Keira woke with a start, gasping as she sat straight up, her hair flying into her face. Looking around, she found herself on the same table that Theon had tied her to, and the straps that held her wrists in place were hanging loosely off the edges of the table. The room was completely different, though, at least in the sense that there were no longer machines or boxes everywhere. Theon must have cleaned out the room while she was sleeping. A cold breeze brushed over her body, causing an involuntary shiver through her, and Keira realized that she was still naked. Her clothes were in a neatly folded pile of the edge of the table with a disposable cell phone, and a hand written note.
"Sorry to run off on you, love, but until you trust me a bit more, I can't have you knowing where I am. I will contact you on the mobile that I provided for you soon. I suggest you be very careful around Gavin, as well. Don't mention our meeting, either. It will look quite suspicious. Oh, and thank you, love, for last night. You are quite responsive."
Keira stared for a moment at the note in her hands, rereading it a few times. He wanted her to lie to the only people she trusted, the people who kept her safe all these years. She sat there for a long time before finally getting up and pulling on her clothes, tucking the disposable phone deep into the inner pocket in her shirt and left the building.
After two hours of wondering through side streets and back alleys, being propositioned as a hooker multiple times, Keira finally managed to find a main road and hunt down a taxi. A few hours later, and she was back at the organization. Theon had taken her much further than she had originally thought, and she was exhausted. She forced herself up the stairs to her quarters, tucked the disposable phone under her mattress, showered, and then collapsed in her bed, naked and oblivious to the world around her.
When Keira finally woke, it was dark in her room. Strong arms were wrapped around her waist, and warm breath tickled the back of her neck. She shifted a bit to get more comfortable and kisses trailed down her shoulder.
"Hello, sleeping beauty." Gavin's voice was soft in her ear, and Keira yawned in response, moving closer to him. His cool skin felt good on hers. She felt uncomfortably hot. "Are you feeling okay?"
"Really tired, and feeling kind of warm." She answered yawning again.
"You've been asleep for two days." Keira turned to face Gavin, pushing the hair sticking to her sweaty forehead away.
"Two days?" Gavin nodded and Keira made a mental note to check the disposable phone that Theon gave her. Gavin kissed her forehead.
"You okay?" Gavin pressed his hands to her cheeks and forehead as he spoke, and Keira nodded in response.
"Probably just coming down with something. Fatal flaw of being a human, always some bug or disease trying to take you out." Gavin smiled placing a hand on her neck.
"You know, you could always just ask to be turned. All it would take is a bite, and a few drops of my blood. Or any vampire's blood, actually." Keira shook her head, suddenly very aware of the bite on her neck from Theon.
"No thanks. I like my beating heart right where it is." She stretched, trying to hide her sudden panic. "You know, I've always wondered, how long after a bite does a human have to drink vampiric blood to turn them?"
"24 hours, exactly, no more. After that, they won't turn. Though, if a human just drinks vampire blood, they won't turn if bitten afterwards, they just end up with holes in their body and some of our abilities. Something about the bite, it has to be first. No one's quite sure why." Keira mentally breathed a sigh of relief, and she felt her body relax a bit. No need for her to worry about that, even if she had intentions of drinking a vampire's blood, which she didn't. She was in the clear.
"I'm sure I'll be as good as new in the morning." Keira laid her head on Gavin's chest, changing the subject.
"I'll stay and keep you cool tonight." They laid in silence for a few minutes before Keira spoke again.
"Have you ever been unable to kill a mark?" She asked suddenly.