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“Bri?” I ask softly, watching her face closely.
Her eyes meet mine. “Hang on. You said these guys made a deal with your family before you were born and then they showed up at your apartment the other night?”
My stomach sinks. “Y-yes. They, um…” I lower my voice as dread coils in my chest, making it hard to breathe. “They’re vampires.”
Brighton chokes on a laugh. She keeps laughing until her eyes are glassy with tears, and I stand there and wait until the sound dies away. “Holy shit. You’re being serious right now.”
I nod. “Trust me, Bri, I wish I was kidding.”
She doesn’t meet my gaze, and her face has drained of color. “This isn’t possible. Calla, what you’re saying—”
“I know.” I reach for her, grabbing her wrists, and she finally looks at me again. “I told you it would sound insane,” I remind her.
She shakes her head again, and I can’t imagine what’s going through her thoughts right now. “I can’t… This doesn’t…” She presses her hand against her chest. “Son of a bitch, I can’t breathe.”
My eyes sting with tears, and I immediately wish I hadn’t said anything, or that’d I’d come up with a better scenario I could give her. I’d be lying, but at least she wouldn’t look absolutely petrified right now. I had years of knowing about the existence of vampires before they showed up in my life. I’m dropping this all in Brighton’s lap without any warning. Her response is completely warranted. I just wish there was something I could do to make it easier on her.
“Look at me,” I say firmly, tightening my grip on her wrists until she does. “I’m so sorry. You shouldn’t have to know this, but I… I needed my best friend.”
She blinks quickly, as if she’s trying to fight back tears. “Calla, I don’t know what to do with this.” Her chin quivers, and she whispers, “Vampires aren’t real.” It sounds as if she’s trying to convince herself, and it makes me feel even worse.
I bite my lip to keep it from trembling. “They are,” I tell her, wishing more than anything in the world that I was lying. “I don’t know how populated the world is, but I know at least four of them.”
When she blinks, a tear rolls down her cheek, but she makes no move to pull her hands back and wipe it away. She swallows hard. “W-why is this happening?”
“I’m so sorry,” I repeat, because what else is there to say at this point?
Her lips turn down. “It doesn’t make any sense,” she says in a low voice. “Why… I mean how did this happen?”
I already told her why and how it happened, but I tell her again. I wouldn’t be surprised if I triggered a shock response in her, so having to repeat myself is the least I can do, even though saying the words again only tightens the knot in my stomach.
She sniffles, straightening as her fear seems to shift toward anger. “They can’t do this to you. We have to tell someone! I can talk to my grandfather. He’s in with a lot of the high-level security guards in the city.” She twists her wrist in my grasp and grabs ahold of me. “People can’t own other people, Calla.”
My temples ache with tension and bitterness fills my next words. “These aren’t people.”
“Ouch. Now that’s not a very kind thing to say about someone.”
I go stiff as a board at the sound of Lex’s voice behind me, and Brighton’s eyes almost pop out of her face.
Son of a bitch.
I squeeze Brighton’s wrists until her terror-filled eyes flick back to me, and then I mouth one word:run. I let go of her and turn to face Lex, expecting to find a pissed-off vampire glaring at me.
Instead, he grins, and his voice is almost teasing when he says, “You’re in big trouble.”
A muscle ticks in my jaw as a dangerous mix of fear and anger flares in me. “I—” My voice cuts off at the sound of a scared gasp, and I whirl around to find Brighton made it about ten feet away before Kade blocked her path.Where the fuck did he come from?
Kade wraps his hands around Brighton’s shoulders, snaring her gaze, and panic bursts like a firecracker in my chest.
“Don’t you dare,” I snarl at him, stepping toward them, but Lex snakes an arm around my waist and hauls me back. I whip my head around to make sure no one is paying attention, but there are even fewer people around and none close enough to see what’s happening.
“Chill out, Calla,” he says in my ear.
I slam my elbow back, trying to catch him in the stomach, but it does nothing. “Let me go,” I demand through my teeth, all the while watching Kade speak softly to my best friend, her hazel eyes glazed over as he glamours her. “Kade, stop!” I pull against Lex’s grip, but all it does is make my stomach hurt.
He ignores me and continues talking to Brighton. She nods along, and when she smiles, my posture goes rigid. I stop fighting. This was a huge mistake. I shouldn’t have told her out in the open, I should have—
Kade turns his face toward me, and Brighton’s gaze follows. He’s still speaking to her, though I can’t make out his words, and she’s still nodding. Finally, he lets go of her shoulders, and she turns to walk in the opposite direction. Doesn’t say a word to me, just keeps walking away without so much as a glance back.
