But before he could answer, a knock on the door interjected.
For a few long moments, both Lucien and I froze, staring at one another with wide eyes, like deer caught in the headlights and waiting for the danger to go away. But the knocking didn’t stop, and soon we could hear Chase calling through the door, “I know you’re home! Open up!”
“What should we do?” I whispered, feeling my face grow pale. In the last three days, Chase had visited a few times to check in on me and the wolf. But now the wolf was gone, and instead there was Lucien, fully fledged walking eye candy.
Lucien seemed to compose himself quickly and rose to his feet, roping the robe around himself. “Open it,” he said grimly, luminous eyes on the door.
Swallowing hard, I stood up as well, wondering what he was thinking of doing. But since Chase continued knocking, I could hardly think myself, and simply went to the door and pulled it open.
Chase strode inside without even looking at me, his dark eyes fixing on Lucien. He kicked the door shut and folded his arms, his muscles bulging as he gave him a once-over. “You know the protocol” was the first thing he said.
I glanced between the two of them. Lucien didn’t seem surprised. If anything, he seemed to brace himself for something. “I know,” he said slowly, “but I need you to answer a few questions first.”
My neighbor did not like hearing this. I could tell by how his face turned into a deep scowl. I wanted to speak just then, to ask what the hell was going on, but the words got stuck in my throat as the tension rose in the room, making it hard to breathe. My instincts told me to keep quiet.
“I’m willing to answer,” Chase now said, though his tight voice and expression seemed to indicate anything but, “but first, I need to erase her memories, so I need your blood.”
My heartbeat quickened as I watched Lucien’s face darken in anger. “Answer me first. Why is a sorcerer living in this dump?”
His words caught me so off guard, I whipped my head toward Chase, eyes widening, as shock rippled through my body, making it hard to stand on my two feet. Chase was a sorcerer? An actual, honest-to-God supernatural being?
It made no sense!
Chase’s face didn’t change, but his eyes flashed. “Why is it any of your business, wolf?”
I jumped again, though now with far less shock. Because if he was a sorcerer, then it wasn’t surprising he knew Lucien was a werewolf ... but then again, I had so many questions ...
“It might not be, but if you want to draw my blood for your creepy spells, then you have to answer.” Lucien’s voice cut through my whirring mind.
A short, loaded silence spread through the room as Chase stared at Lucien with barely contained fury, before, to my shock, he motioned with his hand toward me. “I’m here to keep an eye on dear Drew here.”
This time, the shock was so big, I couldn’t keep silent anymore. “I beg your finest pardon?” I spluttered, staring at Chase. “What the hell does that mean?”
But the one who answered wasn’t Chase. “Because of the occult-focused pieces you write for your magazine,” Lucien said, drawing my gaze to him. He looked at me with a grim, almost pitying gaze. “Even if your magazine isn’t popular, it makes sense the American Supernatural Society keeps track of your, and your colleagues’, movements.”
My jaw fell down, and I turned to look at Chase. “So you’re a supernatural being,” I said slowly as I tried to digest the information, and the indignity I was starting to feel made my face heat up with rage. “And yet you kept mocking me, telling me I’m delusional, that the supernatural isn’t real, when youareone?! What the fucking hell, Chase?!”
Chase did not seem apologetic whatsoever. “It is for your own safety, Drew,” he said quietly now, taking a step toward me. “Knowing about our kind would bring you nothing but trouble. I tried to dissuade you. You’ve been poking too much into stuff that is way out of your league; you’re bound to find yourself in real danger.”
I closed the distance between us and pushed him with all the frustration and anger that were boiling inside me now. Or tried to push him, since he didn’t budge. “You’re a liar and a fraud!” I snarled at him, glaring at his infuriatingly calm face. “Didn’t it ever occur to you that I was writing for that magazine in the first place to actuallydrawthat danger towards me?!”
His calm disappeared, replaced by confusion. “What?”
I pushed at him again, and this time he took a step back just to humor me, though it angered me further. “Fuck you, Chase,” I spat, and turned toward Lucien, who glanced between Chase and me with a narrow-eyed look and a ticking jaw.
For some reason, seeing the wolf’s face, ticked off as it was, made me feel a little better, and I walked to stand next to him, grabbing his hand in mine, before I turned to Chase again, whose eyes were now on our linked hands, and hissed, “Get out of my apartment.”
Chase didn’t move, instead folding his arms again.
Before I could erupt again, Lucien squeezed my hand and walked toward him. “I have always hated how righteous you and the rest of those who work for the Council are,” he said, face serious. “Everything you just revealed now makes my hatred grow even more.”
Chase’s lips curled. “Whatever you feel about me or the Council doesn’t really matter, Delterre,” he said coolly. “So now that I answered your question, it’s time I take your blood.”
Lucien smiled. It was a very sinister smile. “I have more questions, though.”
Impatience entered his face as Chase said, irritated, “The time for questions is over.”
The werewolf shrugged. “Then you leave me no choice.”
