He smiled before rising to grab his jacket, but the scent of smoke clinging to it stayed his hand. He emptied the pockets and tossed the contents on the bed. When he returned, he’d take it up to the roof and leave it up there for a while. If someone stole it, so be it; he had an older one in his closet he could use until the stench wore off this one… if it ever did.
Cassidy sat up on the bed and retrieved her shirt. Once it was on and she was back on her feet, her shyness melted away again. She started to search for her jacket before recalling it was in the bag with the rest of her ruined clothes. She’d planned to toss it, but even if she was a purebred vampire and Dante was walking her home, she felt naked without her stakes.
Chapter Eighteen
“Ready?”Dante asked.
“Yeah,” she muttered.
When they stepped back into the hall, she retrieved the bag and removed her coat. The scent of it almost made her shove it back inside, but she checked to make sure the stakes were still there before draping it over her arm. If she’d still been wearing boots, she would have tucked a stake inside them, but she’d replaced them with sneakers, and her boots were now inside the bag.
“Is that garbage?” Dante asked.
“It is,” she said.
He held his hand out for the bag. “I’ll take it.”
Cassidy gave it to him. At the end of the hall, he opened the door to the trash chute and tossed it inside.
He walked beside her as they descended the stairs to the lobby, where he opened the inner glass door and walked across the entrance to the solid wood door. He pulled it open for her and stepped back to let her pass before descending the stairs behind her.
Despite the late hour, people still wandered the sidewalks and headlights bounced off the pavement as cars rolled past. When the bars shut down, more people would flood the streets, but for now, the sidewalks were relatively free of people.
She loved the sounds of the city—the hum of tires and electricity, the laughter and shouts of people, and the beep of horns. There was a vibrancy about it that screamed of life. She may have grown up in the country, and she loved everything about it, but she felt most alive here, especially with Dante at her side. When he slid his hand into hers, she couldn’t stop herself from beaming at him as his heart soared.
“I have to work at Addy’s tomorrow night, but I’d like to go with you to talk to Paris,” she said.
“After the events of tonight, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Dante told her. He was going to spend more time with her, but he wouldn’t put her in danger again.
“She’s a young human; there’s nothing to fear there.”
“No, but whatever Julie got herself mixed up in involves real vampires. I think it’s best if you stay out of it completely.”
Cassidy had expected his response, but she couldn’t help being disappointed by it. Everyone underestimated her; she was the baby of the family and was treated that way her whole life. She hated it, and she wouldn’t accept it from him.
“I’m quite capable of taking care of myself,” she said. “I did kill a vampire tonight.”
She forced herself not to shudder at the reminder. The vamp’s death was necessary; he would have killed her or Dante if she hadn’t stopped him, but she still hadn’t fully processed what she’d done. She wasn’t a killer; except, she was.
“I know,” he said.
“If you think I’ll get in the way or somehow hinder your ability to find Julie, I’ll stay away, but I might be able to help you. I was a teenage girl once; I understand them.”
“I was a teenage boy once, and I did talk to girls back then.”
“But you weren’t one of them. You don’t understand what makes them tick. Besides, I bet your conversations revolved around sports, friends, favorite shows, and games, all while you were thinking about how to get in her pants.”
Dante couldn’t stop himself from laughing over this. “Get out of my teenage boy's head.”
The sound of his laughter caused her to grin stupidly at him. “I knew it.”
His eyes sparkled when they met hers again. While she still saw a hint of sadness in them, for the first time since meeting him, she also saw a hint of the boy in that family photo, and she loved it. Because of that, she let her argument go for the next block, but as they neared her place, she knew it was now or never.
“I can help,” she said. “You’re meeting with her during the day, so there won’t be any Savages out. If you think I’ll get in the way, then tell me, but I want to help you find Julie. I’d like to see this through to the end.”
Dante considered her words; he couldn’t see how her safety would be at risk during the day, and he couldn’t think of another reason to tell her no. She could be helpful with Paris, and he could think of a hundred reasons whyhewanted her there.
“Okay,” he relented. “I’m meeting her tomorrow at eleven in the common by the swan boats.”
