Page 21 of A Whisper in the Dark

Nina smiles, but it’s far from friendly. The slight curve of her lips sends a shiver down my spine. “No problem. And we won’t have one as long as you don’t get involved with my brother. Anyone close to a Lavender tends to get killed, and Drew is too naive to look out for himself.”

My stomach somersaults at the insinuation, my cheeks flushing hotly, but before I can respond, she stops in front of a brick building. Every inch of it is painted black. There’s a small awning over the door—also black—and the windows on either side are tinted so outsiders can’t see in.

“Welcome to Rowan’s,” Nina says. A memory clicks from hours earlier, when I’d caught mention of the name. Apparently they’d been talking about a bar. “We come here after shifts because Ada doesn’t allow liquor at the house, so be careful not to piss off the bouncers.”

Nina glances past me and shouts to the others to hurry up before pulling the old wooden door open. Yards back, Drew appears deep in conversation with a pretty, silver-haired girl. The infamous Hannah, no doubt. A dark impulse steals over me—a thought that I could eavesdrop with no one the wiser. But that’s not who Gabriela raised me to be. Moving quickly, I step inside Rowan’s before the door closes.

A wave of noise hits me like a battering ram, and I squint while my eyes adjust to the dim room. Everything is exposed wood, including the floor, which feels sticky under my boots. My senses are overwhelmed with music blaring through speakers and a toxic mixture of alcohol, sweat, and body spray.

It’s hard to tell how big the space is with so many bodies dancing, drinking, laughing. From what I can tell, there aren’t any other vampires here, but there are several fairies and shapeshifters. One blue-skinned female is showing off in a booth—her power manifests in dancing wisps of blue and pink, as if her hands are spinning cotton candy from the very air.

The noise and movement is almost overwhelming as I hurry after Nina, who’s charging toward a table in a corner. She stumbles once when a green-haired girl shoves her in trying to get to the bar, but Drew’s sister just shoves her back and keeps moving. I arrive at the table a moment later. Nina says nothing to me. With a sharp gaze scanning the room, she slips off her glitter-encrusted jacket and hangs it on the back of her chair.

Feeling out of place in my NEW VE UNIVERSITY sweatshirt, I pull it off—along with the long-sleeved shirt—and drape it over the chair beside hers. Underneath, I’m wearing the silky, lace-trimmed top I’d worn to bed the night of my Awakening. Hopefully it’s only obvious to me that it’s part of a pajama set. I’m just sitting down as Drew approaches our table. I catch his gaze flick down the length of me, taking note of the tank top.

“Thirsty?” he shouts over the music.

Why, are you offering?I almost ask, eyeing the vein at his throat.

Jesus, where the hell did that come from? Seeing him with Hannah must’ve chipped away at whatever calm I’ve managed to achieve. It doesn’t matter that I’ve only known this human less than a day—it’s a vampire’s nature to hoard, possess, consume.

Fighting the instincts clawing at me, I push my tongue against my gums and run it over my canines, and wince inwardly. Damn. I should feed again soon.Noton Drew.

“Charlie?” he says, close to my ear this time, as though he’s worried I didn’t hear him before.

Holy shit, he smells good. Like blood and boy and eucalyptus-scented deodorant. Smiling tightly, I nod at him. “Thanks. Whatever they have on tap is fine.”

Drew leans close so he doesn’t have to shout. “Do you have a blood preference?”

The question makes me feel warm. “They serve blood here?” I ask, faintly surprised. Who knew Oldbel was so accommodating toward vampirekind? When Drew nods, I give him my usual order. “Half O-positive and half A-positive, please.”

He winks. “Coming right up!”

He disappears into the crowd. I peek over at Nina, anxious that she’s going to be glaring, as if she can hear my thoughts about the brother she just warned me away from, but she’s still scanning the crowd.

Drew comes back with the drinks a few minutes later—he ordered me a cocktail instead of a beer, apparently—and plops down into the seat beside mine. Some liquid sloshes onto the table. Blood, I recognize a second later, when the smell greets my senses. My mouth waters. I try not to appear too eager as I take a sip from the glass, and the familiar taste of blood explodes on my tongue.

“What do you think?” Drew asks, gesturing at the room around us.

It takes every shred of self-control I have left not to down the rest of the cocktail. Clearing my throat to buy time, I cross my legs and swirl the drink around, listening to the ice cubes clink against the sides of the glass. “It’s a little more… rustic than I’m used to, but I like it.”

“You’re too serious, Charlie. The discovery that everything is shit is the most important revelation of all time. Now, you’re free.” As Drew finishes speaking, a tall human approaches our table. Drew turns to him, flashing his unstoppable grin, and shouts a greeting. They shake hands before the redhead’s eyes shift to me. “Oh, shit. Yeah. Simon, this is Charlie.”

Simon extends his hand, something straightforward in his manner, and I don’t hesitate to shake it. “What are you doing on this side of town?” Drew asks, drawing Simon’s attention back to him.

He groans, tugging at the collar of his white dress shirt. “Saffron has been bitching at me to bring her here for months. Figured her birthday was finally a good time to do it.”

Drew laughs. “Probably. Tell Saff I said happy birthday.”

“Will do. I better grab our drinks and get back.”

“Catch you later, man.” Drew turns back to me and starts talking about how he met Simon and Saff. I have some trouble listening, because once again, I find myself admiring him. Getting caught up in how the dangling light over our heads casts down on his features. The more time I spend with this human, the more comfortable with him I get. He has the kind of charismatic personality that can make anyone feel as if they’ve always known him.

I realize that Drew has stopped talking. I blink at him and scramble for something to say. “He seems nice.”

“Yeah, Simon is cool.” He leans back, casually draping his arm along the back of my chair. It brushes against me. “You know, there’s a TV at the boardinghouse—we could watch a movie on Sunday. That’s our day off, in case no one thought to tell you.”

“Sure,” I answer, feeling warm again. “I’d like that.”

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