Page 72 of Fanged Embrace
The rest of the room slipped into overlapping chatter, vampire and human debating their next moves. Plans were put together faster than I could track, but my attention was fixed solely on River. Her palms radiated a warmth that traveled through layers of button-up, sweater and jacket, rippling across my skin.
When had I started relying on that warmth? Only a few weeks ago I had sworn to keep every potential ally at bay. Partners were a liability, companionship was a trap. Now River fit perfectly at my back like an extra vertebra, holding me upright.
I watched her lean over my shoulder to inspect the map Dylan was holding out, and I fixed my eyes on the bridge of her nose, the sweep of her lashes. I catalogued every minute detail of her face, committing it all to memory.
Strange, I thought, letting my gaze wander over her profile. I’d dreaded leaning on anyone—terrified that any trust I extended would backfire dramatically. But River hadn’t demanded my trust from the get-go; she’d offered steadinessand support until stepping toward her felt like breaking through a storm. Like clouds parting overhead.
I had to admit—grudgingly, privately—that it felt good. It felt good knowing that she had my back, and I had hers. It felt good knowing that I wasn't in this alone, for however long it lasted.
She sensed my stare and glanced down at me again, quirking a brow though her lips stayed tugged upward at the corners. “You all right?”
I surprised both of us—but myself, especially—by smiling back. “Yeah.” I didn’t pause to contemplate the weight of my next words, but I knew, wholeheartedly, that they were true. “Better than I have been in a long time.”
35
River
The sun had set by the time we arrived at what looked to me like a neon monstrosity of rundown buildings all clustered together in a shady part of the city. The distinct smell of greasy street food and cigarette smoke wafted toward us and I nearly gagged at the overwhelming clash of stomach-turning scents.
I looked over at Laurie, surprise and confusion evident on my face. “Wanna tell me what exactly we’re doing here?”
Laurie stared back for a beat like she was contemplating how much she wanted to reveal, before she shrugged and sauntered forward, crossing the street without waiting for me to catch up.
“We’re finding allies,” she called over her shoulder as she strode toward what had to be the grimiest, hole-in-the-wall kind of nightclub I’d ever seen.
I couldn’t imagine someone like Laurie setting so much as a foot in the place, but she waltzed right up to the bouncer, nodded like she knew him personally, and beckoned me inside. I followed, cautious and curious, taking in the purple strobelights and the slight stickiness of the floor under my boots with a curled lip.
“Well, this is….” I looked around, noting the crush of bodies moving on the dance floor and the distinct tangy aroma of cheap booze, sweat, and general debauchery. “Lively.”
A passing group of partiers had Laurie and me wedged up against the wall as they squeezed by. I watched Laurie bristle at the contact and felt her aura spike out here and there. Not quite panic but uneasy enough to have me reaching for her hand.
“How exactly are we supposed to find allies here?” I murmured in her ear, looking over the top of her head at the undulating crowd of clubbers. “This place is full of humans. I can’t smell anything supernatural other than what I’m pretty sure is a radioactive bathroom cubicle over there.”
Laurie rolled her eyes, but her jaw was set tight. She flinched when the strobe lights flashed overhead, picking up a dizzying, flickering pace alongside the pounding music.
“This is where I met the escapees.” She practically had to yell over the beat drop, leaning back with her lips at my ear. “And this is a good place to get information on what’s going on under the radar in the city. You want rumors? This block is the unofficial bulletin board.”
It looked like a run of the mill shithole to me, but I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt.
“How did you find this place to begin with?” I let her drag me along, flashing a very subtle shark-like sneer at anyone who looked at her twice. “This doesn’t really seem like your kind of hangout.”
“I used to work here,” she called over her shoulder, and then nearly slipped in a puddle of spilled beer on the floor. She rightened herself on my arm and glared at the puddle like it had insulted her personally. “Wouldn’t recommend it.”
We ducked through a side door into a graffiti-tagged corridor that smelled of bleach and vodka. The ceiling lightoverhead cast everything in a sickly yellow hue. Two drunk stragglers leaned up against the wall, bouncing a cigarette between themselves. They paid us no mind as we passed them by.
At the end of the corridor, at a moldering shut door, Laurie let go of my hand and looked back at me. “Uh—wait here. I’ll be right back.”
My brows shot up and I looked pointedly around the grimy hallway. “Wait here?”
Laurie clearly wasn’t impressed with my snarky attitude because she fixed a blank stare on me while her hand fumbled with the door handle. “I’ll be five minutes. You can be patient for five minutes, right?” When my brows climbed higher, she groaned. “You’re a vampire, you’re supposed to be good at lurking.”
I folded my arms, but took the dig gracefully. “Fine, fine. Five minutes—then I’m going to assume you’ve escaped out a window.”
That earned me an extra eye-roll and Laurie hauled the door open with a sigh. Blaring music and a cacophony of voices burst in from what looked like a VIP lounge behind her. She slipped inside, shutting the door slowly—and her parting words came a little quieter. “Just… wait here. I’ll be back.”
Then she closed the door and I leaned back against the wall, entertaining myself by counting the pockmarks on the ceiling.
Through the door I could still hear faint chatter, followed up by a particularly booming voice shouting, “Montgomery! Where the hell have you been all this time?”
