Page 61 of Crossing Between
"Kenji?" I murmured, already half asleep.
"Hmm?"
"Thank you. For being here. For the date. For everything."
I felt him press a kiss to the top of my head. "Always, Zoey. Always."
Chapter 36: Zoey
I woke with a start, momentarily disoriented by the empty space beside me where Kenji had been. Sunlight streamed through my bedroom window, casting warm patterns across my rumpled sheets. The events of yesterday flooded back; my brother's strange behavior, my magic's violent reaction to him, and the comfort I'd found in Kenji's arms.
My phone buzzed on the nightstand. A text from Varon.
Outside. Wear something comfortable. We have a lead.
I dressed quickly in neon yellow leggings and a bright blue crop top, my version of "comfortable." After splashing water on my face and pulling my hair into a messy bun, I grabbed my bag and headed out.
Parked at the curb was Varon's sleek, gleaming car that practically screamed money. Varon leaned against it, dressed in his usual dark attire, the morning sunlight somehow making him look even more striking.
"Morning," I called, trying to ignore the flutter in my chest at the sight of him. "Nice car as always. Compensating for something?"
His lips twitched. "Get in. Kenji and Elias are following up on another lead across town."
I slid into the passenger seat of the Bentley Bacalar, immediately sinking into buttery-soft leather. The interior smelled of Varon. As he pulled away from the curb, I found myself studying him. The firm set of his jaw, the way his hands gripped the steering wheel with controlled strength, and the occasional flash of fang when he concentrated on navigating a turn.
"So what's this lead?" I tore my gaze away from his profile.
"A teenage girl reported missing three days ago. Nothing supernatural on the surface, but her best friend mentioned seeing someone with 'fire for eyes' following her the day before she disappeared."
I suppressed a shiver. "The Essencefeaster."
"Possibly. It's thin, but it's all we have right now."
We drove in silence for a while, the city giving way to suburbs and then to more rural landscapes. I couldn't help comparing this Varon, the controlled, focused, dangerous man, to the one who had held me after my encounter with the Essencefeaster. The one who had looked at me with vulnerability beneath all that control.
"You're staring," he didn't take his eyes off the road.
I felt heat rise to my cheeks. "Just thinking."
"About?"
"How ridiculous this is," I gestured around the car's opulent interior. "Your flashy car, your broody silence. It's like you're trying to be a vampire cliché while simultaneously avoiding it."
That earned me one of those low, amused-but-dangerous chuckles that sent heat pooling in my belly.
"And what would you prefer? That I drive a sensible sedan and chat about the weather?"
"Maybe just be, well, you. Whoever that is underneath all this." I waved my hand vaguely in hisdirection.
His eyes flicked to me, dark and unreadable, before returning to the road. A charged pause followed, long enough for the silence to become heavy with unspoken things.
"I drank your blood," I blurted out, unable to bear the tension.
Varon's knuckles whitened on the steering wheel. "I remember."
"Would you... Would you want to drink mine again?" The question hung in the air between us, bold and dangerous.
Varon stiffened instantly, his eyes flicking toward me like he was assessing if I was serious. The car slowed slightly as his focus shifted.
