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I scuffed my spiked heel on the floor. “I don’t know. I saw you in that alleyway and I wanted to help. Then I got a good look at you and… I wanted to get to know you.”
“So you decided to turn up uninvited, break onto my balcony and blackmail me into being your make-believe girlfriend?”
I bit back my protest and grinned sheepishly. “Something like that, yes.”
Sky sat pensively for a moment, turning my words over in her head. After an agonizing minute of silence, she met my eyes. “If I do this, you’ll cover my mother’s medical bills? All of it?”
I folded my arms, trying to channel the same energy I managed to exude during office hours. “Every bill, every fee, every receipt. Even the boatload of debt you’ve been trying to pay off for God knows how long.”
“You really did your homework on me,” Sky quipped nervously. “How many strings did you have to pull to get that information?”
None, actually. Hunter was the best saleswoman on my team, she could charm just about anyone into doing her bidding, even without her unique vampiric ability.
“So, you’ll do it?” I asked again, avoiding bringing up my psychic partner in crime for the time being.
Sky leaned her elbows on her knees and laced her fingers together. She stared down at her feet before cocking her head to look at me. “I’ll have to move in with you?”
“I’m sure you won’t miss this cavernous hole too much.”
She shot me a glare. “I’ll still be able to see my mother?”
“Of course. You would be my fake girlfriend, not my prisoner,” I huffed, keeping my arms tightly folded before my trembling hands betrayed how nervous I was. I tried to act like I wasn’t hanging onto her every word, desperate for a simple ‘yes’.
“All right.” Sky’s voice was a whisper as she stared down at the floor. So quiet I thought I had imagined it.
“What was that?”
“All right,” she said, louder this time, and got to her feet. She stuck out her hand toward me, and jutted her chin the way she had the other night. “I’ll do it. You’ve got yourself a deal.”
I still couldn’t quite believe that this enigmatic woman had agreed to my offer. After an hour of talking, laying out rules and watching her eyes grow larger and larger with every nugget of supernatural information I shared, it was time for me to leave.
“Vampires sleep at night?” she asked as I made my way over to her balcony.
“Vampires who work nine-to-five do.” I hauled one leg over the edge of the balcony and turned back to face her. “I’ll send a cab to pick you up in the morning.”
She stepped closer, inches away from where I perched on the ledge. “I hope you know I’ll be taking the stairs and not your… creative route.”
“This way is more fun.” I hauled my other leg over the balcony and balanced with my toes on the small ledge, meeting her gaze.
Sky opened her mouth like she wanted to say something, but then changed her mind and tugged at her hair. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Our eyes locked and I found myself leaning forward ever so slightly. I thought I saw Sky lean closer too, but it might just have been my imagination. She tried to speak again, but no words came. I mapped the shape of her face, her angular features and parted lips. I wanted to close that small distance between us.
But as I leaned forward, I saw a flash of fear in the woman’s eyes. I was a stranger to her. A stranger with sharp teeth and inhuman strength. Pulling back again, I gave her a lazy grin, the breeze catching my hair as I teetered off the balcony.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Sky Vincent,” I said, my words a whispered promise as I dropped off the edge.
Chapter 4
SKY
Whenthevampirewoman—Jordan—toldme she’d be sending a cab, I had expected a rusting yellow taxi like the ones that swathed the street in droves every morning. The car before me was far removed from the standard bucket of bolts I was used to catching. The sleek black vehicle was parked on the curb when I left my apartment that morning. At first, I hadn’t even realized it was for me. I stood on the sidewalk, searching the streets for my promised ride.
I was about to walk back inside, somewhat disgruntled at being stood up, when the driver of the expensive ride slammed a fist on the horn. I nearly jumped out of my skin at the sound of it and whirled around to see the window winding down.
A solemn face examined me from the driver’s seat—a small woman, bleached blonde hair framing her apple face. The softness of her features and smattering of freckles over her cheeks gave the illusion of friendliness, but the dark eyeshadow and deep purple lipstick said otherwise. She examined me with a slight frown, like she was unimpressed with what she was seeing.
“Uh, can I help you?” I approached the car, nearly tripping over my own feet in the process.
