Page 29 of Sleepless Beauties
“Take her to the croft.” Rival drops my hand the moment we’re out of sight and turns to Prey. “I have to find Pavel. He’s been asking about Kyra.” Rival strides away down a dark corridor to our right, and I’m left in the shadows with my least favorite Ann Rice character.
Prey nods his head to the side in a ‘follow me’ sort of way but once we cross the hall that leads to the cellar, I already know my way around from the back entrance here. I’ve never been to the croft itself, but the windows in the cellar do provide a fairly nice viewpoint for spying.
Prey offers me his hand when we reach the narrow stairs that lead down to a hard drop, and my attention looks from his hand to his eyes and then back again.
“Habit,” he whispers like an apology before dropping his offer and slamming his shoulder into mine as he strides quickly down the steep steps.
What exactly was Kyra’s relationship with these assholes? How could she stand so much undead testosterone in one house?
Really though, what were their relationships?
Prey seems dead set on making this life of Kyra’s as comfortable and easy as possible. He has had moments of tenderness toward me, but it seems more familiar than sexual. Vuitton… Well, Vuitton has been more than sweet. He’s been —the memory of his body pressed against mine flashes through my mind.—
Was he like that with Kyra?
I roll my eyes at myself for letting that stinging emotion flood through my chest.
I quickly file it away to calm my aching heartbeat.
And Rival? Yeah, they were definitely hooking up.
What about Louis, then? The socially quiet but loudly protective shifter comes to mind. Though he was my sister’s protector, I don’t think there was anything deeper between them.
How many boyfriends did Kyra have in this life?
And if none of them were able to save her from her fate, what does that say about my prospects?
When I take a deep but uneasy breath, I find that we’ve entered the bowels. And seven crofts are in a line at the center of the room. Each one has a number etched deeply into the coffin shaped tombs.
“You’re six,” Prey tells me with a sweep of his hand. We walk toward it on slower steps, and just as I stand over my literal grave, someone else speaks.
“I didn’t expect you back,” the gravelly tone says, “so soon.”
The densely packed shadows of the dark room are all I can see, until the corner lamp splashes golden light over his black and white sneakers.
Aston Cardence.
“How have you been, Six?” He asks with a cruel smile that carves dimples into his taunting features.
My heart hammers as I stare at the man who tormented my sister for the last two years of her life before killing her.Again.
“Mistress,” Prey whispers with a bow of his head.
The sudden formality he shows me serves as a reminder of my own existence.
Of my pulse, and of what I have to hide.
“Why, did you miss me, Cardence?” I ask on a snap that I wish could lash out physically at his pretty pink hair.
His brows lift high and his pale green eyes flicker with something, but I’m not sure what it might be.
“Oh, dearly,” he says with a smirk.
His steps are languid, but with each one my heart begs to push me into fight or flight mode. Yet still I just stare, unimpressed at the daunting vampire.
My heart storms, despite how hard I try to calm myself.
With a fixated gaze he comes closer.
