Page 48 of Call of the Blood

I watched him, now only leaving the room with my undergarments and his shirt, and finally appreciated how much more relaxed he was than I had ever seen him. Something had uncoiled in him.

“What?” he asked, leaning down to my level, our eyes meeting. When I didn’t reply immediately, he wrapped a hand around the back of my neck, his fingers tangling quickly in my bedhead. His lips hovered over mine. I tried to close the distance since I had yet to initiate a kiss since the night before. I couldn’t. That hand was holding me in place.

“What?” he asked again.

“You seem relaxed,” I finally told him.

He closed the distance and kissed me.

“It’s amazing what not having to hold back my every thought and action every second in your presence can do,” he explained. “Now I really must get to work for Maria tonight after losing all of last night. It’s still early, and the more I get now, the more I hope I can actually wrap this up in the limited time we’re here.” He released me. “Which means you can’t be in here distracting me.” He shuffled me out of his room, but I knew he watched me walk all the way back to my own in his shirt.

Oh my God, the last twenty-four hours actually happened.

I sank onto my bed, realizing that while my voice was hoarse, any other evidence of the night would be easily hidden. Dealing with other people seemed easier. I felt charged. I texted Henry and asked if he was free for the evening. I wished my brother well on his date night, adding that I would support any decision he made with Lexi and me. Lexi didn’t seem so bad anymore.

Who knew getting laid was the key to inner peace?

Smiling to myself, I went to take a long shower. I finally looked at myself in the mirror—the smoky eye makeup was a disaster, the foundation and concealer smeared, and the lipstick was mostly gone, except for a smear to the side onto my cheek. I was a wreck, but the guy who did it obviously hadn’t been worried about my makeup, both when it was happening or when we woke up.

Two hours later, I was meeting Henry for a walk at Saint Monica. I didn’t look like anything had happened, my clothing covering it all up. I also didn’t look like I was supposed to be visiting a beach, but when I saw Henry, I was glad that he and I would be alike in that.

“Looks like we thought this out really well,” I joked, looking between us.

“We’ll stay off the beach proper,” Henry said, chuckling.

“How are you?” We started walking, heading toward the pier. I could see the lights and hear people laughing and having a grand time. It was bustling and exciting and so human. One of the reasons I wanted to see it. An experience I had missed because I had never left Maine. After this, Henry was going to show me another supernatural hotspot from my list from the werewolves.

“I’m good! Work is work, and life is what life is. Friends coming and going, and sometimes there’s not much to do.” Henry shrugged. “And then you showed up.”

“Yeah, you were at the café with friends, weren’t you?”

“I was. I get together with them once a week. You can join us next week!”

“I heard one of them having strong opinions about Alexius being in the city,” I explained as I shook my head. “Last thing I need is to try to be normal when my life certainly isn’t. Something like this, I can get away with. Hanging out with vampires, pretending I don’t work for who I work for is another.”

“Fair enough. You could always not work for him,” Henry pointed out.

I smiled as I thought of the night before.

“No. I’m in too deep right now. Maybe later, I can walk away, but it’s unlikely.”

“It’s like knowing you have a funeral scheduled. It’s so dangerous, Everly. It will kill you. You are going to die working for him.”

“I was already supposed to,” I reminded him. Unblinking, I stared at him after making that statement, and he broke eye contact first.

“Fair enough.”

“Yeah. So, let’s have some stupid fun and go on the Ferris wheel or cheat at carnival games, Uncle.” I patted his back, smiling as I continued on.

20

CHAPTER TWENTY

The vacation finally settled into what it was supposed to be. At the two-week mark, I was sitting in Declan’s apartment, and we were good. At least we knew how to exist without bringing up the worst stuff. We could figure that out pretty quickly.

“So, what game are you going to challenge me to tonight?” I asked, kicking my feet up on his ottoman. “Because you’ve lost every single time at everything so far.”

“You have better reflexes now.”