Page 117 of Heart of Dawn
Damn me for missing most of it, for leaving my mate to get the replica into that lab to make the final blow.
“West Street,” Paige said, reading out the street sign beside the roundabout.
“What about this place?” Trev asked, pointing to a brick building. “Shall we crash here?”
A block of flats, three stories high. Some of them with balconies.
“Yeah. Let’s do it.” We really needed to rest up and get out of this poxy rain.
“Our forced shift’s coming, sir,” James said. “It’s October tomorrow.”
“Shit. Forgot about that.”
For the first midnight of every month, werewolves had to shift to let their beasts run free. What perfect timing. I finally get to spend some time with Ori, but then came these conditions like we were in fuckingCinderella.
Just call me the pumpkin coach.
“I will shift with you,” Andrew said.
“Weredolphins do it on the seventh midnight of the month,” Malorie added, her arm linked with her son’s.
We’d have to find them a body of water as soon as possible.
Before we could get settled in, we had to clear the bodies from the building first. Fortunately, there weren’t too many to move. We piled them up in the carpark with the intention of either burying or burning them later. There’d be a lot ofthatin these coming weeks, seeing as every corpse was truly dead now.
Job done, we spread out to find food and water, gathering plenty of stale biscuits, more of those long-life croissants we used to eat in Haven, and several boxes of flat sparkling water.
With water on his mind, James took Arlo and Andrew to the roof, the three of them armed with buckets. They soon got us enough rainwater to clean up with.
Bliss.
Next up, we all found some suitable clothes—a pair of shorts, boots, and a jumper for me.
Supplies in hand, we split up, settling into the flats, the buildings filed with the sounds of our yawns and weary energy.
Ori and I took a flat on the top floor with a balcony. The walls were either blue or green, depending on the room, and the open-plan living room/kitchen boasted a massive corner sofa. Too big for this space really, but nice and soft.
And dusty.
The master bedroom was better, the king-sized bed filling most of the room. The previous occupants seemed to enjoy oversized furniture. There was just enough room for a dresser, empty perfume bottles scattered across the top.
I picked up a pretty one shaped like a star. I collected them, carrying on my mum’s tradition.
“She’d like this one,” I said softly.
Ori dumped his supplies on the floral bedspread, wrapping himself around me. “Are you alright?”
I reveled in his hold, putting the bottle down. “Yeah.”
He kissed the back of my neck. “Kind of a ridiculous question, isn’t it?”
I placed my hands over his arms. “Not coming from you.”
“Too sweet.”
I turned, holding him by his waist. I pressed my forehead to his. “Feel like I’m in a dream.”
“I know.”
