Page 43 of Hound

LORENZO DEVON

Ringing echoed on the other side of the phone, tension stiffening my fingers when the same voicemail responded.

“You have reached Lace Fernandez. Sorry if I missed your call! Nothing personal—duty calls first. Please leave your name and number and I will respond as promptly as?—”

“Fuck, Lace. Please pick up.”

Fury raced through my bloodstream, unraveling something new, something crushing and engulfing that blurred my sight in waves. It fueled the urge to scream but kept my tongue frozen. It burned. It ached. And worst of all, it repeated Nina’s words.

“All you do is follow Lace like a lost puppy in hopes he’ll praise you.”

Small cracks pierced through the air as I squeezed my phone, glass pricking my skin. The phone didn’t light up anymore. And it was going to stay that way with how the piece of metal crumpled into itself like a piece of paper.

Shit. There goes my way of talking to Lace before I see him.

My jaw clenched, teeth clamping until my gums ached. I swallowed the frustrated groan that edged a scream.

“In hopes he’d give a shit about you like you do tohim!”

My cousin’s voice boomed against my ears. She wasn’t in the training room with me like that day. Instead, it was just me, alone in front of mirror panels reflecting my frustrations. The room shrunk with every memory.

The way her face had twisted with a mixture of disappointment and anger. How her eyebrows furrowed and her lips thinned. The way her glossy eyes shook as if she was in pain. How she stormed away after I tried to reach out and fix. . .whatever I could.

“Don’t talk to me!”

Nina had every right to be angry about Laces' decision with this new training and weaponry trial. The CEG took us in, but it was me who convinced her to become a guardian after Lace had taken me under his wing. He’d opened the doors and let us become who we were now. But the only way she had accepted it—accepted stepping up as a guardian—was through the CEG’s oath to protect with body and heart.

She knew the realities of the world before we were exposed to it. Humans and vampires alike saw guardians as pests. But I knew they feared the new and unknown. Like half-humans. Like me. Like her.

Was it wrong for me to hold off for so long? She was never going to like it. That’s why I had a plan in place; tell her in six days, right before I was scheduled to leave. But why didn’t I wait? Lace was fine with my decision. As long as I told her what was going on. I stood firm on Lace’s vision even if it went against his old ways. People’s visions change. It was natural for Lace ‘cause he was next up in line for the CEG inheritance. Even me. Possibly hers, too, with time.

But no. That wasn’t the case, was it?

“I, Christopher Sephtis, accept the marriage proposal, and will marry Anabella Ambrogio.”

Christopher’s voice. Those fucking words.

For two weeks, I spent day in and out trying to bury them. Force them out anyway possible. Runs. More training sessions. Chores when I had none. Picking up rounds away from the stupid mansion after Nina’s incident. But they stuck like glue. No matter how much I tried, they continued, replaying like a broken record.

Nina had a bad habit of stumbling on me whenever I was pissed. ButIhad the worst habit of taking it out onherby reacting on impulse.

This wasn’t the first fucking time. But it needed to be the last.

Trekking out of the employee quarters, through the underground tunnel, and into the mansion, it took every piece of me to focus on the target at hand—even if Christopher’s crisp scent called to me.

I shook my head.No. Don’t you fucking dare.

I turned to the left hallway on the second floor, darkness coating every inch as if windows didn’t exist. These fucking vampires and their love for the dark. No wonder Christopher wore glasses even if he said he didn’t need them. He?—

Stop. Thinking. About. Him.

Nina’s door was the first one, yet I didn’t move. She’d be more pissed if I barged in. She never liked it back in the CEG, even though she used to do it to me all the time.

The least I could do is be on my best behavior.

I knocked lightly against the wooden surface. On the third one my hand missed the door as it creaked.

The door was open.

---