In the Blood by Abigail Barnette Page B

feed. There was nothing wrong in that. Blood to keep his heart pumping, intimacy to halt his inevitable slide into the abyss.
    Why did he feel as though he’d betrayed her? He reached for his robe, then tossed it aside. He needed fresh air, before the sun came up. He pulled a pair of jeans from his dresser and put them on, then shoved his arms into the black button-down shirt he’d left balled up on the floor.
    Halfway through the living room, he felt her presence like the prick of a needle all over his skin. He waited a few more strides to see if she would speak. When she did not, he said, “Join me, if you like.”
    He didn’t wait to see if she followed. He knew that she did. Pushing open the door to the terrace, he stepped out into the night air. She paused at the door, a little gasp escaping her throat. She held one pale hand to the bare skin over her collarbones. The light night breeze stirred her silk nightgown and flattened the fabric against her body, accentuating the line that bisected her toned stomach, the soft mound at the juncture of her thighs. Despite his encounter with Christopher, his body longed for her. Not solely sexually, though he did grow hard at the sight of her hard nipples straining against her nightgown. No, he wanted her, but he wanted to hold her, to feel her safe in his arms, real and alive.
    Do you long for her, or do you long for Melina?
    “There is no need to fear. I would not let you fall.” He leaned against the sleek railing, arms braced wide, letting the cool night wind push through his open shirt.
    “I know I won’t fall.” She sounded almost ashamed of her fear. “You’ve been so good to me.”
    He turned and held out his hand to her, and she took it, stepping easily into his embrace. Her skin was remarkably warm and alive against his. Soft in a way that Christopher had not been. And familiar. Her body was so familiar. He held her close, burying his face in her hair.
    “ Miluji tě , Viktor. Neopouštěj mě znovu .”
    I love you, Viktor. Do not leave me again .
    Every synapse in his brain beat to desperate alert. He lifted his head, not daring to look at her face, not willing to believe that this might be a dream. But he had to look, and when she lifted her head, her face creased in concern, Melina’s face had replaced Cassandra’s.
    “What’s wrong?” she asked, this apparition with Melina’s face and Cassandra’s voice. He backed away, felt the hard iron rail at his back and, in a horrifying moment, felt it disintegrate. Tumbling back, he opened his mouth to scream, only to see Melina change shape, twisting into the grotesque form of a Minion.
    Dripping with sweat and gasping for breath, Viktor sat up. The air in his darkened room prickled with the daylight that loomed behind the window shades. Christopher was long gone, as was the money Viktor had left for him. Cassandra remained, a rosy glow that lay gently at the edges of his mind. Just her presence helped calm him.
    As he dressed for the day, Viktor tried to shake the terror of the dream. Though it was tempting to ruminate on the possible meanings behind it, he knew better than to expect any good to come from dwelling on nightmares. Some might have the gift for divining from dreams, but he had never found a useful message in them. He expended unusual concentration on tasks that were usually automated: fastening cufflinks, buttoning his shirt, tying his tie. Any small task that would distance him from the lingering shadow of his dream.
    When he passed the room Cassandra had slept in, he noticed that the bed was empty and unmade. He continued to the living room, mentally bracing himself for her presence.
    Seated in a leather armchair, wrapped in the silk robe he had left out for her, Cassandra leaned over a coffee table covered with takeout boxes. The smell of the food assaulted him, and Viktor took a step back. Usually, his apartment smelled like…nothing. It had been a very long time since he’d seen human