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Cal sat by the window in her room until the sun rose; eyes struggling to stay open and mind becoming impossibly foggy and slow. Hunters trained to stay awake for longer than most, knowing that they might need to forgo sleep to stay one step ahead of the monsters that they fought.
Grief and hate and adrenaline had played their part, too.
But she was human all the same and sleep had to come eventually; sleep that would bring Cal back into Juliette’s dreams.
Too long with Juliette, in a world that wasn’t real, was not a place Cal could be sure her anger would remain ignited. With the eerie gloss of the ethereal world they could share without anyone else intruding, Cal was sure that a single look from tear-stained eyes would dampen the flames of her fury first to a smolder, then to ashes.
She told herself it was why she was fighting sleep, because there was the very last place she wanted to be.
But, as tiredness guided her, and Cal had no choice but to stagger to her bed — hands shaking and legs weak — she knew that was a lie. A part of her didn't want to avoid the dreams any longer. Even if she knew they would hurt.
Even if they broke her heart all over again.
—
Legacy vampires did many things they didn’t need to, just so they could blend seamlessly into the fabric of society. They did other things that didn’t benefit them the same way it did humans, but were important all the same.
Sleep was one of those things.
Juliette could go for a week without sleep — probably… she hadn’t been entirely successful with other parts of being a vampire, after all. But, like with depriving herself her first kill, she would lose control as the days went by; eventually becoming the monster that everyone seemed so certain she was destined to be.
But a few days, Juliette could do that without fear. Would do that, to spare Cal the hurt of seeing her by accidentally drawing Cal into her dreams. To spare herself the aching devastation of seeing Cal too soon.
She just had to be sure that she wouldn't choose her moment to sleep when Cal's own exhaustion overwhelmed her.
Her parents would kill her if they knew she had snuck out. Again.
Cal would definitely try to kill her — her heart hadn't raced on those words, no matter how much Juliette had wished it had — if she knew Juliette was anywhere near her home.
Even if she was only there long enough to focus on Cal's heartbeat; listening until it settled into the steady rhythm of sleep.
Juliette told herself it didn't tear her own emotional wounds wide open, being close enough to hear Cal's heartbeat once more.
But as she made her way home, resigned to staying awake for another eight hours, she knew damn well that was a lie.
But a lie would have to do.