Page 18 of The Curse of Eternity
“It does not… I simply did not wish for you to be hungry.” His gaze flickered to my stomach before glancing away, like he hadn’t meant to look. Just then, my gut decided to betray me with another long rumble. Face burning, I covered my abdomen.
“Oh…” All of the fight went out of me, and I looked down at the menu to hide whatever feelings crossed my face. “I guess I’ll take the Macho Nachos, then—thank you.”Damn my manners.
“I will be but a moment,” Drake said quietly, and then moved away without a sound.
I awkwardly shifted in my seat while watching him head to the bar to place the order. Again, he stopped several times when a person here or there pulled him aside to chat. Something about his posture, his expression, troubled me. The more I watched, the better I understood why.
Even when his conversation partner laughed, guffawing at whatever joke or tale either they or Drake told, the same couldn’t be said of him. His smile was always polite, content to be there, but missing the general ease everyone else possessed. Maybe because they were inebriated, and vampires couldn’t get drunk—as far as I knew, their bodies healed too quickly to stay intoxicated.
Several minutes later, which felt like none at all, he returned carrying a glass of water and basket of nachos in one hand. In his other rested a glass of red wine, reminding me of the very thing he’d offered me that night in his house. He set the food and beverage before me, and I quickly sipped at the water to keep from scarfing down the chips on sight.
Having watched him the entire time, I didn’t have to worry about my drink being poisoned. While I picked up a chip, and crunched through several more after that, Drake delicately sipped his wine. Almost like he’d bought it for the sake of it, instead of actual want.
Once I swallowed, I asked, “How come you know everyone here?”
“I come here very frequently,” he admitted, and his slight smirk implied it was both an embarrassing secret and a casual fact. “On my way home most nights, I pass down Richmond Drive. Hence our meeting.”
“Does the pub usually stay open past midnight?” I asked, trying for sleuth, but Drake smiled. Clearly, he saw right through my attempt to poke holes in his story.
“No, I had lingered for longer than usual to enjoy a smoke or twelve with a few regulars.”
“Youarea smoker. I knew it,” I said, proud that I’d at least inferredsomethingcorrect about him. Although his car’s overflowing ashtray was a dead giveaway.
“Indeed,” he remarked, almost holding back another smile before his expression turned somber. “I overheard the commotion in the warehouse, and smelled the decay of—” He glanced over the room, not to be overheard, and leaned closer an inch. “Mykind. You may ask anyone here tonight to corroborate. Many can testify to my whereabouts prior to our original meeting. I never had any association with that ‘colony.’”
“I believe you,” I admitted, surprising myself just as much as him given the way his mouth hung open a moment longer. As his lips pressed together, his throat bobbed on a swallow.Shit, should I have said that? Even if it was the truth…
“Thank you,” he said, his voice full of unexpected gratitude.
“Don’t mention it,” I mumbled, and took a swig of my water to avoid saying anything else. Drake’s gaze trailed my movement, focusing on my half-empty glass.
“I would happily purchase a more expensive beverage for you. A cocktail, or a mixer?” He smiled, bewildering me when the gesture softened his dark eyes. “I feel like celebrating.”
“I—uh, I don’t drink anymore,” I said, warming at my core for reasons I wouldn’t acknowledge. “My, um, program frowns on it.” Suddenly, he looked from me to his wine glass. Damn it, I shouldn’t have mentioned that.
“Should I return this? I will not be long—”
“No—” I reached out to stop him when he started to move away. My fingers brushed over his knuckles, and he haltedimmediately. The contact sent a shock down my hand, through my wrist and up my arm as I flinched back. “I’m way past that stuff now, anyway. None of my family will let me live it down, but I’ll be damned if I make anyone return their drink for me.” My confession left me breathless, struggling to shove down the vulnerability that had bubbled up out of nowhere.
At least Drake sat down again, opposite me but strangely too close after what just happened—or maybe too far.
“They seem to care about you greatly. Your family, that is.”
“How do you know?” My skepticism faded as he cleared his throat, and it clicked. “Wait, were you watching us after you dropped me off?”
“It seemed ill-advised to leave a young woman all alone on the desolate streets.” Drake shrugged. “When the woman with the large knife appeared, I feared I had placed you in some peril before your familiarity became obvious.”
“Laura.Theyare Elias’s middle child.”Wait, he’d have no idea who Elias Tsosie was.So used to being around people who already knew everyone else in my life, I changed tracks. “I met up with my cousin Olivia and my dad after that. UnlikeAndrew.” I rolled my eyes. “Who—even though it washis fault I was wandering those abandoned halls—went ahead with the burning party…” I cut myself off to gauge his reaction.
My silence must have been obvious, because Drake’s easy smile turned strained, like he knew exactly what I’d been referring to.
“If you fear for my disapproval, I assure you that the disposing of murderers does not concern me.” His tone was bitter, uncharacteristic from what little I knew of him. Except his ire didn’t seem to be directed at me, or my family of hunters, but at the very thing Ihunted. An odd kinship glowed in my heart, which I promptly squashed before it could make my face any redder.
“Good to know,” I stammered, defenseless against his unwavering gaze. “Um, by the way, talking about things that have been ‘disposed of,’ you don’t happen to have my lucky keychain, do you?”
“The one with the pierced beer bottle cap?” he asked, curious, and I nodded.
“That’s it. I’ll be wanting that back.”
