“I’m fine. Or, I’ll be fine.” He forced a smile. It couldn’t hide the fact that the usual pinkness in his cheeks was faded, and he had a scratchy throat. Definitely some kind of cold, and he clearly wasn’t resting enough. Vampires didn’t usually get sick, but he was half human. “Please, have a seat.”
“I hope you haven’t been staying here too late into the nights. I know you’re new, but…”
Straightening his cute red and white striped tie, he shook his head. “Just not been sleeping so well.”
“Insomnia?”
“Kind of… Don’t worry though, really.” He snapped his fingers with a sharp, “Oh!” and started searching the floor. “I thought you might want to see what the newspapers are saying about the other night.” He stooped and picked up a thick, drooping bundle of newspapers and placed them on the far edge of his desk. “I kept these from yesterday.”
“Thanks, Seb. That’s really thoughtful of you.” I leaned forward and lifted the first, most well-known paper, theImpartial Midas. The headline read:
Hero CEO saves the day!
Not so impartial. That was to be expected though, considering he paid their wages. It wasn’t a lie in any case. He’d saved Dagger’s legs, and most likely his life too.
Bryce had been a hero that night. Him, Hunter, and Dagger were all my heroes in their own different ways. The accompanying photo was of the burnt-out shell of the makeshift drug lab in the cold light of day.
I gulped and my grasp turned fragile, the paper’s pages shaking, as an image of Dagger trapped under that inferno flashed past.
Damn, stupid idea. She’s upset. Showing her horrible memories… Say sorry.
“You don’t have to be sorry,” I blurted, causing Seb’s head to jerk backward.
I startled, too, unsure anymore if I’d actually heard him say anything. We both stared at each other for a few moments, and when his confused look didn’t fade and no response came, I shook my head and apologized. “Sorry, think I’m still half asleep.” Or maybe he’d muttered under his breath? It hadn’t exactly sounded like he was talkingtome. Weird.
I cast him an uncertain glance as I picked up the next paper, theDaily Informer. Its headline was:
Fearless: Lone Detective Tackles Coven in Drug Raid Disaster
The photo was Dagger looking several years younger, but standing in a beat cop’s uniform. Beside him was an enormous, bearded colleague also in blue, with folded arms and a scowl that would make anyone stick to the law. Teddy Bear?
I placed the paper down by my case, to take it back to the loft later. “I know a certain someone who’ll get a kick out of this one.”
Looking down at the next front page, of theNew Nebraska Enquirer, my face contorted:
Celeb CEO’s Magic Schlong Fires Blue at Vampire Ding-Dongs.
“What the hell? There’s so much weirdness in one sentence, I—I just can’t.”
Seb grinned. “Ah, I didn’t see that rag tucked in there. Someone must have a really twisted taste in news sources. My bad. Some journalists are more focused on the truth than others, you might say. And, uh, sorry, the photo’s not exactly appropriate either.”
Ugh, understatement or what?
My grip tightened, crinkling the edges of the paper as I stole a glance at Seb. His mouth definitely wasn’t moving.
She might like… shouldn’t… see Mr. Harding’s ju…
Junk?I thought.
Seb jerked backward, his chair thumping into the wall behind. “Did you—”
“Did you…?” I echoed.
“Hear me in your mind,” he finished for the both of us.
“I think so. I-is that normal around here?”
He bit his lip, a pained crimp around his eyes as he mussed his hair. “Sometimes. With vampires.”
