AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Cal flipped through the file, sending a pile of papers sliding into my lap. It was the Vee Balm Inc. Articles of Organization. The papers were filed three years before, in Delaware, a state known for its leniency toward vampire businesses. The papers outlined the initial statements required to form a limited liability company and helped the state track the company’s officers, inventory, and property. I glanced over the papers before handing them back to Cal.
“Hey, what’s this?” I stooped to pick up a battered yellow Post-it half stuck to the third page of the document I was holding. I peeled the note from the page and handed it to Cal.
“It’s just copying instructions,” Cal said, reading the note aloud. “Copy 2x, one to 1420 Hillington Drive, one to PO Box 0609, both Half-Moon Hollow KY 42002/1—PO BOX—SECOND REQUEST—was pissed on phone.”
I took it from him. “Let me interpret for you. It means someone else in the Hollow requested a copy of Vee Balm’s company charter paperwork before you did. And apparently, they had to ask for it twice and were not happy about it. Also, the office staff is careless about where they leave sticky notes,” I said, looking the Post-it over. “Why would someone from the Hollow request a copy of the company’s charter? Was it sent to the Council’s PO box?”
Gigi shook her head. “No. All Council office boxes start with a double zero. It’s a special designation through an agreement with the postal service to get free postage. This is a standard box number.” Cal raised his eyebrows. “What? Sammi Jo’s mom works at the post office.”
Cal stared at us for a long, drawn-out pause, his expression thunderstuck. A wide grin split his face, and he sprang up from his seat. He clutched Gigi’s face between his palms.
“You, my sweet girls, are brilliant,” Cal said, giving her cheek a smacking kiss before lunging for me and giving me a long, wet kiss.>“Actually, other than the whole ‘mortal peril’ thing, it wasn’t that bad.” I sighed. He pulled his shirt over my head and covered my blood-soaked bra. “I’m OK.”
“I—”
“Don’t,” I told him, tapping my finger against his lips. “Just get us out of here. I need some juice and a cookie.”
“Blood-donor jokes are not appropriate right now.” He growled.
“It’s my blood loss, and I will joke about it any way I please,” I said, slumping against the wall as Cal tried the door again.
Several failed experiments later, we discovered not only that the handle made it very difficult for Cal to open but also that there was something holding the lock in place from the outside. Cal rolled up the leg of his jeans and ripped a black canvas holster away from his leg. He unsheathed what seemed to be a short bronzish sword, broad and flat, shaped a bit like an oak leaf. It was the perfect length to wear against his calf, just less than two feet. It looked worn, old, but cared for. It shone in the dim light as he tapped it against the door, looking for a weak point in the lock mechanism.
“What—what the hell is that?” I spluttered.
“It’s my sword.”
“I can see it’s a sword. But how long have you had it?”
“When I tell you these things, they tend to send you on conversational tangents.”
“Cal.”
“A long time,” he admitted. “I carried it into battle as a human. It’s not as impressive as some of the other specimens I’ve collected over the years, but it’s the one I’m most comfortable with.”
“Are you telling me that all this time, you’ve been walking around with a sword strapped to your leg?” I yelled.
“I never leave home without it,” he said.
“How do you get through airport security?”
He grinned, shoving the blade through the mechanism holding the door shut and twisting it viciously. The innards of the lock tinkled to the cement pad like broken toys. He wrapped his shirt around the handle and yanked the door open.
Cal burst out of the building in full vamp mode, expecting whoever had shut us inside to be waiting for us. But the clearing was empty, quiet, oddly removed from the blood scene inside the shed.
I took deep lungfuls of the clean, cool air, feeling suddenly dizzy. I’d come very close to dying. Again. It was a habit I seemed to have picked up since meeting Cal. And the idea that I could have been killed in some bizarre vampire sex accident scared me. The idea that I could have left Gigi alone, to fend for herself, scared me. But none of these things scared me nearly as much as the fact that some dark, perverse side of my nature was screaming at me to drag Cal back into the shed and do it all over again.
I was going to need serious therapy if I survived this.
I looked up to find that Cal was watching my every move and expression, as if he expected me to burst into hysterics at any moment. I wasn’t 100 percent sure that he was off base with that. I reached into my backpack and pulled out a pack of Skittles. I needed blood sugar, and I needed it quick.
“You feeling OK?” I asked, deflecting.
“Oddly enough, yes,” he said, stretching his arms over his head. “I feel energized, better than I have in weeks.”
Now would not be the time to mention that the energy most likely came from snacking on live, human me. Instead, I chewed my fruity candy, slumped against his bare chest, and leaned my head against his collarbone.
“Good.” I sighed as he lifted me. “You can carry me home.”
