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“I could never leave you, Caspian,” Ren says. “We’ve been through too much together. And I’m not going to abandon you to whatever this is either. I’ve got one dead vampire partner on my conscience already.”
“I thought you said they locked him up?”
It’s all I can think to ask.
“Nah. Got the news three days ago. Trial came through, and he was killed for what he did.”
I clear my throat, not sure how to respond.
“That’s why I’m trying to tell you to keep your nose clean,” he says. “It’s a dangerous world we live in, and sometimes, I don’t know if you fully realize what you’re capable of.”
“You misassess the situation, Ren,” I say. “Quinn wants me. Before long, we’ll rule this realm at each others’ sides.”
“Just stop,” Ren growls. “Before you hurt yourself, or more likely, a bunch of innocent people.”
“I’m trying to tell you-”
“No,” Ren interrupts. “I’m done listening to your excuses. I’m not taking you off of the case, and I can’t control you, but please… for your own sake. Get a hold of yourself. It’s embarrassing.”
He turns back to the bar, downing another shot. The bartender looks seriously concerned. I’m uncertain if he understands the healing capabilities of shifters, but it doesn’t change the fact that Ren came here to feel something. This case is getting to him.
My mind returns to Quinn, and how I can work to make her truly and utterly mine. Ren’s words are projections, not meant for me. He doesn’t understand.
19
QUINN
Iwake up again to the sounds of songbirds chirping and a steady trickle of rain. I stretch out across my bed, realizing that I actually slept well.
And that sets alarm bells off in my head.
I look for signs of him, searching my pillow, my front porch. He’s left no gifts for me.
“Well, that sucks,” I say to myself.
He clearly wasn’t here last night. In spite of his claims that I was his forever, and that we would ‘rule the world together,’ or whatever it is that vampires say to women like me to lie to them, I don’t see him anywhere.
I start to feel used for a minute, before reminding myself that the experience was well worth it regardless. I imagine his hands roving over my body, making me feel things I haven’t, in this lifetime, experienced up till now. I imagine his fangs corrupting me, making me his and his alone.
I hope I didn’t fall prey to whatever the vampire equivalent is of a one-night stand. Or technically, I guess it would be a two-night stand, if you’re counting the time at work. Which I’m not.
An explosion like a gunshot rings outside my apartment. I don’t live in a terribly violent neighborhood, but it still gives me pause. I wait inside my apartment for a minute, considering what to do, before the sound goes off again.
It’s loud enough to be a gunshot, but it’s definitely not one.
I go outside to investigate.
What I see confuses me greatly.
“About time you woke up,” Rory says. “Here, I’m having trouble with this spell. Can you hold this codex for me so I can see it while I’m casting it?”
“What are you doing?” I ask, shrinking back against the door. My arms cross of their own accord.
“Duh,” Rory says. “I’m trying to cast a spell.”
She’s resting on her knees, outside my bedroom window.
“That doesn’t answer my question,” I say. “If you’re casting a spell on my apartment, I think I have the right to know what you’re doing.”
