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“Oh,” I say, and Jesse’s arm tightens around me. “Okay, thank you for your help.”
“You’re welcome. Have a wonderful day.”
The line goes dead, and I slump into Jesse’s side. He presses his lips to my temple, giving me comfort.
“We’ll keep searching while we wait. There has to be someone who knows something,” he murmurs into my hair.
I pull away, straightening my spine as I meet his eyes. “You’re right. This is just a small bump in the road.”
I tap at my phone’s screen to wake it back up and see that I have some time before I need to meet Steph. I pull up the department website and find the form the woman told me about. I fill it out as accurately as possible, inputting the month and year I was found, the location, and the names of my mom and dad.
My mood plummets, thinking about them. They’re no longer alive, having died in a horrible car accident when I was in my early twenties. They were older when they adopted me, so by the time they’d passed away, they’d already sold our family home and moved into a retirement community. When I cleaned out their condo after their deaths, I didn’t find any records from my adoption. They must’ve gotten rid of them when they downsized or they were lost somewhere along the way.
Pushing my melancholy aside, I finish filling out the form. Anticipating my needs, Jesse fetches my purse and pulls my driver’s license from my wallet. Thanking him with a smile, I snap a picture of the license and upload it with the form.
“Now, all we can do is wait,” he says gently.
I push myself to my feet, pacing in front of him as I shake my arms out at my sides. He watches me silently, giving me time and space to get my thoughts in order.
“I can’t just sit here and wait,” I say when I finally stop pacing. “I have to do something, or I’m going to go crazy.”
“Okay,” he says. “What do you want to do? Just say the word, and I’ll make it happen.”
“I want to go back to Terremagie.”
“Eden, I don’t think––”
“I need this, Jesse,” I say, cutting him off.
“I know,” he says quietly, his eyes distant and unfocused. “But when I think about what happened…”
“I’m fine.”
He meets my gaze. “You weren’t fine. You were unconscious, and I thought we were losing you.”
I move toward him, squeezing between his knees and looping my arms around his neck. His hands find my waist, lifting me until I’m straddling his lap.
“I’m not so easily taken out, anymore. Remember?”
I flash my teeth and hiss like a character in a cheesy vampire movie, and he smiles despite his best efforts to contain it. Pressing my lips to his, I kiss him sweetly before pulling back and touching my forehead to his.
“We need to search the whole village. Thanks to my vision, we barely scratched the surface before running out of there yesterday. There could be something that will point us in the right direction.”
He remains silent for several beats, then heaves a small sigh. “You promise not to chase after any strange scents without me?”
My lips spread into a wide smile. “I’ll keep you right by my side at all times. Cross my heart.”
“Okay,” he breathes, and I kiss him again.
“Thank you,” I say, then climb from his lap. “I have to go meet Steph for breakfast. I’ll see you when I get back.”
“Speaking of food,” he says, stopping me in my tracks as I head for the door, “if we’re going back out to the Grundelier settlement, you need to be at your strongest. You need to feed.”
Swallowing thickly, I nod. I’m a little gun-shy about feeding because of what happened last time. But Jesse’s right. I need to feed. Besides, how will I ever learn to feed without bringing my donor to orgasm if I don’t practice?
“I’ll make the arrangements. A donor will be here when you get back.” As if he senses my unease, Jesse stands and pulls me in for a long hug. “It’s going to be fine.”
Some of his confidence seeps in through my skin, and I relax into the embrace. Jesse’s hands rub up and down my back a few times, then he grips my upper arms and pushes me back slightly so he can meet my gaze.
