All I knew was that I needed to see her again. Just once more.
Because if she really was what my instincts were starting to whisper… then Calix being distracted would be the least of our problems.
12
OLIVIA
“Are you serious right now?! You’re really not going to tell me about your night with that tall, brooding vampire?”
Lark’s voice bounced off the garage walls as she planted herself in the open bay. Her eyes locked onto me, bright and demanding. That was my cue, and I rolled underneath the car and kept working, the metal frame echoing each turn of my wrench.
She didn’t wait for an answer.
“You disappear with Mr. Tall Hot Vampire and come back like nothing happened?” She scoffed, pacing a tight circle near my feet. “That is criminal behavior, Via.Criminal. I'm your best friend, and you're being a real B for keeping all the details to yourself. Just saying.”
I pressed my tongue into my cheek and kept working, letting the steady rhythm of tightening bolts ground me while she spiraled above.
“This is actually insane,” she mumbled, dragging a hand through her hair before pointing down at me. “My idea, by the way.Going out. Celebrating. Dancing. All my idea. I should at least get a thank you.”
I slid the wrench into place again, gave it one last turn, and exhaled. “You already know the basics,” I said, my voice muffled by the undercarriage. “I went to his place, had my brains melted, and his… roommate drove me home.”
There was a pause.
“Oh.” The shift in her tone was instant. I could practically hear the gears turning.
“So he’s broke?” she surmised. “For supes, needing is definitely a sign of being broke. A human I could get, but a supe? Yeah. I get why you wouldn't want to tell me.” That was the farthest thing from the truth, but in the interest of keeping both of us safe, I was keeping a tight lip on the specifics. It was better this way.
She leaned down like she might peer under the car at me. “That’s fine. Better, honestly. We weeded out the scrubs early, and now we can work on finding you someone to rely on.”
Her hands flung outward again like she was pitching a lifestyle. “There are plenty of rich, powerful supes out there. With a face and body like yours, you don’t have to settle.”
I rolled my eyes where she couldn’t see it and checked the last bolt.
“Now—” She snapped her fingers, dropping back into place beside the creeper. “Tell me the real stuff. When he bit you?—”
“He didn’t.” The words came out flat, and everything went still for a beat.
Then the creeper jolted as she yanked it hard, dragging me out from under the car before I could brace myself. The sudden light made me squint as I slid to a stop at her feet.
“What?” she demanded, crouching down, brows pulled tight together.
I pushed myself upright, reaching for the nearby rag. “I said he didn’t bite me.”
She grabbed my hands before I could wipe them clean, her grip firm, like she was trying to hold the answer in place.
“That makes no sense,” she rushed out. “He’s a vampire. That’s literally their whole thing. They need blood. And they…” She faltered, glancing off to the side as color crept up her neck. “They usually mix it in with sex because it feels…”
Her voice trailed off, and I caught it, the shift, the familiarity. I raised a brow.
“Oh,” I said slowly. I mean, I already knew she and Nathan did that since it was part of her blood contractandthey were together romantically. It was only natural.
She still cleared her throat, looking anywhere but at me.
I huffed quietly and pulled my hands free. “Yeah, well, I told him if he tried, I’d kick him in the dick.”
Her head snapped back toward me, eyes going wide.
“You did not.”
