"Tell me." Angus had entered the bathroom so silently that I hadn't even been aware of his presence. He rolled his shirt sleeves up and started rubbing my shoulders. Bliss. I started telling him of everything that had happened to me that day, and everything I had done, leaving nothing out.
Angus
I knew it would be difficult to listen to Rebecca's account of what had happened to her today. But it was much, much worse than I had imagined. It was excruciating.
I knew that she had done well to escape from those two villains who had stolen her from me, but when I heard the anguish in her voice when she described what she had had to do to get out of the situation, I felt nothing but contempt and rage for the two of them.
And when she told me of what Eric had said to her when she had woken up from her drugged state, and how he had touched her while she lay there helpless, I knew he was going to die very soon. There was no way I would be able to stop myself from killing him.
And then she told me about their intentions - they were going to sell her to Jack, and they had both known exactly what this had implied for her.
I remember fleetingly thinking that Julia might be upset when the dismembered body of her brother-in-law was eventually found. I decided that this could not be allowed to happen.
I would make sure nobody ever found it.
Rebecca
Angus had been right. I felt much better after the bath. Whether it was due to the heat and bubbles, or to the sympathetic ear I poured my day into, I couldn't tell. And then there were the warm massaging hands. They definitely helped.
He told me something that night before he kissed me goodnight. He said that what I felt in reaction to what I had had to do that day was normal, and that eventually it would fade with time. He also suggested that a technique that he had used in the past to cope with what the vampire in him did and felt. Compartmentalisation. All I had to do was put the vampire away in a metaphorical box, or maybe a titanium-lined crate, and carry on living my normal life. When I needed it, I could release it, and use it like I would an instrument, or an agent of destruction.
It was a comforting concept, and when I fell asleep that night I was plain old Rebecca again.
Angus
As soon as she was asleep, I called Fergus. He informed me that he was still mucking about at the estate, gathering bits and pieces of equipment, and trying to fit it all into the Bentley. Marcus was off somewhere running Simon's blood through one of his analysers.