I woke up to a light knock on the door, Jake still fast asleep in my arms. "Come in." I whispered, trying to not wake Jake up as I sat up. The door cracked open, revealing a blushing Jane. "What's up?"
"Um... Sorry if I'm interupting, but I just wanted to talk to you..." She kept her eyes firmly on the ground. "Do you think you could put some clothes on and-" She stopped with a small squeak when she realized I'd already tucked the part of the sheet that'd been over me around Jake.
I pulled on my pants and found a shirt in my closet, kissing Jake on his forehead lightly. Jane was beet red as I pulled my shirt on in front of her. We headed down to the living room and sat on opposite ends of the long couch.
"So I just kind of wanted to apologize about yestereday when I snapped. I don't know what came over me, but I can promise you it won't be happening again any time soon." She said, looking at her clenched hands.
"It's no problem. Demon blood has an odd effect on newly changed humans. Your reaction wasn't all that uncommon. What worried me more that you hurting the others was you hurting yourself." I took her chin in my hand and made her look at me. "I know that none of us meant for this to happen, but the moment Roxy cut the symbol into your skin, you became part of my family. I protect my family."
Tears welled in her eyes and she threw herself at me, crying against my neck. I smiled and stroked her hair, trying to comfort her. After a few moments, she'd switched from sobbing to sniffing, her nose close to my neck. "You smell really good..." She breathed.
"Um...thanks? Wait you mean-" I gasped as her fangs broke my skin, my grip on her tightening slightly. "Jane, easy there." I patted her shoulder as she lapped my blood from my skin.
She pulled back, her face and neck the darkest shade of red I'd ever seen. "I am so sorry!" SHe gasped, covering her mouth. I laughed and rubbed my neck where she'd bit.
"It's okay. Just let me know before you bite me next time, kay? My neck is kinda off limits to anyone without permission. Well, except Jake, but that's kinda different, ya know?" Her face was changing colors right in front of me.
"Right!" She laughed, trying to seem less awkward. I grinned at her.
"Try biting Roxy sometime. You can get drunk off her blood, I swear. And she won't let you leave the room unfucked." I winked and got up, heading to the stairs.
"What's that supposed to mean?!" She called after me. I waved and went back to my room, joining Jake once again. He sighed happily and put his arms around me, nuzzling against my neck, his breath tickling my skin slightly.
I smiled and put my arm around him, not getting back under the sheet so I wouldn't wake him. After about an hour of relaxing next to him, there was another soft knock on the door. I sighed and got up to see who it was.
Jade grinned at me. "Hi Dirk! I was wondering if we could go flying?" She asked, her eyes hopeful. I smiled back and stepped into the hall.
"The sun's still out, kiddo. We can go tonight, okay?" She pouted and nodded, sighing as she headed up to Rose's room. I laid next to Jake again, taking his hand in mine.
As I was on the brink of sleep, there was a feather light knock on the door. I grumbled and stood up, opening the door. "Someone had better be dying." I said, glaring down at John. He flinched.
"I- sorry. Dave's dead asleep and I was wanting to talk to you about my power?" He said, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. I blinked in surprise and nodded, shutting the door as Jake let out a light snore. John smiled softly as we walked to the living room.
"What's up?" I asked as we sat down. His face was bright red and he looked at the ground. "John? You okay?" I asked, pressing the back of my hand to his forehead. He felt fine.
"Yeah!" He squeaked. "It's just the first real conversation we've ever had. I'm still half expecting to see you how you used to be. Dave too." He said softly and I had no idea what he meant.
"Huh?" I asked, raising my eyebrow at him. His face turned even redder.
"Right. You were always passed out when I saw you." He mumbled. "When you and Dave were in my house when we were kids, I used to sneak food in to Dave for the both of you. You were both so broken and weak..." He trailed off, his voice cracking. "At the time, I didn't know that wasn't how you two normally were. The bruises should have given it away." He shook his head.
"But when Dave's mouth started dripping blood and his arms were carved up, I knew I had to do something." He looked at me with a sad smile. "I fed him." He turned up his left hand, tracing a light pink line going across the center of his palm. "And he fed you. You two got out and you're both still here." He smiled at that last part.
"So that's where the extra food came from!" I said as my mind put two and two together. Looking back on those painful memories was awful, but John had helped us. Both of us. I smiled and pulled him into a hug. "Thank you. Really. No doubt if you hadn't have done that for Dave, we'd both be dead."
"S-so about my powers?" He asked softly. I nodded and let go of him, proud that he was a part of my family well before he had the blood of my brother in him.