Martha looked at him for a moment. Then she sighed and leaned against the balcony railing beside him, looking out at the trees rather than at the cigarette.
"Kate is worried," she said.
"About what happened on the highway."
"And you?"
"I watched you kill five vampires in less than a minute. Pull their hearts out like you were picking fruit."
"I heard they operate only at nights, but today, I could see them moving and attacking people in the light. Something is not right with the way of things. This world and its inhabitants...are changing every day."
She was quiet for a moment.
"I should be terrified. Any rational person would be terrified."
"But you're not."
"No."
Martha's voice was soft. "Because you did it to protect us. Because you could have run, could have saved yourself, and left us to them.
But you didn't."
She looked at him directly. "So no. I'm not scared of you."
Jaenor took a slow drag from the cigarette, letting the silence hold.
