Read Online The Vault (A Farm Novel) by Emily McKay - Free Book Online

back, but bounce quickly onto my feet. I have another bottle open and ready. I lunge for him, ready to pin him down and go again.
    But he’s got his feet under him now and stumbles back. “What the hell?”
    I hold up a hand to pacify him. Chuy has come to stand in the doorway, hackles raised, like he’s ready to throw himself on Sebastian. “Calm down,” I say, to both of them. To all of us.
    “I’ll calm down when you put down the bottle.”
    “I’m cleaning the wound.”
    “You’re . . . ? What the fuck? By pouring scotch into my heart?” He brings a hand up to his chest as if feeling for the stake.
    I lunge for him. “Stop touching it! You’re only going to make it worse!”
    “Make what worse? You staked me and now you’re poisoning me. It doesn’t get worse!”
    “Okay. I’m putting down the bottle. Just . . . just sit, okay?”
    He eyes me suspiciously, swaying. He’s vertical, but just barely.
    “I was trying to clean the wound,” I say, trying again to persuade him to sit before he passes out or Chuy attacks. Though maybe passing out would make him easier to deal with. “Look, alcohol kills bacteria, right? I don’t want you to get an infection.”
    He just stares at me like I’m speaking nonsense. Then he laughs, which must hurt, because he has to put a hand on the sofa back to brace himself. Clearly laughing and standing at the same time is impossible, so he sits. I move a step closer, but he waves me away.
    “What’s so funny?”
    “A vampire with an infection?”
    I scowl. “Who knows where that stake had been? And your shirt was probably filthy and—”
    “When that Tick killed you, she cracked open your ribs and stuck her hands in your chest. I doubt she scrubbed for surgery first and you were right as rain within twenty-four hours. I’ll be fine.”
    “Oh.” I hadn’t thought of that. I screw the lid back on the bottle. In the doorway, Chuy lies down again, this time angled so he can keep an eye on the door and on Sebastian. Clearly Chuy’s not sure about Sebastian, but apparently he likes me. Carter had said Ely was better than anyone at staying alive on his own, but I’m guessing Chuy had a lot to do with that. “But at least let me bandage you up.”
    He smirks, clearly still amused. “If you must.”
    I rip the sheet in long strips and then carefully wrap them around and around his chest. Until now, I hadn’t thought much about what Sebastian’s chest would look like. In fact, this is the first time I’ve ever seen a man’s naked chest. In person anyway. He’s lean, but still muscular. I know firsthand how strong he is. How fast his muscles can move. Now that the stake is out, his skin feels warmer beneath my hands. He doesn’t complain, even when I pull the fabric tight and knot it. I stop to survey my work. Did I get it tight enough or is it going to bleed through?
    “Melly,” Sebastian murmurs.
    I look up into his eyes. Suddenly he seems very close. His skin very hot.
    Oh my God. I’m still touching him. My hand is still plastered to his chest, my palm resting on top of his bandage, my fingers against his bare skin. Before I can jerk away, his hand covers mine, pressing my fingers briefly.
    I bite down on my lip, unable to pull my gaze away from where my fingers rest against his pectoral muscle, long and pale against his darker skin. Something warm and delicious stirs in my belly, like the feeling I used to get when I listened to Rachmaninoff, like I am somehow bigger than just myself.
    “Thank you for coming back for me,” he says softly.
    My breath catches and I jerk my hand away.
    I should not be sitting here with my hand on his chest and a warm feeling in my belly. And I definitely should not be contemplating Rachmaninoff and Sebastian in the same thought.
    “I didn’t come back just for you. I came back because I can’t get into Genexome without you.”
    His lips twist into a smile that is both sad and understanding. “I know.”

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