Page 30 of Goldsin

There’s no other explanation for that goddamn bloodstain.

I know she killed him.

What I want to know is, why? Why did she kill DeMarco? What is their connection? What other secrets is she keeping from me? And how far will she go to protect those secrets?

If she’s really behind DeMarco’s death, I need to find out why she killed him before Adrian or the Inferno Consortium catch wind, otherwise there won’t be anything left of her.

Whatever pushed her to kill DeMarco had better be worth it. Because she’s five steps to hell. The devil’s right behind her.

And like fuck will I let her go through this alone.

“I hate you, Julian Harrow.”

“That’s too much of a compliment even for you, golden one.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

AURELIA

Where the hell is he?

I pace the perimeter of the living room, glancing at the clock for what feels like the hundredth time. The hands seem to mock me, ticking away. Each second is another testimony of how truly distant we’ve become.

He lied to me.

An hour. Sixty agonizing minutes have passed since 8 p.m., the time Julian was supposed to pick me up for Victoria’s party. Impatience bubbles inside of me. The silence of his absence echoes in my ears.

Where is he!

I adjust the belt of my brown trench coat, pulling it tighter around me as if it will somehow distract me from the ever-growing anticipation. When I look at myself in the mirror, frustration stares back. It’s etched in every line of my face. I fiddle with an invisible strand of hair peeking from the high ponytail, pursing my red lipstogether in a futile attempt at smoothing out any smudged lines.

But nothing I do will make the detrimental realization that he isn’t coming disappear.

“Damn him,” I mutter under my breath.

Exasperated, I plop down onto the couch. I feel defeated. This is not how tonight was supposed to go.

His absence feels like a slap in the face, a wake-up call that I shouldn’t trust the boy who pushed me into this abyss of solitude in the first place.

It stings, this form of betrayal. But beneath it, there’s an unexpected sense of ... relief. Because with Julian out of the picture, tonight has become an easier opportunity for me.

Well-fucking-played, asshole. You just turned tonight into a very enticing, unmissable event.

Standing, I pick up my phone, its screen lighting up as I scroll through the list of names. My thumb pauses briefly over Valentine. He probably knows where Victoria’s cabin is located. But calling him will mean having him tag along, and the thought of having his gruff voice dictate how I should go through with the plan is not something I’m in the mood for.

I should have gotten my driver’s license with Eleanora the moment I turned sixteen.

But of course, I didn’t see any use for it until now. Why drive if you have people to drive you all the time? Adrian always drove me places.

My gaze falls to the “VV” contact.

After I broke up with him, Eleanora begged me to change Adrian’s name to “VV”—short for “vapidvampire.” That’s what she’s been calling him since the very first day we started dating. She says he’s dull and draining, and after my second martini I didn’t have the strength to snatch my phone out of her grasp as she typed out his new contact name.

I don’t know why I haven’t changed it yet. Anyway, vampires are cute.

A sense of familiarity washes over me as I stare down at his number. He was there for me when Julian wasn’t. If anyone knows where Victoria’s cabin is, it’ll be him.

Taking a deep breath, I dial his number and wait.

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