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“Gia’s waiting for you.”
I raised my eyes to see Zan in the doorway. “I told you that I’m staying in here tonight. I want to read these.”
A slight frown settled over his lips as he looked at the stack of papers in my hand. “You can do that later.”
“No, I’m doing it now.”
“I have to go downstairs.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Then go.” Turning my attention back to the papers, I could still feel his stare on me. With a sigh, I glanced back up. “What?”
“I don’t like it.”
“Like what?”
He hesitated, as if knowing I wasn’t going to like his answer. “You being up here when I’m not.”
I rolled my eyes. “You think I’m going to try to run?”
“No,” he said slowly. “I just don’t like when I’m not with you.”
“I’ve spent nearly this entire week with you, like you wanted. You can’t be with me every second of every day, Zan.”
“Try me.” The challenge in his voice had my heart skipping a beat, and his eyes gleamed dangerously as he stepped into the room. “And don’t try to act like you hate being in my presence, Kali.”
I shot him an overly sweet smile. “I’m trying to embrace being here, like I promised. But tonight, I’m staying in here. You’re welcome to stand there and watch me.”
“I can’t. I’ll be in one of the back rooms downstairs.”
I set the papers on my lap, curiosity getting the better of me. “Why?”
“I need to talk to my brothers without ears on us.”
A chill swept through me. “Kane business?”
“Yes.” He didn’t elaborate, and I didn’t expect him to. If it was about his father, he wouldn’t tell me. “I’ll be back later. If you’re still up, we can go to the beach.”
Fuck my stomach for fluttering. He knew I loved to watch the sunrise while sitting on the beach. He’d taken me almost every morning this week.
“Come downstairs if you need me,” he said before backing out of the room and disappearing down the hall.
I stared at the empty doorway, listening to his fading footsteps. The way my emotions had been thrown around this week had kept me in a constant state of confusion. I’d been on edge ever since Amaros was here. Especially knowing what he wanted from me. I wasn’t sure what to expect from Zan after learning all that. Would he do what his father wanted even after making his promise to me? Because of that, I was still trying to keep my distance from Zan.
Maybe not physically, since that was impossible. But emotionally? I refused to let myself pretend that whatever this was between us was normal. I wanted to take him at his word, but I couldn’t do it. Not when I was aware of what this necklace was meant for. Even if I did have feelings for Zan, I would never carry his child. Nothing he said or did would change my mind.
But he hadn’t brought it up all week. Or made a move to touch me. Some moments, I even caught myself waiting for him to do something. To kiss me. Or speak those dirty words that always had heat flowing through me. Each day, I found myself relaxing more and more around him. Sometimes, real life would seem so far away, especially when we were at the beach.
I blew out a breath and grabbed the papers again. I still wasn’t sure why Asami risked venturing out of Project Hope to give me these. Some of them I’d read before, but there were a few I’d never seen. Most of the articles were about what had happened leading up to the all-out war between humans and vampires.
My eyes fell to the next headline, and I got comfortable against the pillows again as I started reading.
Vampires Exist.
Two years after the mysterious deaths came to light, the world is in a state of shock. Governments from everywhere have acknowledged that vampires are real. Curfews are now in place for most civilians in an attempt to stop the attacks. There is still so much unknown, but since the deaths happen after sundown, the belief is that vampires can’t walk in the sun. Military members are being deployed to help local police where needed.
Here is a current list of the new rules:
All rules are in local time of where you reside.
