Page 69 of Blood and Hexes

Aftermath

Diana woke under a soft quilted blanket. She couldn’t remember how she got in bed at all. It took a moment to realize why she wasn’t home. The Helsing house had been burned to a crisp.

Which wasn’t nearly as sad as it sounded.

The white and brown room was tidy, and homey. Two walls were made of large wooden beams, a third was a floor-to-ceiling window, giving an incredible view of the woods, and beyond, the lake, still and quiet under a moonlit sky. The last wall was piled-up red stone, with a fireplace at its center. An open door led outside the house. But while she had never stepped a foot inside this place, she knew it was Mikar’s.

She sat up, grimacing down at herself. She was still in the white dress she’d had on yesterday, but it was so disgusting no one could have guessed the original color. At least her bloodstained boots had been removed. She spotted them on the floor.

She got up, following her senses down a flight of spiral wood stairs to a large living room.

Mikar was spread out on a red velvet sofa, watching TV. Somehow, this sight seemed entirely out of place. His place was in the middle of a battle, or in the shadows, watching over everyone. Not sprawled in front of a silly vampire flick.

And yet, she loved everything about it. If she could forever keep this moment, she’d frame it and stare at it every day.

A warrior at peace.

“How did we get here?”

“I walked,” he replied, grinning. “You were carried. You passed out while we were walking. I didn’t think it was possible for someone to just collapse like that.”

She glared at him. “Well, not all of us can be first generation vampires—blue blood and all.”

He paused his movie. “Are you thirsty?”

She hadn’t even noticed until he mentioned it, but now her empty stomach growled. “Parched. Hungry, too.”

“Thankfully, I keep a full pantry.” He moved to a mini fridge, and retrieved a bottle of plain, boring AB neg. It wasn’t Olla, but it’d do. “You want to take a shower while I make breakfast?” He tilted his head to the wide window. “Well, supper.”

“Are you saying I smell?” she challenged, just for the sake of it.

She was disgusting, and she knew it.

He chuckled low. “Oh, I’m not biting into that one. The bathroom’s upstairs, right next to the bedroom. I had Chloe bring you some clothes. They’re in there. You’re around the same size.”

Eager to shed the layer of grime on her skin, she opted to stop teasing him.

Showers were one of her favorite inventions, and Mikar’s double-headed, full-pressure glass shower contributed to making this one the very best she’d ever taken in her life. Although, given how filthy she felt, a boring old school-gym shower would have felt like a luxury.

As promised, there were freshly laundered jeans and a black turtleneck on the towel rack.

She returned to the bedroom to retrieve the boots she’d seen next to an oak dresser. They’d been cleaned, and someone had removed the weapons that had been attached to them.

That wouldn’t do at all. Diana wanted them back, stat.

There was something she wanted more, though.

She returned downstairs.

“This way.”

Following his voice to the kitchen, she sat at the breakfast bar, enjoying yet another portrait of peace. Mikar was flipping pancakes, stacking them on a plate with strawberries, chocolate sauce, and bacon. “Bacon and chocolate?”

He shrugged. “Eat it, or I will.”

She practically growled. “My bacon.”

Her stomach wholeheartedly agreed.

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