Page 33 of Discovery of the Vampire
I opened my mouth to respond, but then realized I didn't have a fucking clue. Revenge? Information on vampires and magic? To get in my pants? Who the hell knew?
The front door opened and Alex Moss walked in like he owned the damn place. I tensed, my fangs itching to drop as he strode toward us. I didn't have anything against the guy personally, but witches in general—other than Lizzy—made me twitchy, and he was a powerful one. A witch with some seriously freaky djinn blood pumping through his veins. The combination made my skin crawl. He may be Kenya's mate, but that didn't mean I had to trust him.
"Kenya ready?" Alex asked, his strange golden eyes flicking between me and Elias.
"She's in the back," Elias replied curtly. "She'll be out in a minute."
Now Elias, he did NOT like Alex. Said he didn't care for the guy's attitude. But ever since fate had started pairing up members of my family with the local witch coven, lines had been crossed. Specifically, the ones keeping them in their part of the city. Allowing them into our territory wasn’t ideal, but it was something we were gonna have to live with if we wanted to keep the truce between us.
Alex nodded and leaned against the bar to wait, crossing his arms over his broad chest. “The coven had a meeting tonight,” he told us. Then he looked at me. “Lizzy told us about your new friend.”
I turned on my stool and rested both elbows on the bar. “She’s not my friend.”
“Well, whatever she is, she brought that fucking djinn back to our city.”
I stiffened, but Elias jumped in before I could do something that would definitely threaten the peace between our covens. “She did no such thing, and you know it. That fucker would’ve been back sooner or later, with or without Esme showing up. Her being here is just a coincidence.”
“How do you know?” the witch asked.
“Because I do,” Elias responded in no uncertain terms.
An awkward silence fell over us until Kenya finally emerged from the office. Her pretty face lit up when she saw Alex and she hurried over to him. He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close, placing a kiss on top of her curly hair.
"You guys are being nice, right?" Kenya asked, glancing at me and Elias with a teasing smile.
"Always," I replied, forcing a grin. "Just for you though, sweetheart."
The flash of anger in Alex's eyes at the endearment sent a warm, fuzzy feeling through me, and I grinned at him.
Kenya's smile faltered, and she shot me a look. "You do that on purpose."
I turned my grin on her. "Of course, I do. He's so easy to rile up."
She rolled her eyes at me and tugged on Alex's arm. "Let's go."
"Alex," Elias called as they headed to the door. "You keep our girl here safe, yeah?"
Alex met his gaze steadily. "With my life."
I gave a long, resigned sigh. He might be a witch and one of satan's minions, but he loved Kenya more than anything. I knew he'd do exactly what he said. He'd give his life for her.
"Night, guys," Kenya said, giving us a wave as Alex led her out of the club.
And then it was just me and Elias and my swirling thoughts about cryingbrujasagain. I had a feeling it was going to be a long fucking day.
I sighed heavily and ran a hand through my hair. "I'm heading out," I told him abruptly. "You coming?"
Elias raised an eyebrow, then lifted his chin toward the door Kenya and Alex had disappeared through. "Go on ahead. I want to finish cleaning up."
“Don’t be long. It’s almost sunrise.”
“I won’t.”
I flipped him off as I walked out the door and he sent me off with a muttered obscenity that made me laugh. But in typical vampire fashion, my lighthearted mood flipped the moment the humid New Orleans wind hit me like a cold, wet blanket, and I went back to brooding about Esme.
Despite the accusations I'd flung at her and the logical part of my brain telling me that that woman was nothing but trouble—which I kinda knew the first moment I saw her sitting in our club—I couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to her story. That maybe, just maybe, she was telling the truth about why she was here.
And if she was...then I was the biggest asshole in the world for how I'd treated her.
