Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 99700 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 499(@200wpm)___ 399(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99700 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 499(@200wpm)___ 399(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
He didn’t want to get into a debate with her on the topic, though. “She also said she felt you were making a foolish choice based on a deadline and limited options.”
“Wow,” Pandora said with a huff. “That’s … really insulting.”
“To be clear, there is no earthly reason you should be short on suitors,” Elias said, watching her face for a moment. “Save for your aversion to dating your own kind.”
“Have you met most male vampires?” she asked, dipping her voice low. “Having centuries to let their egos inflate? Not my type.” She made her way out of the train and up the stairs.
The rain was starting to pelt down on them as they made their way toward Luna Bean.
She was glad to get inside, to walk into the break room to get away from Elias for a few moments as she hung up her jacket and fixed her wet hair.
Lucy came shuffling in through the side door a few minutes later.
“Girl, you can’t just leave me hanging. What did the hot vampire have to say?”
“Ask him yourself,” Pandora said, waving toward the near-empty café, save for Elias, who was standing at the counter perusing the options.
“Oh my God.” Lucy gasped, her mouth falling open. “You really didn’t do the guy any justice. Holy crap. He’s downright lickable.”
“I have no interest in licking him.”
“Not even a little bit?” Lucy asked, dubious.
“Not even.”
“Can I lick him, then?” Lucy asked.
“Knock yourself out,” Pandora said as they both moved behind the counter.
Pandora was about to ask Elias what he wanted, when she noticed him sniff the air then turn his keen grey eyes on Lucy.
“Smells a bit like wet dog in here, don’t you think?” he asked, making Pandora gasp as Lucy stiffened.
“Excuse me?” her friend said.
“No need to snarl,” Elias replied, only managing to both tick off and frazzle Lucy further.
“What is the matter with you?” Pandora asked, glaring at the vampire who had been an annoyance, but not overly offensive, just moments before.
“Nothing,” Elias said, tone still light. While Lucy was practically vibrating with rage beside Pandora. “Just surprised that this is a pet-friendly establishment, is all.” Pandora’s brows pinched at the light dancing in his eyes. Was he just teasing Lucy?
Lucy missed it, though, and Pandora watched her friend’s eyes flash yellow, knowing she was close to losing control.
As a whole, werewolves were able to control their impulses. Especially if they allowed themselves to run wild during the full moons, giving in to the beast inside completely for a few days.
But high emotions could trigger the transition if they weren’t careful.
“Easy there,” Elias said, lips twitching up as he looked at Lucy. “Your inner puppy is showing. Do you need a chew toy to calm down? Perhaps a game of fetch?”
Lucy wrestled with her wolf for another second before finally winning the battle, taking a deep breath and reaching out to grab the container of stir sticks.
“Wow, look, so many pointy wooden objects,” she said.
“OK. OK,” Pandora said, holding up a hand. “Can we get past all this vampire/werewolf nonsense? Aren’t we all more evolved than this?”
“Hey, it’s not my fault,” Lucy said, head tipped to the side, deceptively calm, “that he lives forever and this is the best personality he could muster. Talk about wasted potential.”
Elias clapped back, “At least my kind has evolved past marking their territory.”
“This is who your mother thinks is a better choice than Victor?” Lucy asked, looking at Pandora. “I’ve met corpses with more charm.”
“Is she always this grumpy or is she just hungry?” Elias asked. “I think I saw a fox across the street.” He waved out the window. “Go, fetch.”
Pandora spotted another twitch to his lips, convincing her that what she worried could be speciesist dislike was something a lot less antagonistic.
“Aw.” Lucy gave him a saccharine smile. “Such big talk for a glorified mosquito.”
“What is happening here?” Pandora asked, looking between the two of them, sensing an undercurrent of heat.
And, of course, it was right at that moment that Victor decided to come walking into the shop, shaking rain off of his jacket before freezing mid-stride when he saw Elias standing there.
“Hey!” Pandora immediately reached for a cup and pumped in some caramel syrup. “Just give me one second.” She rushed through the process of making his macchiato as Lucy and Elias mostly glared at each other.
“Can you get me my drink?” Elias asked her. “Or do you need to go wash your paws first?”
“We don’t have your preferred drink here,” Lucy said, as Victor watched the two of them with scrunched brows as he sat down at his usual table.
“A black coffee will suffice,” Elias said as Pandora hurried over to Victor just to get away from the two of them for a minute.
“What’s going on there?” Victor asked as she sat across from him.