Page 20

What is it about this woman?

Chapter 7

Breaking Protocol

CORDELYA

It’s been days since the market, and Augustus has vanished like some haunted specter. I thought we had been having a nice time as we walked Minna through the town square. The way the people of the town smiled, so free and unguarded, warmed something cold inside me. For a little while I felt… normal.

Safe.

And that feeling evaporated the moment Augustus sent Minna and me home with Dale.

Not that Dale was poor company. He is a sweet, charming older man who filled the silence with easy conversation the entire way back to the apartment complex. Thankfully, Dale spoke enough for both of us and didn’t seem to mind my simple answers. I was too preoccupied.

Always scanning. Always watching. Always looking for the quickest escape.

Sure, I did my usual safety checks while I was with Augustus, but the longer we walked together, the more those impulses dulled. His scent filled my lungs, cedar and vanilla, grounding me. Soothing my anxieties.

Our conversation flowed naturally. Dangerously easy for someone like me. Yet, the words came easily.

There is just something about Augustus that puts me at ease.

Well, mind at least.

My body, on the other hand.

That’s another story entirely.

My body lights up like the Rockefeller Christmas tree the second my eyes find Augustus. I’ve never had such a visceral reaction to anyone.

Not even Chad had my nipples pebbling from a simple brush of our arms.

But with Auggie, just being in his orbit has my pulse racing in a way that has nothing to do with fear and anxiety.

Still, there is something different about him and his vampire nature. The way he reacts to my blood is not typical vampire behavior…from what the internet has told me.

Vampires are not supposed to recoil from blood. Although at the market, he didn’t really recoil. It was more like he was trying to restrain himself. But was he restraining himself from going crazy and sucking me dry, or was he trying to retain his pride by not puking?

“Ugh. Stop obsessing, Cordelya. This is not how we do things. Isn’t that right, Minna?” Minna raises her head and tilts it to one side, like she’s skeptical.

I toss her plush toy at her. “You can keep your judgy eyes to yourself, ma’am,” I snark. She barks and then proceeds to roll over, like she’s had enough of my nonsense.

I need something to do. My stomach chooses that moment to give a rumble. “Let’s get something to eat,” I tell Buster, who has been curled up on the couch next to me. I set him down and make my way into my tiny kitchen. I grab a piece of lettuce from the fridge and give it to him. He hops away happily as I rummage through what little food I have left in the fridge. I really need to go grocery shopping.

“Guess it’s faux fancy ramen,” I mutter.

I grab some onions and garlic, corn, bell peppers, and the last piece of leftover chicken from the fridge and set them on the counter. Harissa and sundried tomatoes join the pile before I’m ready to start prep. When I open the drawer closest to the fridge, I reach in for my cutting board, but it’s not there.

Closing the drawer, I open the dishwasher, thinking I must have somehow not unloaded it earlier. Not there either. Where the hell is my cutting board?

Several minutes later, I locate it under the counter where I keep the pots and pans.

“What are you doing here?” I ponder as I pull it out along with a small pot for the ramen. Cutting board located, I begin prepping veggies, tossing Minna, Toby, and Buster some bell pepper chunks. When I open the container of chicken, I make the command decision to chop some up for Cleo & Jesse. Those assholes would just steal it anyway.

Prep done, I open the cabinet and reach for my measuring cup… but it's not there.

“What in the actual hell?” I whisper as the hairs on my neck stand up. I finally locate it in the cabinet with the coffee mugs. Setting it down on the counter, I go into security-check mode. All the locks are secure, windows are sealed and locked, and the back door still has the burglar bar in place. The apartment smells the same: a mixture of coffee, the vanilla candle from one of the goodie bags from the market, and a faint undertone of citrus from the cleaner I use.