All Wounds by Dina James

over his shoulder at Ryan. He looked so worried. Maybe she’d done something wrong. “Sorry. I screwed that up, didn’t I?”
    Syd shook his head. “I said I would help teach you, and that much uncontrolled power could harm him,” he replied. He smiled at her. “I merely assisted. The gift is yours, and you’ve quite the gift, Acolyte. All you lack now is control and a broader education.”
    “Uh, thanks, I think,” Rebecca said, confused. Is he being serious? Or sarcastic? She looked down at her hands and gasped at the deep puncture wounds on her wrist. Blood continued to flow from them, staining her nightgown. She covered it with her other hand and noticed the cloth Syd held in his. “Could I borrow that? He uh...it’s not healing over as fast like it did last night. I think this is a lot deeper. This hurts .”
    “Allow me,” Syd replied, and reached for Rebecca’s arm.
    “What—?”
    He turned her hand over so gently it was more of a caress and brought her wrist to his lips. Closing his dark blue eyes, Sydney licked the wound, then again, sealing the punctures.
    What the—? What was he—? Oh, wow, this is nice . The pain in her wrist faded and Rebecca couldn’t help close her eyes at the rush of...something...
    tingling through her. It was warm, but cold, like shivers, but nice ones. Why hadn’t he done this last night after she’d fed Ryan?
    “Because Martha wouldn’t have thought it...appropriate,” Syd replied to her thoughts.
    Rebecca opened her eyes and blushed. She could see why, if Nana knew what it felt like to have...um...
    What had he been doing?
    “It’s not that she would have objected to such for knowing how it felt,” Syd said aloud, again answering her thoughts. “But because she knows that such things can lead to...the relationship between mentor and apprentice.
    Such things can get out of hand.”
    Rebecca looked at him, confused. “Out of hand? What do you mean?
    You just...helped me, that’s all. Helped me heal, right? Sped things up?” Syd nodded. “Well, that and such gathers up any remaining trace of power your blood might have left on your skin. However, young Healers often...confuse such things. Mistake them for other than their true intent.” Yeah, she could see how things could feel a whole lot different than they were intended, if the way he made her feel when she just looked at him was any indication. Never mind how it felt when he touched her.
    “I am your mentor, your teacher—nothing more. It would do you a service if you’d remember that,” Syd said.
    “Wait, you’re worried I’m going to...what? Fall in love with you or something?” Rebecca asked. A bitter laugh escaped her. “Hey, look, you’re cute and all, and I know you think I’m stupid, but I’m not stupid enough to think a guy as gorgeous as you would be the slightest bit interested in someone like me, let alone interested in me like that , so I wouldn’t waste my time dreaming about something that’s never going to happen like a bunch of those airhead cheerleaders at my school do. I’m not delusional!” Syd shook his head.
    “What?” Rebecca asked, confused. “Am I missing the point? I just told you that you don’t have to worry about me falling in love with you. What’s the problem?”
    “I’m four hundred and twenty years old, Acolyte. A Master,” Syd said.
    “Wow.”
    “Indeed. You are but sixteen—”
    “Almost seventeen.”
    Syd raised an eyebrow at her.
    “Indeed,” he said again. “Almost seventeen mortal years. I was just a year older than you when I was turned, and while I still look a mere mortal eighteen years, I am centuries old. What you just experienced was a whisper of what you’re going to under my tutelage. The mentor-apprentice relationship—especially your first—is a close, emotional, intense one. You are just learning your abilities, discovering and harnessing your power. You’ll be tempted to misuse it, or use it to excess. It will be as