Fate had given me a choice five years ago, and I’d picked wrong. Now, therewasno choice. Only consequences.
So, as badly as I wanted to give her the answers she was seeking from those musty shelves—as much as Iowedher those answers—I couldn’t do it. Couldn’t risk her life just to ease my guilty conscience.
It was time to put those walls back up. Time to freeze her ass out, once and for all.
She’d hate me forever, sure. But I’d rather she hate me on her feet than love me from the bottom of a fucking grave, and right now, those were the only possible outcomes.
“So this is your life now, huh?” She finally turned to face me again, doing a damn good job of keeping her shit together, despite the raging heartbeat. “Serving up fae strippers and designer drugs to the supernatural elite? Impressive, Elian. Truly.”
“Serving upfantasies,” I corrected, still not meeting her gaze. “And try not to judge me too harshly. It’s a lucrative endeavor.”
“I’m sure it is.”
I propped my hands behind my head and grinned, focusing on a spot just past her shoulder. “Stick around. Maybe you’ll see something you like.”
“Aside from your bartender?”
I let that one go. She deserved to take a few more jabs at me.
“And this… this vampire business.” Her gaze roved over me, nearly setting me on fire. “All part of your fantasy schtick? Give the highborn fae girls a taste of the dark side? Bet theylovethat.”
“Certainly doesn’t hurt,” I said, grin still firmly in place. “But it’s no schtick. I was turned a few years back.”
“By force?”
“Necessity.”
In my case, there hadn’t been a difference, but I wasn’t about to get into all that. Pretty sure Haley hadn’t come all the way to Louisiana just to hear my Midnight sob story.
“Don’t feeltoosorry for me, though,” I added. “Thanks to my fae blood, I ended up with most of the perks and hardly any of the weaknesses. Super speed and strength, healing, mental influence, and no aversion to sunlight.”
She flashed a cruel grin. “You’re saying I could chop off your head and you’d survive?”
“That’s… untested.”
“Can I try?”
“No.”
“Let me know if you change your mind.”
Ignoring the offer, I said, “Really, the only downside is the minor inconvenience of my complete dependency on human blood, but that’s… manageable.”
Silence drifted between us once more, and she blew out a breath and glanced up at the ceiling. I didn’t need to look at her to know she was holding back tears.
“God. Whathappenedto you, Elian?”
“He goes by Saint now,” Jax said suddenly. He’d just stepped into the office, his white shirt stained with vampire blood, but otherwise no worse for the wear.
“Saint?” Haley laughed again, and damn if the sound of it didn’t stir a deep longing inside me. “And let me guess,” she said to Jax. “You’re Sinner. A little on the nose, no?”
“We’re all sinners, angel,” the demon said, no trace of irony. “Even you.”
Asshole. Thirty seconds in the same room together, and I already hated the way those two were eye-fucking each other.
“Jax,” I said, a little harsher than necessary. “You take care of our guests?”
“Tied up, staked, and awaiting the sunrise barbecue.”
