Page 52 of Call of the Blood

“I wouldn’t,” I said, huffing. “They better fucking work.”

“Alexius, Everly, stick close together tomorrow for the full report. Considering where it is, it’s only fair Everly gets to know everything about what happened so close to her brother,” Maria said, seeming to placate Alexius with reason before he could argue that I not join the conversation.

“Fine,” he muttered.

“I’ll talk to you both when I have the report this evening.” Maria hung up.

I looked at Alexius, one question I needed answered.

“I did the right thing, right? I could have kept chasing. We’d have the time before sunrise and⁠—”

He kissed me. He leaned down and stopped the words with a long, all-consuming kiss, slowly maneuvering me until my back hit a wall. When his lips left mine, he only said one thing.

“You did exactly the right thing,” he said before lifting me.

“I’m not in the mood tonight, not after what happened,” I said as he carried me to his room.

“You’ll be safer with me than in another room.” I was dropped onto the bed, bouncing a bit. “I don’t like that some strange vampire and you ran into each other. I would feel better if you were secure in here with me. Just like other trips we’ve taken.”

“Okay. So, like Alaska, when we barely had any space and slept in a basement.” I watched him strip. “You licked me.”

“I lied when I said I was hungry for blood. I was hungry, but most of it was just for you. Blood on you had been a sight I had been unable to handle.” He joined me in bed, pulling me close to him, his mouth next to my ear. “And when you’re ready for it, I fully intend to lick you again.”

I ended up allowing him to do as he pleased after that comment, a strong distraction in the pre-sunrise hours when I could do nothing else.

21

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

When I woke up, Alexius was already awake, and he showed me his phone. Maria had also gotten up before sunset to text him, letting him know to call the moment he and I were both ready.

“Obviously, you can’t wake up early like her and me. Let’s get you blood and call. She’s ready to⁠—”

I reached out and hit the little phone next to her name, calling her from bed. I wasn’t particularly hungry. A meal could wait until after the call.

“Good evening,” Maria said before I could say anything. “This was a faster call than I was expecting. Did you wait for her to open her eyes and hit the call button before she could think straight?”

“She hit the button,” Alexius answered right as I spoke.

“Good evening,” my voice a little hoarse.

“Clean up has been finished. I looked over the body and the footage. The kill was opportunistic. The vampire must have been hungry, and she was alone, getting home by herself. Bad luck for her.”

“Where was the vampire before the kill?”

“We don’t know. Even reviewing all the cameras, he doesn’t show up in the footage before the incident anywhere around the building or inside it. He caught his prey’s heartbeat and hunted her down. He certainly panicked when Everly walked in. He wasn’t expecting anyone to catch him feeding. And we were also right about his experience level. He did nothing to pacify the victim. He covered her mouth to stop the scream and bit.”

As we listened, Alexius pulled me closer, one of his legs getting between mine and an arm going around my waist. He was literally insatiable, and we were discussing a vampire killing a human in my brother’s parking garage.

“Stop it,” I hissed.

“Stop?” Maria was only confused for a beat. “Oh⁠—”

“Not you,” Alexius answered quickly.

“I got that,” she said, chuckling. “There’s really not much else. We have clear footage of his face. That will help us track him down better. Everyone in my nest will know what he looks like by midnight. Now on to a second thing.”

“A second thing?” Alexius asked, growling softly.