Page 73 of The Midnight Order
She nods. “I awoke healed and whole but forever changed and tied to this home and the Thorngray men.”
“They’re not all related, though, right?”
She shakes her head, her hand absently running the cloth over the granite countertop that’s already shining brightly. “No. They’re not in any human way. But they are a family in the vampiric sense.”
“As are you.”
She quirks a brow at me in question.
“You’re their family, too.”
Her smile gains some warmth as she realizes that I’m right. “I guess I am.”
She slides a mug across the bar towards me once she’s done pulling shots of espresso and foaming milk.
I eye it narrowly.
“If it’s bad, I’ll drive you into town. In anapprovedvehicle.”
Thinking of not being able to curve Jasper’s Bugatti around the corners that head into Blackmoore again has sadness welling in me, but still, I lift the bright orange mug, letting the warmth seep through my hands before I take a long inhale of the scent before sipping.
“Oh, damn. That’s good, Milly.”
She beams at me, her cheeks turning a light shade of rose. “I’m sure it’s not Karen’s coffee, but for the price point on the machine, it’s a great brew.”
I nearly spit the next mouthful into the cup. “The price point?”
“I spent days agonizing over the purchase. The machine makes or breaks the flavor of the brew, and Master Jasper told me specifically he wanted you to have the best.”
The fact that she’d taken such pains for me and that Jasper had has my stomach tied in knots, but I ignore it.
There’s no logic in getting attached to men who are cursed and undead.
The lie ferments in my brain, even as I tell it to myself.
I can deny it outwardly to anyone who asks, but I can’t deny the growing attachment to them.
“Well, thank you for going through such trouble for me. It really wasn’t necessary.”
“If you relinquish this curse, it is. I don’t know if you realize the gravity of what you mean to them, to all of us. You’re a beacon of hope, Silver. And I hope that you don’t take it lightly.”
I swallow over the growing lump in my throat, maintaining an aloof look on my face, even though I want to let the rattling fear within shine through.
“I understand. I just don’t know how they fit into my life.”
How can I explain to her that I don’t want to upend my entire world for four vampires who solely wish to better themselves and their situation?
How do I convey the same sentiment to myself?
When I’m with one of them, when I’m the object of one of their affections, the entire world disappears, even every bit of logic that’s made me as successful as I am.
I try not to ruminate on the fact that even though I am successful, I’m not happy in my day-to-day life, but the thought simmers in my brain anyhow.
“I think we find a way to fit the things we love into our lives until they become our lives,” Milly says wisely, and as if she’s dropped the mic, she turns and walks out of the kitchen, leaving me sputtering with a cooling latte in my hands and my mouth open.
I don’t love them, but they’re getting under my skin. And if I don’t stay vigilant, Milly’s words might ring true.
HoldingtheYeticup I found in the cupboard to keep my coffee warm against the weather’s chill, I stand a few feet away from the house, looking up at all the work the men have done so far.
