Page 66 of Wanted: Vampire's Assistant
I felt deeply honored by his gift of trust.
I tried not to make too much noise as I slurped down the chocolate shake Henri had made for me, then set it aside and snuggled fully into Draven’s side, stealing his warmth.
It amazed me yet again that Draven was warm. The books and movies about vampireslied.Perhaps in his youth, Draven had been mad with bloodlust, but he sure wasn’t now. He had more control around blood than I had around chocolate! And he ate. As a matter of fact, he ate with gusto, making little noises of satisfaction, and little hums that always made me secretly smile. And he was crazy smart. The list went on and on. Draven was nothing like a fictional vampire.
And I was so happy about that. Fictional vampires did not sound like my cup of sweet tea.
Zian was snoring at our side, so I gave him a gentle nudge with my foot to get him to stop. He rolled over onto his back, smacking his lips, probably dreaming of a juicy steak.
My attention was caught by the movie again as I thought about our dilemma with the vampire that kept coming after us. I had hesitated to mention it to Draven, but after I’d seen the vampire through the window, after they had attacked us the last time, I’d recognized him from somewhere other than Rhys’s club.
He’d been in the flash of images I’d seen from Draven’s thoughts. The vampire with the cold gray eyes that had made me think of icebergs hidden in the ocean. You barely saw the tip, but some of them were so very deep. I got the same shivery feeling around our attacker.
I didn’t know what it meant, but I think it meant that we were in trouble.
Now that I thought about it, I’d seen the vampire three times now, Rhys and Mesmer once, but Draven had yet to see his face.
He obviously knew him from his past, though.
I shivered.
It made me wonder if he was the same person who’d killed Draven’s wife. I cuddled into Draven more deeply and tried to push any and all bad thoughts from my mind.
I was watching a good movie, and I was getting snuggled by the best vampire on the planet, whom I happened to think was amazing. I didn’t want my night ruined by scary thoughts.
Instead, I thought of Draven’s face as the candlelight had flickered on it over dinner. And I thought of his smirk as he sat next to me beside the pool. And I thought of a million other little snippets of interactions and memories between us...and drifted to sleep peacefully.
Chapter14
Mia
As I neared the doughnut shop near Rhys’ townhouse, I pondered to myself how much difference 8 months could make.
I’d come in April, and it was now December. I had bundled against the cold in my favorite teal coat with a hood, and Christmas decorations were everywhere around town. Garland hung from light posts, store fronts had been decorated with lights and frosty background scenes, wreaths were literally everywhere I looked…
The weather wizards had made it snow so the people of Moonhaven could have a white Christmas. We’d gotten a few inches so far, and I was absolutely giddy. It made the whole town look like a postcard, especially at night.
My boots had extra traction, so I wasn’t slipping and sliding everywhere as I ate my doughnut and looked at storefronts. I hadn’t gotten a gift yet for Draven, and it was only 3 days until Christmas.
Honestly, what did you give the vampire who had everything?
My thoughts had been running in circles on this. Initially, I’d tried around November to ask oh-so-casual questions about his tastes. Until he’d looked at me as if he knew exactly what I was doing with a small smile on his lips and I’d had to back off.
Dang vampire. He was too smart for his own good.
And did he give me a single idea? Nope. Nada. Zilch.
So here I was, looking into each storefront, desperately hoping that something jumped out at me and shoutedDraven.
I was thinking maybe several small gifts. Like, a new shaving set, and a bowling ball, and a… Wait.
I stopped dead, and Mesmer nearly smacked into the back of me. I turned with a gasp. “I know what to get him!” I nearly shouted into Mesmer’s face.
Poor Mesmer backed up a step and merely raised a black eyebrow at me. “His lordship?”
“Yes!” I fist bumped him, and then hissed and shook out my hand while he smirked at me.
Never fist bump a Gargoyle. Seriously, they’re rock.
