Page 45 of Loving A Vampire Is Total Chaos

Interesting. I discreetly inhale to scent the blood and keep the memory of it locked down for future investigation. It is odd there’s no other sign of injury with how much was wrecked save for this one spot.

“I’ll have the boys take a sample for the lab. Very odd indeed.” The captain rubs his bald head and walks back out to the living room.

I speed over to the closet and hide behind the door before he can catch me eavesdropping. Once he’s out of the room I walk over to Celine.

“We’ll get to the bottom of this, I swear.” Inching closer I slowly wrap an arm around her shoulders, and she leans into me. Midnight must be anti-hug sandwich because he yowls and hops out of her arms. Without the cat between us it allows me to fully hug my mate. Her hair tickles my nose, and I nuzzle into it.

Celine sighs and tears soak into my shirt.

“You don’t have to be strong all the time.” She silently sobs harder. “I’ll be strong for both of us right now. Let it out.” I back us into her bathroom and sit us down on top of the toilet lid under the guise of privacy. Officers and detectives still mill about but they keep a wide berth between us understanding the situation.

It seems like a lot of cops for a break-in, but my guess is they realized it was Celine’s address and more of the force came out than necessary. It’s nice to know her team has her back.

After a few minutes of letting herself feel all the emotions she sniffles, and I dry her remaining tears with a tissue.

“Celine?” Captain Potato Chip calls out from around the corner, and I can see him rubbing his neck awkwardly while interrupting our moment.

“Yeah, Captain?” She gives a last swipe to her face, and I see the moment where she puts her mask back on.

“We’re going to head out. The investigation will continue, and we’ll look at cameras of the surrounding area to try and nail this guy. I don’t know why he targeted you specifically, but it seems you’re the only apartment that was broken into. Anyone come to mind that could’ve done this?” He holds a pen at the ready above his notepad.

“Uh, I don’t know. You know how it is with this line of work, there are a lot of people that could have it out for me Isuppose.” Her brow wrinkles and I want to smooth the delicate skin out. “Nobody specific comes to mind but you never know.” She shrugs and the captain takes a few notes.

“All right, Detective. I’m sorry this happened, and we’ll do our best to catch the culprit. For now, do you have somewhere else you can stay?” He shifts his weight to one booted foot and tucks his notepad into the breast pocket of his vest. “The lock on the door is busted and even if it wasn’t I don’t feel comfortable with you staying here after everything that’s happened.”

A flash of surprise crosses Celine’s face like she hadn’t even considered the fact she couldn’t stay here right now. It goes to show how flustered she is.

“Yeah, I can call A—" She starts but I promptly interrupt her.

“Me. She’ll stay with me.” I flash my perfectly white teeth and the shocked expression on both of their faces is comical.

“You?” They ask in tandem.

“Me.” I smirk.

“Don’t you live right next door? Does that make much sense when the apartment one door down got broken into?” The captain scowls.

“First off, I resent the fact you think I can’t protect her.” Celine rolls her eyes at my comment, but I continue. “Second, it’s kind of perfect, isn’t it? I doubt they think she’ll stay this close to the scene of the crime and if they come back, we can catch them red handed. Third, how dare you? I’m perfectly capable of watching out for Celine.” His comment hits a nerve, and I can’t help but defend myself.

“Celine.” Captain Corn Chip gives an exasperated sigh her way. “It’s up to you. No matter what you decide we can post officers on watch just in case.”

Celine rolls her lip between her teeth and by the determined set of her eyes I know she’s going to agree with me.

“It’s fine. I’ll stay with Zavier.”

“I swear I’ll keep you safe, Celine. The captain here will get to the bottom of this I know it.” I nuzzle into her, and she stands there stiff as a board, which I don’t like. She was loosening up to me on our date, but this break-in has shut her down.

“Right.” He eyes us warily. “Take the next few days off, Brennan.”

“Captain—” Celine starts to argue but closes her mouth when he holds up a hand.

“Having someone break into their home would shake anyone. You haven’t had time to process, and I want you to take time off. Okay?” He pleads with her, and I give her a reassuring stroke down her back. “Nobody will think less of you, and we have everything handled.”

Celine nods reluctantly, and I dance a little on the inside at the thought of extra alone time with her.

The squad slowly makes their way out of her apartment and close the door best they can with the busted lock. They leave caution tape for us to put up once we’re done escorting Midnight and some of Celine’s things over to my apartment. It doesn’t take more than two trips.

“Got everything?” I snag Midnight and flip him over in my arms like a baby. She watches expectantly like the cat will shred my skin for attempting such a thing, but he purrs contentedly.

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