AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Especially when you laugh.” Even quieter, he murmurs, “I love it when you laugh.” He smiles as his eyes shut, and he makes a hum in the back of his throat as I work my fingers into the knot of his tie. “I’d say the same sober. I’ve always thought so.” His fingers skim my arm, and when I look back at his face, his eyes are open, the goofy, sleepy smile still in place. “I also like it when you undress me.”
I do my best to scowl at him, but my lips roll together, fighting back another laugh. “Stop making me laugh. I’m mad at you.”
“No you’re not.”
“Yes I am.”
“No, you’re not.” His fingers skim my cheek as he tucks my hair behind my ear, and my breath catches. He tightens his hand, pulling my face closer to his.
“Reid…”
His other hand finds my waist.
“Reid, I don’t want to hurt you,” I murmur, careful of where I put my hands, how much weight I let press into him.
But he pulls me back in, his lips brushing mine as he whispers, “Hurt me.”
I already have.The only reason he’s even in this bed right now is me. I pull back, looking away before I see his reaction. “You should rest.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
He cups the side of my face, forcing me to meet his eyes, and beyond the haze in his, there’s a striking clarity fighting to reach the surface.
I sigh and lay my hand over his. “We can talk about it when you’re not high.”
“I’m not that high,” he slurs, and his lips twitch like he hears it too and is trying not to smile.
“The explosion tonight,” I say, folding a leg to sit beside him, “it was V. Apparently she was strong enough to control a vampire to make him kill the Vasilievs.”
He searches my face. “Why?”
“Shesaysit was so both you and Anya would be on the thrones now instead of your parents, and you two would have a better chance of negotiating without having to marry, but I doubt that’s all there was to it.”
“And the vampire she made kill them?”
I can’t help the scowl that takes over my face. “Nathan Van Doren.”
“Monroe’s partner?”
I nod and break the eye contact. I haven’t filled him in yet on what Nathan’s been up to either, but in part, it doesn’t feel like my story to share. “But the point is, even without a physical body on this side, she’s strong. Stronger than I realized. Stronger than maybe evensherealized. But if she didn’t know what she was capable of before, she’s figured it out now.”
My phone chimes in my pocket, and when I pull it out, the screen is unsurprisingly shattered. I can still make out the text waiting for me.
Connor:Can I come in? The guards won’t even let me knock.
I hurry toward the door, checking through the peephole before unlocking it. Connor stands on the other side, bloody and dirty but in one piece. My stomach drops. I’d been so focused on everyone else, I hadn’t even realized he’d been at the coronation.
Two Marionettes are stationed outside as an additional layer of protection for Reid, and they dip their chins to me as I open the door and usher Connor inside. In the meantime, it seems Reid has fallen asleep, his soft snores filling the room.
My chest pinches. Is there something wrong with his lungs? He never snores.
But then I take in the book tucked under Connor’s arm and the determined look on his face, and I wave him over to the chairs by the fireplace.
“Are you okay?” I ask. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming tonight?”
“I wasn’t planning on it.” He holds up the book. “But I was going through that memoir that Russian Marionette recommended, and I found something.”
