I woke up smelling lemon bleach and hearing a mop somewhere far off, and my first thought was that I'd died and heaven had a cleaning roster.
My cheek throbbed, my wrist stung, and my station cardigan was gone.
Someone had put a blanket over me that smelled like a warm cupboard, and the room around me was white and not the station at all.
There was a jug of water and two pieces of toast on a plate, which felt less like saving and more like feeding time at the zoo.
The door opened and Ambrose came in with a bowl of water, a cloth over his arm, and a face like a man doing sums he didn't like.
Ambrose: You're awake. Good. Don't move.
I moved. The room did a slow roll, and I grabbed the blanket like it was a railing.
Mabel: Where am I?
Ambrose: Back room. The Hush. Nobody gets in here unless I let them.
He knelt beside the bed and took my wrist in both hands, careful, like it was made of eggshell.
Ambrose: This will sting. I'm not going to lie about it.
Mabel: Great. My favourite thing.
The wet cloth touched the cut and I hissed through my teeth and yanked my arm back.
Ambrose: Shit. Sorry. I'm going too fast.
Then he chased my hand, held it still, and went gentler than anyone had any right to.
Somewhere down the hall a door banged shut. My whole body jumped.
And just like that I was back in the tunnel with my cheek on the concrete and his voice in my ear.
Mabel: Don't let him in. Please. Don't let him near me.
Ambrose: Look at me. Not the door. Me.
Ambrose: He's not coming. I made sure of it.
I looked at him, and my breathing came back down, slow and stupid, and my chest went warm like someone had put a hot water bottle in it.
Then I saw the doorway. Three of his staff stood there, quiet as coats on a rack.
All of them looking at me like I was a leak in the roof.
Gwen: She's bleeding on the good chair, Ambrose.
Gwen: Council's going to want to know why we're babysitting a human who saw a vampire's teeth.
Gwen: She's a problem, not a guest. Rennick had mates. If they come knocking, I'm not dying for some lost property clerk.
She said it right in front of me, like I wasn't a person in the room. Like I was a stain she'd have to scrub out later.
Ambrose: Then don't.
Ambrose: Get the fuck out. All of you.
Gwen's mouth went flat as a closed book. She went, the other two went, and the door clicked shut behind them.
The quiet after that was huge. Just the bowl of water, my heartbeat, and him.
Mabel: She's right, though. I am a problem. I brought a vampire to your door.
Ambrose: You brought a suitcase to a desk. He brought the teeth. Big difference.
He wrapped the cut in clean white tape, slow and even, his thumb resting beside the skin so it never pressed where it hurt.
Ambrose: You're safe. Say it back.
Mabel: I'm safe.
And my body, which had been slammed into a wall an hour ago, believed him. That was getting embarrassing.
He didn't get up straight away. He stayed kneeling with his forearms on the mattress, close enough that I could have touched his hair.
Mabel: What do you want? For this. For saving me. There's always a price.
Ambrose: Don't ask me that tonight.
Mabel: You said that at the door too.
Ambrose: I meant it then as well.
He looked down at me a second too long, then made himself busy with the bowl.
Ambrose: Rest. I'll be right outside. Nobody gets past me.
So what does he want in return? And what happens now that I've seen too much?
I pulled the blanket to my chin, and the scary part was that I wanted him to stay anyway.