“She was super excited. I told her that when she was older, I would change her if she decided to do it. She didn’t want it to happen now.”
“Why not?”
“Who wants to be sixteen forever?”
Not me,Dante thought. “So, you haven’t had any contact with Julie in two weeks?”
“No, I’ve been texting her every day, but she hasn’t replied to any of my messages.”
“Weren’t you concerned when you didn’t hear from her?”
“Yeah, but I assumed her mom found out about me and put an end to her contacting me. I figured that, as soon as she could, she would get in touch with me again, but if you’re here, then something far worse happened.”
Preston bit his lip as he stared into the shadows again. “She’s all I have,” he whispered.
This guy was either better than Tom Hanks, or he really didn’t know anything. And Dante’s instincts were telling him that Preston didn’t know anything, which meant his leads were dwindling.
“Do you know where I can find Jasmine?” Dante asked.
“I know where she lived before we broke up; I’m not sure if she’s still there.”
“I’ll start there then.”
Preston gave him an address in Brighton, and Dante wrote it down.
“Are you going to talk to her now?” Preston asked.
A glance at his watch told Dante it was a little before ten. He didn’t want Jasmine to have any notice he was coming, and now was as good a time as any to visit her.
“Do you plan to warn her about me?” Dante asked.
“No,” Preston said. “I’d like to go with you.”
Dante glanced at Cassidy and Kyle. He wasn’t used to having anyone with him, and he didnotwant to drag three people with him, but when he turned back to Preston, the hopeful look in his eyes froze the no he was about to issue.
“Okay, but if we find her, you’re going to let me do all the talking,” he said.
“Absolutely,” Preston said and grinned at him.
* * *
Lying on his bed,Dante stared at the ceiling as he tried to reason out the pieces of the puzzle he had. When they went to Jasmine’s place last night, they discovered she wasn’t there. The furniture remained, but none of her things did, and the empty feel of the apartment suggested she hadn’t been there in a while.
Preston informed them the furniture wasn’t hers and came with the apartment, but that the closets and bureaus used to be full of her clothes and shoes. The superintendent lived on the first floor, and though it wasn’t the ideal time to get the man out of bed, Dante didn’t care. He went to the man’s apartment and banged on his door, but no one answered.
Dante planned to return today to talk to the man, but until then, he didn’t have any leads to follow.
After leaving the apartment, he got Preston’s phone number and address and watched as he pulled away in a taxi. He still wasn’t sure he’d done the right thing by letting Preston go, but he was trusting his instincts on this. And those instincts said Preston had nothing to do with Julie’s disappearance.
If they proved to be wrong, he would spend an eternity kicking himself in the ass, and he would hunt Preston down and kill him.
The three of them returned to his building afterward. Kyle walked home while Cassidy came upstairs with him. For a little while, he managed to shut off his mind and lose himself in her before falling asleep, but sleep didn’t last long.
Cassidy’s lashes fluttered against his shoulder as she stirred, and her eyes opened. Holding her closer, he cherished the feel of her lush body against his. She was a part of him, and with every beat of his heart, he felt her blood flowing through him.
He was in love with her, and that knowledge scared him as much as it thrilled him. Everyone he’d loved was dead, and he’d barely managed to pick himself up and continue after those deaths. If he lost her too, he would lose everything. He understood why vampires went crazy after losing their mates; just imagining it caused something sinister to slither through him.
“Good morning,” she murmured.
