanted to clap him on the back.

"But now I have a new problem, or two new problems. I need a place to stay where he cannot find me, and I am so awfully hungry."

His voice broke off in a plaintive cry. "Hungry?" My word came out dry and rasping.

He stayed quiet, though his jaw was working.

"You need…blood."

His only response was something close to a whimper.

I sat back hard in the chair, the wooden uprights digging into my back. Holy hell . The vampire needed to feed, and he'd come to me.

"I was afraid to take someone I passed in the hall," he said, obviously following my train of thought. "Afraid I wouldn't be able to stop myself and I'd drain them to death."

I wetted my lips. "You don't have that same fear with me?"

He gave a brief and bitter chuckle. "You have a stake. If you feel yourself getting lightheaded, use it. I'd rather die by your hand than his."

My only response was to swallow, though it may have been more of a gulp of fear. "I don't know…" I whispered. "I'm not sure."

His sudden grimace made plain that he'd been caught in a spasm of pain. "Please."

That one word, one sad and lost and desperate word, made my choice plain. I was a doctor. I'd dedicated my whole life to healing people. This being, no longer a man but still holding the thoughts of a man, the memories of a man, had trusted me to either cure him or to end his suffering.

I could do no less but try.

I fumbled the desk drawer open, pulling out the stake from its hiding place. Inhaling deeply to calm my racing heart, I approached the bed. "How…? Where…?"

"Give me your wrist." The words were said on a sob.

Kneeling by the bed, I held the stake in my right hand and offered him my left. He took it, his fingers cold, and held it as if I were the fragile one. Pressing a kiss on my knuckle, he turned my limb and held the pale underside of my wrist against his dry, cracked lips.

"Stop me if you must," he said

And then he bit.

Yes, there was pain—I'd be lying if I said otherwise—but that sharp stab gave way to something akin to euphoria. I was floating on a river of peace. Warm. Calm. The room faded away until my entire awareness dwindled to his rhythmic sucking and the thud of my own heart.

And then that steady thudding rhythm slowed.

Was I lightheaded? I could not tell. I let go of the stake and cupped his cheek with my free hand. "Let me go, Aharon. You've taken enough."

He stilled, and while he didn't release my wrist, he stopped sucking.

"Please," I whispered, throwing his word back at him. My ears rang with an unfamiliar buzzing sound and my heart beat faster. Please don't make me fight you .

I was about to reach for the stake but he let me go.

When I went to pull my hand away, he caught hold of it and pressed a kiss to the place he'd bitten. Releasing me, he met my gaze. I ran my fingers over the wound and found only smooth skin.

"You've saved me, Hugh St John."

His lips were tinted pink and the jagged hollows in his face had smoothed out. With no thought to the consequences, I kissed him.

Our lips met, and a fire erupted between us. No real flames, just an unconquerable heat. He grasped my head, holding it in place while he had his way with my mouth. I, who could count on one hand the number of people I'd kissed, could only hang on. I must keep my wits.

My life depended on it.

His tongue teased mine, stoking the fire between us. The sensation was so new and so godawfully pleasant that I didn't know what to do with myself. Should I move my hands? And if so, what should I touch?

Something of my uncertainty must have communicated itself to him, because he eased his hold, cooling us till our lips were simply pressed together.

"Have you done this before?" His lips moved against mine.

"I, uh, have not, or rather—"

He smiled. His grip on my head softened, and I sank onto my heels, my head resting against his shoulder. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Aharon ran a hand through my hair. "You remind me that there is good in this world."

I snorted. "If you say so."

He tugged on my hair until I lifted my face to meet his gaze. "You, Hugh St John, are the kind of man who makes me want to be better than I am. That's a gift you shouldn't take lightly."

Despite myself, I smiled. "It's been a night for discovery, then. You've defied Fr. Dominic, which speaks to more bravery than I could ever possess."

At the mention of the priest's name, Aharon's smile faded. "I'm afraid tonight was just the first of many chances to defy him. He won't give up easily."

"Then neither shall we."

Aharon sat and swung his legs over the bunk, then patted the mattress beside him. After a moment's hesitation, I sat.

"I confess you're not the first man I've kissed," Aharon began. He stopped and rubbed a palm over his mouth. "But you're the first one I've wanted to devour whole."

His cheeks didn't turn pink, but the angle of his head and the tilt of his smile showed embarrassment more than anything else.

"I'm the one who should be embarrassed," I murmured, but he hushed me with a wave of his hand.

"For once in my life, I'm going to think before I act. I want to learn more about you, and if that leads us to certain activities, then we won't be strangers when we get there."

Common sense. Not something I would have expected from a vampire. "Thank you." I gave his knee a tentative pat and he clasped my hand, interlacing our fingers.

I inhaled a deep, cleansing breath. "Good. That's good."

We sat quietly for a while. For my part, I enjoyed our closeness. The boat rocked us gently, his hand was cool in mine, and the steady drone of the steam engine let us know we were still on course. I felt so comfortable, in fact, I began to nod off.

" Salaam alaikku ." He nudged me with his shoulder. "Don't fall asleep, habibi ."

I roused, though I'd rather have stayed asleep. "Sorry. We saw quite a few patients today, and I expect even more tomorrow. The grippe has visited many of our fellow passengers."

He rubbed his knuckles down my cheek. "I'm the one who should apologize. I should go and let you get some sleep."

I nodded. Sleep sounded good, but, "Where will you go?"

