Page 37 of Midnight Queen

Gently clutching her shoulder, I say, “I’m glad. You have to take care of yourself too, Della. Duke wouldn’t want you to be miserable.”

She releases a long sigh, “I just really hope the doctor’s plan works and he wakes up tomorrow.”

“He will,” is my immediate answer.

Della pats my face softly before she turns to walk toward Duke’s room. Before she can get too far, I reach out for her arm and stop her. “Rory is in there right now with him.”

Della’s eyes narrow and she frowns at the closed door. “Why on earth is she in there? She isn't supposed to be.”

“It’s okay,” I quickly assure her. “She’s here for Duke and right now, he needs all his people supporting him.”

“She’snot his people;we’rehis people.” Della looks like a true mama bear about to go protect her cub. It’s honestly a really endearing sight.

When she tries to charge toward his room, I pull her back. “Della, just let her be there for him. She isn’t going to cause him any harm.”

Debating this for a second, she finally relaxes, and I release her arm.

“Fine, but I don’t know what I’m going to talk to her about. We don’t have any common ground—have you seen her tattoos? And that hair color?”

“Well shit, Della, I didn’t think you were so uptight.” Lorcan gives her a disapproving look, and I have to swallow a laugh because he does such a good job at mimicking the expression she constantly wears. “We don’t talk about your sweater sets and sensible footwear when we sure as hell could. And I have a lot of opinions.”

Della’s lips pull back in a sneer, but before she can get into a verbal match she’s sure to lose, I step between the pair. “Dukeis your common ground. Go talk about Duke.” As an afterthought, I add lowly to ensure no one overhears, “And talk about Silas. Try and convince her that all vampires aren’t deranged or evil.”

Rory was clearly an asset to Silas and his company. I feel bad that he sacrificed that relationship to save me, but I think with a little nudging, we can get Rory back on his side.

“Well, that won't be easy, considering she methim.” Della gestures flippantly at Lorcan.

“I’ll have you know, Rory and I had a wonderful time together.”

Like a referee, I lift my hands and separate the two of them. “Okay you two, that’s enough.” Ignoring the vampire, I look at Della. “I would expect this from him, but come on, Della. Not you too?”

With one last scowl at Lor, Della walks down the hallway and disappears into Duke’s room. The blond vampire has a dumb grin on his face the entire time he watches her leave.

“Had I known Silas surrounded himself with such entertaining people, I would have come here sooner,” Lorcan announces, turning back to me. “I thought he was too uptight.”

“That’s how he wants to appear in the public eye, and I think we all learned this week why.” I step into the elevator that’s thankfully empty. “Someone is always watching, waiting for him to show any weakness so they can destroy him with it. Keep that in mind the next time you call him uptight, Lorcan. You’re only seeing one side of him.”

He follows me inside and the doors close behind him. “I’ll have to take your word for it.” The ding of the elevator fills the momentary silence as we drop three floors. “Are you ready to go back to the house? I bet he’ll be home soon.”

I stare at my distorted reflection in the chrome doors and think about how Silas will look at me when I get home. My stomach sinking at the thought makes the decision for me. “No, there’s one more place I want to go.”

For just a little while longer, I want a break from that house and that worried expression on his face.

The familiar musicand smell of the club washes over me at the same time Lorcan grumbles, “I think you’re trying to sign my death warrant, Quincey. Silas is going to be irate when he learns I brought you here.”

“I think he’d be more upset if you let me come here alone.” I momentarily forget he’s a vampire with superhuman hearing and raise my voice over the thundering bass. When he winces and jerks back, I figure out my mistake. “Which is still an option. You’re more than welcome to march your happy Irish ass out those doors,” I offer him, even though I know he won't leave.

Lorcan talks a big game, but I’m learning quickly that he’s more duty bound than he likes to appear. He told Silas he would watch over me and that’s exactly what he’s going to do. Even if that means I demand he take me to the nightclub I used to work with Lucy at.

It’s Saturday night and packed. I know she’ll be here. She wouldn’t be willing to miss out on the kind of tips that can be made tonight.

It’s been too long since I saw Lucy. The last time I was face-to-face with her is when she helped me pack up my small number of belongings from her apartment.

After the week I’ve had, I really need to see my friend.

The good babysitter he is, Lorcan sticks close as I weave through the bodies so I can get to the black and gold bar across the room. It’s close to midnight and the partygoers are all in different stages of drunkenness. Some look like they’re barely staying on their feet, and a little green around the gills. Others look like they’re having the time of their lives, the excitement of the city working its magic on them. I find myself jealous of their carefree attitudes.

I don’t wish to go back to how things were before when I still believed monsters were just from my drunk mother’s imagination, and I will never regret meeting Silas, but just for a moment, it would be nice to walk away and be blissfully unaware of the dangerous world I’ve found myself in.

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