Page 56 of The Midnight Order
With the way she looks at me, I know she’s faking it.
Her undead heart isn’t at its usual rhythm.
“You know which car?”
“Sir, let me explain,” she starts with, and the rage I’ve been controlling by a thin thread snaps, and I rush her.
She scrambles inside the pantry, placing the duster between us as if it will protect her.
“Where is it, Milly?!”
“The lady of the house has it, Silver,” she blurts, wincing and turning her face away. “She wanted coffee, and I told her she wasn’t confined to the house. I tried to warn her that the car was yours and that she should take another.”
My breathing is already erratic, and then I picture Silver driving it. Her lithe body sank into the teal blue and black leather bucket seat. Her foot arched over the pedal. Her hands gripping the steering wheel…
Fuck.
A shiver worms through my body, and I let it pass, popping my neck as I stretch it from side to side.
“She was going for coffee?” I ask.
“Yes,” she reiterates.
I nod, spinning on my heels to exit the pantry, stopping at the threshold.
“Order a coffee machine, the best one you can find. And fill this fucking pantry. We have a human to feed.”
“Yes, Master Jasper! Right away!” Her voice’s thrill at having a task worth doing isn’t lost on me as I race into the garage and slide into the Thunderbird, getting the keys down from the visor to crank it.
It purrs to life, and I head into town, where I know I’ll find Silver sipping coffee with fear racing through her body.
She has to know she’s got it coming, and after the tingle she left behind last night as she offered me her wrist. She has to know she shouldn’t have pushed me.
I’m wrong.
Silver’s sitting in a booth atSpellbinding Coffeewhen I rush through the doors, looking wholly unaffected by the look on my face.
“I was about to call you,” Karen tells me, the fear that should be on Silver’s face laced in her tone.
I flick my wrist at her, and she nods, backing away through the kitchen doors and making herself scarce.
Three other vampires find the exit, and the door chimes to tell me that Silver and I are alone.
“Must be thrilling to have such power at your fingertips,” she says, lifting her massive latte to her lips.
Why someone needs that much caffeine is beyond me, but I can’t deny how beautiful she looks with the autumn light splayed across her face through the windows of the coffee shop.
I slide into the booth across from her, flattening my palms on the top of the table. “You stole my car.”
Her head shakes in denial. “I didn’t. Milly said as thelady of the house,I could drive one of them.”
I smirk. “She also warned you whose car that was.”
“You talked to her? Of course, you did. You didn’t hurt her, did you? She did warn me, but you have to understand, I’ve wanted to drive that specific car for so fucking long. I’ve wanted to own one since I attended a luxury car show in London for a brokers’ conference. God, the way it handled.” She sighs, contentment and happiness lighting her face as she reminisces about her drive here in her stolen ride as if she’s just crossed something off her bucket list.
“Well, I’m glad you had fun.” It’s out of my mouth before I realize it, and Silver eyes me narrowly.
“Are you? I thought you’d drag me back to Thorngray by my ear or publicly flog me or something.”