He shook his head, his smile fading. "Not sure. Fr. Dominic knows the closet where I've been spending the daylight hours. Still, there must be someplace on the lower level where—"

"Where someone could stumble over you with no one there to keep you safe?" I surprised myself with the strength of my protective feeling. "You need to be somewhere better than that."

He grinned at me, though his expression carried as much sadness as humor. "Where would you have me go?"

An idea occurred to me. "Do you hear anything during the daytime? Do noises disturb you?"

"The place where I've been spending the days shares a wall with the engine room, so no. I am literally dead to the world. I'd stay here in your bed, but…"

"Not in my bed, but under it. Right now my trunk is there, but I can rearrange things and have the steward bring me more blankets and a pillow." I said it triumphantly, like I'd solved an actual problem and not invited a vampire to stay in my room.

"Will that…can we…?"

"Of course we can, at least for today. Maybe Will knows of other places, but at any rate, at sunrise this morning, you can stay here."

His body relaxed against me. "And until then…"

"I'm sorry, Aharon, but I need sleep."

"Of course. We've got a few hours till sunrise, and you should get some rest."

We scooted around until I was stretched out on my side with Aharon spooning me from behind. It was the first time I'd lain with another person since I was an infant, and while it was unfamiliar… "This is nice."

He nuzzled my ear. "Sleep, habibi . I'll wake you before sunrise."

I did sleep, eventually, but first I reviewed everything I knew about the man—the vampire—who lay with me. While at first he'd teased me rather mercilessly, tonight he'd been a gentleman. Rather than the heartless phantom I'd taken him for, his distress over the icon hinted that there were depths to him I had yet to explore.

And when he'd been in dire straits, he'd come to me.

To me . That meant something, though I wasn't yet sure what.

Maybe that should have given my foolish heart some kind of warning, but it did not. I drifted off to sleep wrapped in his arms and his spicy scent, and for a moment, I knew peace.

When I awoke, I was alone in the bed. "Aharon?"

He didn't answer. I sat up, though when I shifted my weight to put my feet on the floor, my calves banged against my trunk. The small porthole window over my bed showed the cool light of dawn. "Aharon," I said again, pushing myself forward so I could get off the bunk without hitting the trunk. Standing with my hands on my hips, I debated a different arrangement.

If patients visited who needed to lie on the bed, the trunk would be in the way. On the other hand, if I moved it into the small office area, it would cover most of the floor.

"What about this?" I said to myself, scooting the trunk so that it was perpendicular to the bed and then shoved it against the wall. The room was just wide enough for the trunk to fit, and while it took up quite a bit of space, at least I could move around without bruising myself.

With that settled, I put on yesterday's shirt with a clean collar. I draped the cravat around my neck but didn't tie it. Will would do a better job than I ever could. Will. I could only imagine what he'd say when he found the vampire here.

He knocked on the door, the same familiar pattern that he used every morning . Had I conjured him with my thoughts? I opened the door, ready to tell him about the vampire without saying anything about feeding him.

That would be a step too far for my assistant.

Instead of bringing his usual bowl of water and clean towel, he came in empty-handed. He also appeared to be wearing the same suit he'd worn yesterday. Clearly, something was amiss.

"What is it?" I asked.

"It's Fr. Dominic. He's reported the presence of a vampire to Captain Thornton, and the whole place is in an uproar."

Surprise had me take a step back. "What is he offering as proof?"

"One of his associates, a monk, was found dead, drained of blood." Will raked a hand through his hair, an uncharacteristically distressed move. "After talking with Aharon yesterday, I wouldn't have expected this to happen, but he seems to have lost all self-control."

"No, he hasn't." The words were out of my mouth before I could think through what I really wanted to say.

Will fixed me in a surprisingly steely stare. "How do you know?"

I cleared my throat. "Because he's here, under my bunk."

"What?"

"He came to me last night after he'd escaped from the priest's rooms, so distraught and haggard that there's no way he drained anyone."

"Could he have been distraught because he killed the monk?"

I shook my head, frantically reviewing the night in my memory. "No…he was starving when he got here." As soon as the words were out, I closed my eyes. Now I would have to tell Will I'd fed the vampire.

"Starving? Sounds like he was ready to drain someone. Maybe he did it after he left you."

"He never left. I…uh…I fed him."

Will squatted down on the floor, his head in his hands. "You didn't…he…did you take any of his blood?"

"No." The denial burst out of me. "He asked me to use my stake if he took enough to make me lightheaded."

Will didn't respond right away, though he did stand slowly. "This makes us his allies."

"From what I know about Fr. Dominic, we're better off that way."

Rubbing his hands together, Will looked around the small room. "Where is he?"

I couldn't very well keep it a secret. As soon as Will had to help me with a patient, he'd see the trunk. "Under my bed."

Will nodded, his jaw working as if he were considering ideas and discarding them just as fast.

"He thought he might be able to find a hiding place on the lowest level, but I was afraid of what would happen if someone found him."

"Yes, especially now." He shook himself. "We'll behave normally. I'll bring you some water to wash and shave and you'll see patients today. When the vampire rises this evening, we'll give some more thought as to how we'll retrieve the icon."

Assuming he hasn't been discovered and we're not locked up in whatever passes for the ship's brig . "Fr. Dominic must be desperate."

Will raised one eyebrow, clearly not following my train of thought. "Why?"

"He killed one of his own. That's not something a confident man does."

Shaking his head, Will said, "I'll bring some warm water." He left without indicating whether he agreed with me or not.

I didn't care.

This whole situation stank of desperation, and I could only hope we'd get through it without more death.