Page 16 of House of Royals

I nod and turn to Rath.

“I’m putting a lot of trust in you,” I say. My eyes are begging for him to say I can stay, to take everything from the past twenty-four hours back. Somehow I feel like he should have that power. Even though that’s stupid.

“I know,” he says. And to my surprise, he wraps his arms around me in a brief hug. “This is for the best.”

When I let go of him, I don’t meet his eyes. I turn for the door, open it, and walk straight out.

Ian’s van is one of those utility kinds with no windows in the back. It’s black and covered in mud and grime. I’d wager it’s got traces of blood on it somewhere—likely some of my own.

I open the passenger door and climb in.

Ian throws my bag into the back where, only last night, I had lain bloody and muddy and climbs into the driver’s seat. Without a word, he turns around and starts down the drive.

When we pop out onto the main road, we take a left instead of a right into town. Ian slips out his phone and dials someone.

“Hey, Phil, it’s Ian,” he says as he takes a right and we’re heading south. “Yeah, I’m not feeling so hot today so I’m going to need someone to cover my shift tonight. Yeah, I know this is the second time this month, but what can I say? You get around a lot of sickness, you tend to get sick. Yeah. Gotcha. ‘K, thanks.”

He hangs up and slides the phone back into his pocket.

“You have a job outside of vampire hunting?” I ask skeptically.

“Of course I have a job,” he says, giving me an offended look. “You think it pays the bills to keep vamps off the streets of Silent Bend? I gotta’ eat, just like all the other ignorant people.”

“Sorry,” I say, holding my hands up in surrender. “It’s just…mundane, hearing that someone like you has a job. What do you do?”

“I’m an EMT,” he says as he looks out the front window. The trees get thicker and heavier around the road. I have the feeling we’re not too far from the swamps I so pleasantly got to visit last night.

“Also surprising,” I say with a nod. “Though I have to say, knowing you’re tangled up with vampires kind of makes me wonder if you’re some kind of supplier of blood to them.”

Ian cuts me an ice-cold look. “I’d never.”

“Sorry,” I immediately apologize. It’s going to take me some time to learn my boundaries with Ian Ward.

He doesn’t say anything else as we continue our drive.

I was right. This seems like swampland, and I’m sure that at any minute, we’ll be sloshing through water and have alligators jump out at us from the stagnant swamps.

But we stay on the road and turn off onto an even scarier-looking one.

The trees with endless amounts of moss hanging from them threaten to swallow us for a minute, almost totally blocking out the sun. But suddenly, we break out into a clearing. No swamp, just well-trimmed grass and a little yellow house with flower gardens out front.

It’s picturesque.

“This is your house?” I ask in shock.

“It’s my grandmother’s house,” Ian says as he continues on the little dirt road stretching to the side of it. We continue on for a while longer, back into more trees, and stop in front of what looks like a tiny cabin or a shed. It’s rustic, and looks like it’s been put together in stages, but it has a certain manly charm to it. “This is my house.”

Ian turns off the engine and climbs out. He grabs my bag from the back as I climb out and marvel at the complex beauty around me.

Massive trees dot the landscape here and there, blocking out the sun with their giant leaves. Spanish moss hangs long and thick from the branches. Undergrowth hides unknown trails. The sun trickles through to dot the tin roof of Ian’s house. I look back at the yellow house. It’s so charming and bathed in sunlight. Like something out of a fairytale.

The two houses are polar opposites.

“Alivia?” Ian calls from his front porch. “You coming?”

“Yeah,” I say quietly. I turn and follow him inside.

The walls are all wood and everything looks used or salvaged. I’d honestly be kind of shocked if Ian didn’t build this place with his own hands. A small living room with a worn-out couch and a rocking chair occupy the right side of the space. To the left is a small simple kitchen. Straight ahead I can see into a bedroom and there’s a bathroom.

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