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I was sitting with my head on his shoulder. Lucian had finally lightened up a little on his dress code, but not much. He at least set the jacket of his suit to the side and had the sleeves of his button down rolled up as we sat on the couch. He hardly ever took off his dress shoes, which was something I decided I would work on with him if we survived long enough.
Lucian still hadn’t answered, and I decided I wasn’t going to let him off that easy.
“I could just text them. Make up some kind of story so they know I’m not dead in a ditch somewhere.”
Lucian shook his head. “You’ve got to let that life go. For now. Once we are sure it’s safe, you can go back to Anya’s and see about finding a way to reverse this, if it’s possible. But there are rules. Traditions.”
“The guys will worry. They probably already sent out search parties.”
“What about your parents? You’re not going to try to convince me to let you tell them?”
I hesitated. “They chose to remove themselves from my life a long time before any of this happened. Maybe I’ll tell them eventually, but my only priority right now is my roommates.”
Lucian clenched his jaw. “I suppose the majority of vampires already want us dead. It’s not as if they can threaten to make us even more dead.”
I sat up straight, clenching my hands together. “Does this mean we can go talk to them and tell them I’m okay?”
He sighed. “Yes. But I’m coming with you to supervise.”
“Fine. No problem.”
“We’ll need to think of a convincing story.”
“I’m sure we can come up with something.”
42
Cara
It hadn’t been that long since all this began, but I already felt strange standing outside my apartment. I guessed it was now “my old apartment”, which meant the guys were going to need to find a fifth roommate to cover my portion of the rent. I’d also need to get my things out of the room at some point. But I decided to worry about that later. Right now, I just wanted to leave them with some sort of closure so they didn’t worry I was dead.
Parker was the only one in the kitchen when we came in. He came toward me and gave me an awkward, lanky hug while Lucian stood by stiffly.
“Jesus,” he said. “We thought something happened.” He stepped back, looking me up and down, then let out a relieved sigh. He pulled out his phone and fired off a quick text. “The guys should be here soon. We were going out looking for you in shifts.”
“Sorry,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck.
Parker got busy making coffee for me like a worried mother while me and Lucian took spots at the breakfast table.
It was only a few minutes before Zack burst through the door, repeated the relieved hug and look-over like Parker had done. Mooney and Niles came next, almost mirroring the exact same procedure.
I realized how much I missed all of them, and how bad I felt for making them worry.
Once I had warm coffee in front of me—coffee I was pretty sure would turn my vampire stomach if I dared to drink it—they all sat around the table.
Zack folded his hands, leaning forward. “We haven’t said a thing to Niles and Parker, but I think they deserve to know the truth.”
Niles and Parker both looked accusingly at Zack and Mooney.
I sighed, then ditched the far-fetched story I’d planned to tell about a surprise cruise we’d decided to go on at the last minute. I spent the next few minutes explaining everything I could about what had happened so far to the guys, stopping every couple seconds when Parker asked clarifying questions.
When I was done, all four guys were staring at us in disbelief.
Zack was the first to speak. “So you’re a vampire now, but other vampires want you dead?”
“Basically.”
“How can we help?” Niles asked.
“Yeah,” Mooney said. “I was the state champ in wrestling back in high school. I bet I could handle a vampire or two.”
Parker nodded. “I could help you find their lair.”
Zack got up, then went to the kitchen. “I’m super hungry right now, but yeah. Hell yeah,” he said over his shoulder as he rummaged through the fridge. “Just tell us what to do and we’ll be your personal ass kickers.”
I smiled. I’d expected them to be mad or act weirded out. I should’ve known better. Just a few hours ago, I’d felt like this whole thing was bittersweet.
I was getting Lucian, but I was losing everything else.
Now it didn’t feel that way at all.
43
Lucian
Despite my arguments, Cara insisted on letting her roommates become involved in the planning process, which we began in earnest at my temporary and hopefully hidden home in Savannah. It was hardly more than an empty space with a bedroom, and it felt even more cramped with Cara, myself, all four of Cara’s roommates, Vlad, Alaric, and Seraphina crowded in the room.
