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We stop for gas somewhere in Maryland, and I convince Gabriel to come with me to the café across the road while the others fill up the vehicle. And byconvince, I mean, I asked him, and he was happy to, because it’s Gabriel.
As we walk into the building, Gabriel grabs my wrist and says, “Keep your sunglasses on.”
“What—” My eyes land on the TV attached to the wall across the room. It’s broadcasting the news—a segment on how to identify a vampire—and at least half a dozen patrons along with the young blond woman behind the counter are watching it. “Oh my god,” I breathe.
Gabriel’s hand is at the small of my back. “If we try to leave now, it’ll bring attention to us. Walk up to the counter and order your drink.”
“I… Okay.” Despite the uneven ticking of my pulse, I force my legs to carry me forward.
“Hi there,” the barista—Deb, according to her handwritten name badge—says in an overly friendly voice. “What can I get for you?”
“Um.” Panic seizes my throat as the audio from the TV overtakes my thoughts.
Gabriel steps up next to me with a charming smile. “Sorry, Deb. We’re not used to such a vast menu. I’ll take an iced Americano, and she’ll have an iced coffee, please.”
Deb smiles brightly, her cheeks tinging pink as her olive-green eyes linger on him. “Of course! No problem at all. I’ll get that started for you right away.” Deb taps on the screen in front of her, and Gabriel pulls out his card to pay.
My eyes narrow behind my sunglasses, and my throat rumbles with a low growl. There’s a throbbing in my gums that makes me want to open my mouth, but I lock my jaw.
“Calla,” Gabriel says so low only I can hear him. “Control.”
I pull in a breath, but instead of it centering me, the girl’s scent wafts over to me, and my fangs poke through my gums.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
I turn away from the counter. “I’ll meet you outside.” Forcing myself to walk at a normal pace, I cross the room, counting my steps to keep my thoughts on something besides lunging across that counter and tearing into Deb’s throat just for smiling at Gabriel.
Back at the car, Lex arches a brow at me. “You ditch Gabe?”
I shake my head. “I left so I wouldn't attack the blond behind the counter.”
Kade laughs deeply. “Oh, we’re going to need more than that. What happened?”
I thrust my fingers through my hair, then tie it in a loose bun at the back of my head with the scrunchie from around my wrist. “I’m not even a jealous person, but she was all smiley with him, and it rubbed me the wrong way. I could actually picture myself jumping the counter and tearing into her throat.”
“Oooh, our girl is territorial,” Kade says with a grin, pushing his sunglasses onto his head, which immediately reminds me of the broadcast inside the café.
I grab them off his head and cover his eyes again. “You need to keep these on,” I say as Atlas walks out of the gas station and rejoins us. “We all do. Probably a good idea to wear colored contacts when we’re in public too.”
“Those fucking hunters can’t keep anything to themselves, can they?” Lex grumbles, adjusting his shades.
Gabriel walks back to the vehicle and hands me my iced coffee. “One cream, two sugar.”
“Thanks,” I say, taking it from him. I drink hot coffee black, but iced? I need some creamy sweetness. “And sorry about, um, you know.”
He offers me a smile. “No apology necessary. You handled yourself quite well, angel. I’m proud of you.”
My cheeks heat, and I take a sip of the iced coffee as I walk with him around to our side of the car. “Why? Because I didn’t bite her head off?” We climb in and buckle up while Atlas and Lex get into the driver and passenger seats up front and Kade slides into the seat behind Gabriel.
“Exactly,” he answers. “A lot of vampires so young wouldn’t have been able to fight that urge. You did very well.”
“Oh.” I set my drink in the cup holder beside me, feeling a bit better about the whole situation. And hearing Gabriel say he’s proud of me makes me want to throw myself at him, which isn’t entirely new but it’s certainly heightened right now.
We get back on the road, and I doze off for the last half hour of the drive, only waking when Kade touches my shoulder to let me know we’ve arrived back in Washington.
The house we’re parked in front of looks like something out of a magazine, which I suppose shouldn’t surprise me at this point. The guys have impeccable taste, and if we can’t go back to the house they built together, this will have to do for now.
“Can I assume Marcel is to thank for this place?” I ask no one in particular as we get out of the vehicle, duffle bags in tow.
