“Magenta is a good judge of character, Alaric. As am I.” He pulled a sleek iPhone from his pocket and typed a message. It made me wish I’d picked up a burner phone so I could keep tabs on my father. Until I remembered I needed to be frugal.
Still, I could always pawn the jewelry I’d stolen from Brianna’s collection. That brought a smile. I knew she’d lose her shit when she discovered her most expensive gems missing.
It served the bitch right.
“Magenta will be here in an hour,” Thorrin said when his phone pinged a minute later.
For the first time since I left my witch, a small spark of hope ignited. If the witch found nothing amiss, then I would crawl back to Raven and beg for forgiveness.
I had never begged forgiveness from anyone in my life, but for her, I’d do it.
I would gladly prostrate myself on a bed of nails and suffer any indignity she leveled my way so I could bask in her sunshine once again.
39
Raven
Ithrew my paperback novel on the floor, furious about the horrible cliffhanger. How dare the author finish her book like that!
Rasmus glanced up from the ancient leatherbound tome on vampire history he’d been reading and frowned. I’d attempted to read it over his shoulder the other day and promptly lapsed into a coma before the end of page two. Talk about dry as dust.
“What’s wrong,mea amica?”
I huffed and pouted. “My book ended on a cliff and now I have to wait two freaking months for the next one in the series!”
My vampire chuckled. “When you’ve lived for several centuries, two months is but a blink, darling, so you learn to be patient.”
Ugh. Not helpful. Fig trotted into the palatial living room and snorted at me. “Are you hungry?” He oinked, which I took to mean yes.
Kenji and the three Ks raised their heads at the same time and glowered at my pig.
“Let the pig out,”Kenji advised.“There’s a BBQ restaurant a block away. I bet they’d give it a good home.”
“Kenji!” He buried his head under his tails.
I fidgeted while wondering what to do next. Maverick was lifting weights, Kai was hydrating in the gigantic tub upstairs, and Zane had disappeared two hours ago after muttering about exercising Brenda. Whatever that meant. How did one exercise a sword? I hadn’t bothered asking.
Rasmus closed his book, sending a cloud of dust into the air.
“Go feed the pig, darling, and then it’s time I took you on a date, as I believe it’s called in modern parlance.”
“A date?” I frowned. “Isn’t it dangerous for us to be seen outside?” At least in this city, where millions of humans lived and worked.
“Not if I glamour us both.”
Despite the late hour, the streets teemed with humans and magicals. I spotted several witches, shifters, and a couple of mages. Each time we passed someone humming with magic, I ducked my head.
But to my relief, nobody looked twice at me or Rasmus thanks to the glamour spell he’d cast before we left. We resembled twenty-something hipsters. Or so Zane had declared when he blinked back to the mansion covered in blood and unpleasant fleshy chunks.
I’d asked him what hipsters were, and he’d explained they were trendy types who wore plaid and skinny jeans, while the guys sported beards and slick hair.
Looking around at the couples strolling up and down this busy plaza with its string lights and outdoor eateries, Rasmus, with his neatly trimmed beard, jeans, and plaid shirt, fit right in.
I felt less comfortable in my skinny jeans and band shirt teamed with a denim jacket, but Zane had assured me I looked sexy enough to eat. Which he’d tried to do, much to Rasmus’s annoyance.
We stopped outside a brightly lit store. When I peered in, I saw bookshelves and tables stacked with paperbacks, and to the right, a seating area and counter.
The sign above the door saidPages & Lattesin a cute script with a black cat logo. I beamed up at my sexy hipster vampire.
