Page 25 of Poison Sun

Maria glances between the two of them, not saying a word. There is, however, a warning in her gaze, as if she’s mentally projecting for them to stand down.

“Be sure to give them my regards.” Jax sneers, turns his back on us, and makes his way upstairs.

Autumn follows without bothering to glance behind.

“What was that about?” I ask when they’re gone.

Damien’s gaze follows Jax’s retreat before he answers. “Old rivalries,” he says simply. “Ones that aren’t my story to tell.”

“Understood.” I know when to back off, and this is one of those moments.

“I’ll see you tomorrow?” Maria asks.

“Yes. See you tomorrow,” Damien says, and then he opens the door and motions for me to leave first, as though I’m already his queen.

Amber

As I gaze around the cobblestone, tree-lined street, I’m reminded once more of the day I moved to the city. The hope I had back then. The trust I had in the universe that anything was possible.

The universe certainly delivered.

“You want to stop by your old building.” Damien’s words are a statement, not a question.

“I do.”

“I thought as much,” he says. “It’s why I gave us more time than necessary to get back to the Fairmont.”

“Oh.” I pause my walking. “That was… thoughtful.”

“I try,” he says, and he leads the way there, the two of us walking in tense, uncomfortable silence. “I was thinking we could stop by Sunneva’s as well,” he adds.

“I don’t have a key,” I tell him, and then I realize, “I don’t exactly carry around the key to my old place, either.”

He raises an eyebrow in amusement. “I’m a vampire with air magic who’s been alive for centuries. Do you think I don’t know how to pick a lock? Especially one that likely hasn’t been replaced in decades?”

“Fair point,” I concede, and eventually, we’re standing in front of the walk up building I once thought I was going to call home. I use the digital keypad outside the front door to enter—the only piece of modern technology that likely exists in the building—and we step into the sparse, narrow entrance hall that couldn’t be more different from the traditional grandness of the Guardian’s brownstone or the glittering luxury of the Fairmont’s lobby if it tried.

“Sunneva’s first,” I decide, since seeing my grandmother’s place will likely be the more emotional visit of the two.

We make our way up the steps, and I can’t help but note how easy the climb is now that I’ve been star touched and have been training for weeks. I wasn’t out of shape before, but I wouldn’t have been able to climb multiple flights of stairs with zero increase of my heartrate, either.

A glance over at Damien shows he’s unaffected as well. Which, obviously, makes sense.

It’s also impossible to miss the way he looks so mysterious and dangerous in the low lights of the staircase. Like someone not to be messed with.

“What?” he asks with a twinkle in his eyes.

“Nothing.” A slight bit of the tension from earlier unravels in my chest.

Maybe he’s already getting over the fact that I volunteered as bait for the downtown vampire attack plan. I doubt it, but anything’s possible.

We reach the top of the stairs, I walk to Sunneva’s front door, and knock.

I’m not expecting anything.

Still, I knock again.

Nothing happens.

---