Page 66 of Sleepless Beauties
I shove past him, but he grips my wrist and pulls me close.
“We need to talk,” he says.
“I have to go.” I shake him off, but still he clings to me.
“I just. I’m sorr—”
“Rival killed Kyra!” I shriek just to get it through his thick skull that something more important than his arrogant feelings is happening right now.
His mouth falls open hard. “No,” he whispers slowly.
It’s only then that I see Prey for who he really is. He’s been belittled and shoved down by all these superiors… and yet he continues to trust them without question. The confusion and disbelief in his features tells me I’m threatening the foundation of his existence here.
And I know he won’t be the only one who feels that way if I call Rival out.
Will the High Council stand by his side? Will they cover for a murderer? A rapist? A monster?
Prey is still staring at me with wide, uncertain eyes when I slip my hand out of his and keep going.
I’m through the quiet dining hall in a matter of seconds. Acessa’s assistant, Blyke passes a look my way, but he doesn’t comment on my messy hair or dirty feet as I search the room. He eats alone, but there’s something else about the young vampire…
Every drink from his wine glass is a stiff and proper motion. A nervous tension expels from him in waves that I can feel in my own chest.
Why do I sense him in that way?
Whose magic is bouncing around me at this moment?
I shake the thought away, but before I dash out of the room an even more nervous voice rings out in a stutter.
“Y-ess, there have been two more human murders in the Chicago area, Ma’am,” Pavel says with a shake of his frail hand as he walks side-by-side with a tall, regal looking woman.
Her fiery hair is so vibrant that it matches her tight red dress impeccably. Her smooth pace and the casual click of her designer heels steals all of my attention.
Councilwoman Zavia!
Her piercing gaze zeros in on myself as well.
“Have there been any more within our walls?” she asks in a flowing velvety accent.
“None within the Crimson City. Creature Control have not been allowed within here without your approval, Ma’am.” Pavel too pauses his thoughts when his attention falls on me.
“Where are your shoes, Vega?” Zavia asks as her stare becomes rather deeply concerned for my black and dusty feet.
My toes lift and scrunch awkwardly as if I can hide them away somehow.
Do I say it? Do I out Rival? And say what, exactly? That he killed me? What would they do to a human snooping around their High Council?
“I found out my favorite red bottoms are a fake. I’m boycotting until I can make a trip back to Italy myself.” I flip my tangled hair back from my face, and it’s then that I realize I’m sweating bullets.
I’m burning up, actually. I swipe at my brow and moisture appears along the back of my hand. Not only that, but… Two small but solid points poke out from against my temples.
Are those… Are those horns?
Fuck.
What in the name of Lucifer is happening to me right now?
Don’tact human. Don’t act human. Don’t act human.
