Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 87185 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87185 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
“You guys should just stay,” Antonio tells Ryder and Christine as he heads out of the room. “It’s late. Or early, depending on how you look at it.”
“Good idea,” Ryder says and gets up. Christine moves slowly, looking half asleep. Same, girl. Xavier helps me to my feet and then we go into my old bedroom. It’s been completely transformed, and there are two twin beds in here now instead of my old double. Not a single one of my left behind possessions can be found, and the photographs I had printed and framed are off the walls. They were just photos of nature—the same ones I had posted on Instagram—yet I suppose seeing them reminded everyone of me.
I change into PJs and crawl into bed, eyes heavy. We draped blankets and curtains over most of the windows, but the house isn’t fully accessible to vampires during the day. Xavier had to walk through a few streams of muted light just to get here with me.
“I love you,” I tell him as I settle into his arms.
“And I love you,” he whispers back, kissing the top of my head. My eyes fall shut and exhaustion takes over, lulling me to sleep. I only make it a few minutes before I wake up, sucking in a breath and wincing from pain radiating up my right arm.
Xavier sits up and I extend my hand. By the look on his face, there’s no denying it or telling myself that maybe I’m dreaming, because he sees it too: a red line going from the center of my palm right up my arm. It burns as it travels up, not stopping until it hits me in the chest.
Chapter
Thirty-Five
Ilook at my right arm, running a finger up the inside of my forearm. The red line is gone, and right now, there’s not even a little red dot on my palm.
“Are you all right?” Mabel asks, sitting on the couch next to me. It’s early in the afternoon, and we’re waiting for the sun to go down so we can all go home. The irony isn’t lost on me that this place I lived in for so long doesn’t feel like home anymore. Instead, the place I was forced to go is where I feel the most welcome. It surprises me how homesick I am for the house in Charlotte.
We were able to make a decent portion of this compound lightproof. The large dining room doesn’t have any windows, so we’ve been hanging out in there a lot, going over our plans, trying to find any sort of flaw to fix.
“Yeah,” I tell Mabel. “I’m fine.”
She hands me my phone. “You have a couple missed texts from Delphi.”
“Oh,” I say, unlocking it. There’s one long message and several shorter ones.
Delphi: went out with that guy last night and had the best time but then when I came home I noticed his Instagram follower count went up by two and they are also doctors. What if he’s only dating me because I’m a doctor and not because he actually likes me? Do you think he’s just doing this to try to show his ex-wife he doesn’t regret her?
Delphi: dammit I looked at the ex-wife. She just won an award for one of her paintings. I also watched a video of her riding her new horse and she’s really good.
Delphi: he hasn’t texted me yet so I think I’m just gonna block him and tell him to fuck off. But I haven’t heard from you all day either… Are you alive? Like legitimately are you alive? If you are, can you curse this asshole for ghosting me?
Delphi: he just texted never mind
I chuckle and text her back, letting her know I’m okay and I’ll call her when I can.
Mabel, Devon, and I play several rounds of Uno, trying to kill time. I get up to use the bathroom and stop by the kitchen on my way back. This room has too many windows to cover up, which means the vampires have no reason to be in here—not that they really would anyway, since they don’t eat.
It’s stormy today, and the lack of bright sunlight makes the whole house feel gray and dull. I pour myself another cup of coffee and sit at the small kitchen table. Sheer curtains flutter in the breeze from the cracked windows behind me. Thunder rumbles in the distance, and I lean back, closing my eyes as I take a sip.
“Hey, sis,” Leo says, coming into the kitchen. He pours the rest of the coffee into a mug and sits next to me. Ryder and Antonio follow a few seconds later, heading straight for the fridge.
“Where’s Christine?” I ask.
“She left early this morning,” Ryder tells me. “Jet lag has nothing on hunters who have to stay up at all hours,” he adds, trying to joke.