Page 20 of The Curse of Eternity
“Would you be able to deepen any relationship where you could not be honest and true about who you are?” he asked in turn, and my mind emptied.
Even with Everly, who could practically read my thoughts by looking at my face, nobody had come close to understanding that simple fact. My cousins didn’t seem to care. Olivia brushed it off whenever I asked her about people she might be interested in, and Andrew was too hopeless to get a date.
Ethan might have had an easy time hooking up with strangers, but as far as I knew, it never went beyond some fun nights and then deleting their numbers to make space for new ones. Drake’s answers were unexpected, but I’d stopped feeling uneasy in his presence sometime between when we got here and now.
Maybe because I’d been blindsided by our kindred spirits.
“I get that,” I murmured after a moment. Lips pursed, I pushed the empty chips basket aside and drank the last of my water. Drake’s wine wasn’t even half gone, but he didn’t seem to care. His attention went to my scraps, instead.
“Would you like dessert?” he asked.
Smiling, I nodded and grabbed my jacket. “If you’re shouting, then sure.”
Drake’s black eyebrows drew together. “You wish for me to speak loudly?” His complete sincerity made me laugh, but I stifled it when the bartender glanced over.
“No, I meant, are you still paying?” Biting my lip, I watched his understanding dawn.
“Yes, as long as bribery aids me in my plea for innocence,” he said, smiling like he already knew the answer.
I rolled my eyes, but grinned. “Sure, it’ll keep you on my good side—for now.”
“Have a good night, folks.” The woman at the register waved, and I lifted my plastic ice cream spoon in return. She’d already looked tired when we’d entered the Cold Stone Creamery across the road several minutes ago. Deep circles bagged her hazel eyes, her light brown hair pulled back into a hairnet while she’d scooped out my ice cream and Drake paid.
The door swung closed behind Drake, having held it open for me, and I watched him sidelong on our slow walk through the parking lot toward my car.
“Do you always pay with cash?” I asked, curious when I’d glimpsed the stack of large bills in his worn leather wallet.
“It is rather difficult to apply for credit when you are meant to be deceased for two centuries,” he replied. I nodded, determined not to show any surprise at hearing his true age, even if my heart betrayed me by pumping faster. Shockingly, he added, “Do you always dress so nicely when you make plans to meet your mortal enemies?”
A giggle threatened to climb my throat, but I forced it down to a deadpan. “Only when they buy me ice cream.”
When he laughed, the sound was so contagious I couldn’t help but follow suit. The red neon sign of the ice cream shop flickered off by the time we’d stopped. Breathless and light-headed despite the sugar buzz, I leaned back against my car and focused on my melting meal.
“Does this mean that I am cleared of suspicion? Or will I be forced to bribe your good will again soon?” His stare was mischievous while he stood only a couple of steps away. Silence descended, except for the chirps of crickets and the locking of the door to the Cold Stone Creamery. Averting my gaze, I instead watched the employee who’d served me as she veered toward a car parked further back in the lot.
“You’re in the clear,” I admitted, my attention on Drake as he shifted closer. Voice a whisper, I spoke the truth, putting all of my cards on the table. “I never told my family about you. So, you’re safe.”
“Truly?” He seemed astounded, and I guiltily nodded, my guts twisting over revealing the lies I’d been telling my people. Then my stomach squirmed for a whole other reason when he said, “Thank you, Maria.” For whatever reason, the sound of my name in his accent was mind melting. A shiver ran up my spine, pinned to the spot beneath his unwavering gaze.
“N-No problem,” I said, and swallowed. “You won’t have to see me anymore after tonight. I’ll leave you alone.”
“Ah.” He paused, and then whispered, “How disappointing.”
The moonlight above filtering down through parted clouds wasn’t strong enough to break his human illusion. Instead, it lit up his face how I imagined he might have appeared under the sun—before he became what he was.Maybe it didn’t matter.Because I didn’t know his story, or much of anything about him, but that might’ve made it easier to leave it a mystery.
One that wouldn’t intrude on this moment as the space between us shortened. Drake leaned closer, and in a moment of insanity my eyelids almost closed before a scream split the air, quickly choked off. Both of us straightened up, practically jumping apart as I whirled to find the source.
Except I didn’t need to see it to know. Chills climbed my spine, pulling me toward the shadows of the lot where a vampire lured the Cold Stone Creamery worker through a mixture of brute force and mental manipulation. Before I could consider any alternative, I was moving.
My machete was drawn as I leaped onto the hood of her car to cross over it, quicker than having to run around it. In my hurry, I was stupid. The noise alerted the monster, already ravaging the poor woman’s neck. She sagged against the brick wall the vampire had pressed her against, and the tall masculine figure now sprinted for me.
I braced my right leg back when the enemy reached me in a blur of motion. Senses hyped and adrenaline coursing, I met the vampire’s blunt attack with my machete. The blade sliced through the vampire’s tanned arm until dark clotted blood ran from the wound. Bone had stopped my blade from piercing deeper, and the vampire used that to his advantage.
The creature’s smug grin spread a moment before he roundhouse kicked me in the gut. I bent double, gasping for breath and angling my machete to keep the vampire’s blows from making contact with my skull. Muscles on fire from a lack of oxygen, I stumbled away, trying to put distance between us.
My ankle rolled on a shallow pothole in the concrete parking lot, and I fell over. Pain sliced through my forearm where I hit the asphalt, and I slashed a desperate swing of my blade to ward off the vampire. Except he caught it. Despite the tan complexion, the fingers gripping my machete’s edge maintained that same silvery undertone, just like a corpse.
Blood beaded the length of my blade from the vampire’s cut palm, but they couldn’t feel pain the way we did—the way Iwas. Finally, my lungs expanded, giving me enough clarity to stare up into the murky brown eyes of the thing that was about to kill me.
