I blinked at him. “Yougave him that name?”
“He’s from Argentina,” he explained. “Spanish is his native tongue.”
“No, I get it. It’s just kind of… weak.”
“Says the woman who calls me D?”
“Touché, vampire. Touché.” My laughter faded as Darius’s words found a soft spot inside my chest, nestling in close.
All for one, one for all, the more the merrier…
Just over a week ago, Sophie was the center of my world, my best friend and a bright light in my life. No matter what I’d gone through, Sophie always found a way to make me believe in hope. To believe that things could always get better. That we couldchoosebetter.
Ronan was her counterbalance, dark and brooding and intense, yet grounding me with his deep well of strength whenever I felt myself pulling apart at the seams.
Now, Sophie was gone. In a blink, just like that. Gone.
But Ronan was still by my side, no matter where our kisses led. Darius had become an unexpected friend. Emilio was also in my corner—I felt it every time I looked into his deep, compassionate eyes. Asher had my back, too, if only because he was loyal to Ronan. And Haley? Where hadthatcome from?
Just when I thought my life would fall to pieces, that everything had been taken from me, that nothing would ever be okay again, the universe was doing its damnedest to convince me otherwise.
Maybe it was working. Just a little.
I rose from my chair and stretched. “I need to use the restroom. Be right back.”
“Take your time, love.” Darius pulled out his phone. “It’ll give me a moment to check in with my associates about our cleanup operation.”
I moved to head for the ladies’ room, but stopped as I passed him, touching his shoulder. “Hey, D?”
“Yes, G?” he teased.
Tears misted my eyes, but they weren’t tears of sadness or frustration, and I didn’t bother blinking them away. “Thank you. For all of it. The coffee, and fighting by my side tonight, and just… everything.”
Darius turned his face toward mine and smiled, broad and true, and my heart nearly stopped from the dazzling beauty of it. He reached for my hand on his shoulder and gave it a quick squeeze. “You’re not alone in this, Gray. I know it feels that way sometimes, but you’re not.”
Twenty-Nine
Gray
Darius had left me reeling, my thoughts and feelings and nerve endings alive and buzzing from so much more than the caffeine.
So much had happened tonight—things I hadn’t even begun to think about, let alone actually deal with. The coffee did a lot to perk me up, but right now, I just needed a quick hit of fresh, salty air.
After I finished up in the bathroom, I slipped out the emergency exit at the end of the hall and headed outside, just to the railroad ties at the edge of the parking lot, still within the protective boundaries of Luna’s property. I was pretty confident that Darius’s people were taking care of the situation at the morgue, but that didn’t mean whoever had sent our vamp welcoming committee didn’t have more fanged friends lurking in the shadows.
Out beyond the lot, I took in the view of the water, lulled as always by the gentle sound of the lapping waves.
The shoreline wasn’t grand or majestic by any means—just a rocky stretch of beach between the marina and the ferry dock—but it was ours, and if I squinted and looked out over our namesake Blackmoon Bay, I could almost see Sophie out there in the springtime, wading into the chilly waters with her jeans rolled up to her knees, searching for the perfect painting stones.
“They don’t always wash up on shore, Gray. You have to be willing to work for your art! Dig deep, woman!”
“I don’t do art.”
“Did I sayyourart? I meant my art. You have to dig deep formyart. Now get out here and help me dig! I’m freezing my ass off!”
Laughing, I kicked off my shoes and waded into the frigid waters, holding out a plastic bag to collect Sophie’s treasures. “We need to find you a warmer hobby. Preferably something with fire. Glass blowing! That’s it…”
“—done doin' overtime without pay. Fuck that.”
