Page 16 of The Curse of Eternity
“Oh my goddess!” Everly shrieked, placing a hand over her heart while she stared me up and down. Panicked, I tugged down the dress’ hem.
“I was about to take it off,” I mumbled, my face burning when Everly stepped into the bathroom to get the full three-sixty degree view.
“No way!” she hissed, like I’d suggested we skin her cat. “You look so good! There’s no way you cannotwear this tonight.”
“But I’m meeting with the vampire!” I whispered, voice straining, and Everly waved a hand like that was a small, unimportant detail.
“Isn’t this way better, though? Think about it, he’ll be easy pickings if he’s too distracted by how hot you look.” Everly’s gaze
roamed from my face to my bust appreciatively, like she took personal validation in gussying me up.
“You’re crazy. I’m getting changed, help unzip me—”
Before I could turn to give her access, Addison called from down the hall, “What time did you say you had to be there, Maria?”
“Seven!” I called back, grateful for the hour I’d have left to get unready.
“Uh, you should probably start going, then,” she replied, her slim frame appearing outside the bathroom door, and her pencil-thin eyebrows furrowed.
“It’s only five-forty,” I said, glancing down at the chunky watch on my wrist. Confused, I squeaked when Addison showed me her phone. “What!”
“Daylight Savings happened last night,” Everly said, her voice small and eyes wide when I whirled on her. “We sprung forward, I thought you knew…”
“Shit!” I stomped out of the bathroom, rushing to don my cotton jacket—crazily matching my ensemble from my black boots to my backpack purse. “Okay, I’ve gotta go. How do I look?” Breathless, I faced Everly and Addison. The former brimming with delight while the latter hung back in the hall.
“Like you’re wearing makeup,” Addison commented, her expression bland, and I gave her a ‘come on’ look.
“You lookgreat,” Everly assured, and then her voice dropped to a whisper. “Are you nervous?”
“Not nearly as much as I should be,” I admitted, a hand on the door while Everly scooped up her midnight cat to keep her inside the cooled apartment. Silence descended, and I suddenly felt tongue-tied about how to leave things. “I’ll call you when it’s done, okay?”
“Good luck.” Everly nodded, beaming, and I turned heel to rush out the door.
Traffic would be annoying. Teeth gritted, I hopped into my car in record time. The Taurus’ engine hummed as I waited to merge onto Montgomery Boulevard, but I hesitated. It wasn’t too late to call my family. We could plan an ambush while I distracted the vampire for who knew how long—
‘I didn’t want to overstep,’Everly’s words drifted back, circling in my head only to grow louder alongside my family’s criticisms. The eggshells they all walked on around me… Hurt, conflicted, but mostly determined to prove them wrong, I stepped on the accelerator.
The low rumble of my idling engine cut off. Silence surrounded me in the parking lot, but it felt strange to be parked in my usual spot at my old haunt on Central Avenue. The Cold Stone Creamery’s red neon sign illuminated the sidewalk, contrasting the blue exterior of the Two Fools Tavern four lanes away. I’d never glanced twice at the pub across the street before today.
Inhaling deep, I flipped down my sun visor to give myself a once-over in the mirror. The effects of Everly’s craftsmanship were marred by my grimace in the face of all that makeup. My eyes closed. I would just have to accept that I’d be sorely overdressed for tonight.
Why the hell did I let Ethan’s snide teasing, and Everly’s eagerness to play dress up, get the best of me? The whole thing was so silly, immature, and I stalled by double-checking that I stowed my wallet in the glovebox, along with my phone, before leaving my purse on the passenger seat.
Sure, being without a way to call for help might have left most people a sitting duck, but I wasn’t most people. My machete’s sheath bumped against my hip as I stepped out of the car. At least my address and my family’s contact numbers were safely out of the vampire’s reach.
The car locked with a twist of my key as I turned—and nearly jumped out of my skin. Standing a foot away was none other than the undead man himself. Dressed in a simple black button-up shirt beneath his leather jacket and dark-washed jeans, he looked like any other middle class white guy.
It was the sheen across his pallor that gave him away, silvery and ashen, almost anemic. Dark circles bruised beneath his almost black eyes contrasted the slight smile quirking up the corners of his mouth. Like he was trying to hold back his amusement. My whole being warmed with chagrin as I met his gaze, but I kept my back straight.
“Don’tdothat,” I said in a huff. Drake’s gaze momentarily wandered from my face, and I zipped my jacket higher to cover my chest, readying myself for whatever insulting opinion he might have—
“Apologies, I simply was too impressed to purposefully make noise on my approach,” he said, and I blinked.Was that a compliment?“Although admittedly, I am partial toward your ordinarily scrappy appearance.”
A laugh bubbled up my throat, escaping before I could squash the insane hilarity of this situation. It was too late to turn it into a cough, but I cleared my throat all the same while Drake smiled.
“Perhaps this will return you to your roots.” His grin broadened when he raised his hand, my denim jacket in his grip.
“Hey!” I snatched it from him, earning a low chuckle that reignited my ire. “I was wondering where that went. And what happened to my walkie?” I shrugged on the added layer, and suppressed a contented sigh. Feeling more right with the familiar weight on my shoulders, I swept my hair out from the collar while Drake seemed to hesitate.
