Page 4 of Call of the Blood

“No! I just haven’t been completely honest…” Declan took a deep breath. “I asked her father already if I could propose with his blessing.”

I inhaled sharply.

“And… if you are okay with it, I want Mom’s engagement ring from Dad… because I want what they had.”

Tears filled my eyes.

“Yeah, I can ship it to you securely,” I said, smiling widely and fanning my face, even though he couldn’t see the expression.

“What… what if you fly out here and meet her and give me the ring on the trip?” He asked tentatively.

And that killed the mood.

“Oh… I’m not allowed to leave Savannah right now, Declan. That’s why I haven’t brought up trying to visit you yet and want you to come here. It’s above my boss, too. We can’t leave. I’d love to, but…” I was suddenly frustrated. Damn Isaiah never got back to us. Alexius and I were treading water, losing our minds from boredom because we were cut off from everyone. No one was reaching out; there was nothing more for me to dig through, no leads to follow because Isaiah was holding onto whatever he could have potentially discovered.

“I really wish I could!” I ran a hand through my hair, and he made a noise.

“Hey, sis. Everly. Look, my trip with her isn’t until July. That’s when I’m popping the question. Why don’t you keep hold of the ring for now. If you can’t swing any trip here by, say, mid-June, then go ahead and put your best on getting the ring here, and we’ll definitely come visit you next summer. Obviously, I’m going to marry her if she says yes, and then yeah, I’ll have to bring her into the secret. I trust her enough with it.”

“And letting her know has to be before the wedding. She should have the chance to be wiped and walk away,” I said, sighing. “Do you even know who could do that in California?”

“Way back in the day, when I left home, Jacob’s nest gave me an emergency list of numbers to call if I ever needed it. No names for whoever would pick up. Just numbers. I assume I just call them in a line and explain how I got the number when I’m asked.”

“They’re probably help from different nests in your state and the region around you,” I said, nodding. It made sense. Human help often helped other human help. “But I’ll be there when you bring her in, or you two will be here, and Alexius and I will handle it.”

“Yeah. I wouldn’t bring her in without you. I’d kind of need you to get around the magic. You’re allowed to talk. I’m not.”

“Very true,” I said, nodding slowly. “Wasn’t a problem before I was a vampire… Welp.”

“Yeah. Why tell a spouse, ‘hey, my family works for vampires’? You’ll never meet the vampires, and this is absolutely unnecessary for your life with me because I don’t work for them.”

“Yeah, a bit different from, ‘hey, my sister is a vampire’,” I said, chuckling. “Well, let’s game, and tomorrow I’ll talk to my boss. That way, if anything changes, he and I will know the first place we’re going.”

“Perfect!”

Declan and I jumped into a survival horror game together, opting for a co-op experience.

“Do you still get scared of things as a vampire?”

“Yeah, jump scares and ambiance can still spook me,” I said, grinning. I didn’t tell him it was a lot harder now than it used to be. I was looking forward to his shrieks of terror. Anything not to think of the gorgeous man who stalked my shadows, whose eyes haunted my daydreams, and who was probably pacing in his office at that exact moment.

2

CHAPTER TWO

ALEXIUS

Alexius watched her enter her room, wishing she would look back one more time, then hating himself for the urge.

I need more space from her.

He scoffed at himself as he heard her door lock. He wasn’t troubled by the door locking. He was frustrated with his own thoughts.

More space? He could have given that to her tonight, yet he couldn’t resist the urge to follow her to River Street to stalk her and watch her as she watched people and enjoyed the fresh air.

Ten months without anyone but the human staff, and even they weren’t enough of a distraction. He had never felt truly boxed in while in his own home. He could spend years living alone and only have a close human companion like Rupert.

He couldn’t last a year with her.