Phil shrugged, shooting a glare at James.
Poor Phil, Poppy thought. Her brother actually looked disheveled. And his eyes were swollen.
"Where's Mom?" she was starting to say, when her mother walked in.
"I'm back, sweetie," her mother said, with a very creditable cheery smile. Then she looked surprised. "James-it was nice of you to come."
"Yeah, but he was just leaving," Phil said significantly. "I'll show him the way out."
James didn't waste energy on a fight he could n't win. He turned to Poppy and said, "I'll see you tomorrow."
There was a look in his gray eyes-gray, not silver now-that was just for her. A look that had never been there before in all the years she'd known him.
"Goodbye, James," she said softly. "And-thank you." She knew he understood what she meant.
It wasn't until he was o ut the d oor, with Phillip on his heels like a bouncer after a rowdy customer, that a thought occu rred to her.
James had said that she would be in danger if she didn't get enough of his blood. But they'd gotten interrupted almost immediately after that. Had Poppy gotten enough? And what would happen if she
hadn't?
She herself had no idea, and there w as no w ay to ask James.
Phil stayed right behind James all the way out of the hospital.
Not tonight, James thought. He just co uldn't deal w ith Phillip North tonight. His patience was gone, and his mind was occupied in calculating whether Poppy had taken enough of his blood to be safe. He thought she had-but the sooner she got more, the better.
"Yo u'll 'see her tomorrow'-well, you're not going to see her tomorrow," Phil said abruptly as they walked into the garage.
"Phil, give me a break."
Instead, Phillip stepped in front of him and stopped dead, forcing James to stop, too. Phillip was breathing quickly, his green eyes burning.
"Okay, bud, " he said. "I don't know what you think you're doing with Poppy-but it's all over now. From now on you stay away from her. Understand?"
Visions of breaking Phillip's neck like a new pencil danced in James's head. But Phil was Poppy's brother, and his green eyes were surprisingly like hers.
"I would never hurt Poppy," he said wearily.
"Give me a break. Are you going to stand th ere and t ell me you don't want to move in on her?"
James couldn't come up with an answer immediately.
Yesterday he could have truthfully said no, he didn't want to move in on Poppy. Because it would have meant a death sentence for him and Poppy both. It was only when Poppy had received a death sentence of her own that he'd allowed himself to look at his feelings.
And now ... now he'd been close to Poppy. He'd touched her mind, and had found that she was even braver and more gallant than he'd thought; even more compassionate-and more vulnerable.
He wanted to be that close to Poppy again. He cared about her in a way that made his throat ache. He belonged with Poppy.
He also r ealized that tha t might not be enough.
Sharing blood forged a powerful bond between two people. It would be wrong of him to take advantage of that bond-or of Poppy's gratitude to him. Until he was sure that Poppy's mind was clear and her decisions were her o wn, he shou ld keep a little distance. It was the only honorable thing to do.
"The last thing I want to do is hurt her," he repeated. "Why can't you believe that?" He made a half-hearted attempt to capture Phil's gaze as he said it . It fa iled, just as it had in the hospital. Phillip seemed to be one of those rare humans who couldn't be influenced by mind co ntrol.
"Why can't I believe it? Because I know you. You and your-girlfriends." Phil managed to make the word so und like a curse. "You go through six or seven a year-and when you're through with them, you dump them like trash."
James was distracted briefly by amusem ent, because Phil was dead on. He needed six girlfriends a year. After two months the bond between them became dangerously strong.
"Poppy's not my girlfriend and I'm not going to dump her," he said, pleased at his own cleverness. He'd avoided an outright lie-Poppy wasn't his girlfriend in any normal sense. They'd merged their souls, that was all-they hadn't talked about dating or anything.
"So you are telling me you're not gonna try to put the moves on her. Is that it? Because you'd better be sure." As he spoke, Phil did what was probably the most dangerous thing he'd ever done in his life. He grabbed James by the front of the shirt.
You stupid human, James thought. He briefly considered breaking every bone in Phil's hand. Or picking Phil up and throwing him across the garage into somebody's windshield.
Or ...
"You're Poppy's brother," he said through his teeth. "So I'm going to give you a chance to let go."
Phil stared into his face a moment, then let go, looking slightly shaken. But not shaken enough to keep quiet.
"You have to leave her alone," he said . "You don't understand.
This disease she's got it's serious. She doesn't need anything messing up her life right now. She just needs . . ." He stopped and swallowed.
Suddenly James felt very tired. He couldn't blame Phil for being upset-Phil's mind was full of crystalclear pictures of Poppy dying. Usually James got only general images about what humans were thinking, but Phillip was broadcasting so loud it nearly deafened him.
Half-truths and evasions hadn't worked. It was time for Outright Lies. Anything to satisfy Phil and get James away from this.
"I know that what Poppy has is serious," he said. "I found an article about it on the Net. That's why I was here, okay? I feel sorry for her. I'm not interested in Poppy except as a friend, but it makes her feel better if I pretend that I like her."