Chapter 4

I stared at her blankly. I had used my hair, my blood, and my bone marrow to keep this man alive, and in the end, I was the vicious one.

"That's enough, Evelyn. Please don't hit Elio anymore," Hudson said weakly from the sofa. "This is all my fault. If I just died, you two wouldn't be fighting."

Evelyn immediately turned to soothe him. "Don't talk like that. I said I'd save you, and I will."

She turned around and pulled a medical kit out from under the coffee table. It was full of needles and blood collection tubes. She tore open the packaging with practiced ease and walked toward me.

"We'll draw 200 milliliters of blood today to keep Hudson going. As soon as the match results come in tomorrow, we're going straight to the hospital for your bone marrow."

I looked at the long, thick needle in her hand and backed away on instinct. "I'm not doing it."

Evelyn's eyes turned hard. She grabbed me by the collar, shoved me down onto the sofa, and pinned me there. "You don't get a say! You owe me this, Elio! If I hadn't taken you in, you would've starved to death on the street a long time ago!"

She tied the tourniquet tight around my arm with practiced hands. The cold needle pierced my skin and slid into the vein. I watched dark red blood run through the clear tube and into the collection bag.

As the blood drained out of me, I felt the warmth leave my body little by little.

It was cold, just like the starless night I had first fallen into the mortal world.

When the draw was done, Evelyn carried the blood bag down to the freezer in the basement. Only Hudson and I were left in the living room.

Hudson sat up straight on the sofa. The weakness vanished from his face, and open mockery took its place. He strolled over to where I lay slumped on the floor, stretched out one long leg, and nudged my limp legs with his foot.

"See? So what if you're some kind of angel? To her, you're nothing but a walking blood bag."

He crouched down and lowered his voice. "Elio, I actually feel sorry for you. Want to guess where she'll dump you once she's drained the last of your marrow?"

I lifted my heavy eyelids and looked at his greedy face. "You'll pay for this."

Hudson let out a scornful laugh. "Pay for it? All I know is that I'm the one who's winning."

At that moment, the front door opened again. Adeline walked in carrying a first aid kit. She did not glance at Hudson. She went straight over and knelt beside me.

She looked at my red, swollen cheek and my bruised arm, and her eyes filled with pain. "Elio, does it hurt?"

She took out some ointment and dabbed it onto my wounds bit by bit. It felt cool and eased the pain a little.

I looked at her. "Why didn't you help me earlier?"

Adeline's hand paused. She looked up, and there was something obsessive, almost unhinged, in her dark eyes.

"See, Elio? Evelyn doesn't love you at all. She hit you and took your blood for another man.

"The world out there is too cruel. It's only me, Elio. I'm the only one who truly cares about you. Just be good and give Hudson your marrow, and let go of Evelyn for good. After that, you'll belong only to me, okay?"

The cool ointment on my wounds suddenly felt fake. I shoved her hand away. "Don't touch me."

The tube of ointment fell from Adeline's hand and rolled to the edge of the coffee table. She was not angry. She only looked at me with those endlessly gentle eyes. "Are you still mad at me, Elio?"