“The containment chamber is done?” Excitement lit up my uncle’s voice as he rubbed his hands together.
Kevin turned, clipboard in hand. “Follow me, sir. I think you will be very pleased. It took a long, long time to figure out how to combine all four of them, but I think I have succeeded.”
My uncle laughed a low dark chuckle. “I’m sure you have. In fact, it would be better all around if we found a way within the next twenty-four hours to put that into use.”
The ball got fuzzy the closer they got to the laboratory door. I didn’t want to miss out on the further conversation, and I grabbed the orb, planning to put it close to my ear to hear the last of what they were talking about, but that didn’t happen. It slipped from my damn buttery fingers the second I grabbed it and fell into the bowl of popcorn.Damn it.
By the time I had fished it out, the moment was gone, and they passed through the door that blocked the orb from seeing anything. I was curious to see what he would try to implement in the next twenty-four hours. What the hell did he need a containment room for? Who or what was he containing?
I cleaned the glass ball from all my greasy fingerprints before putting it back into its holder and placing it on the foyer table. The clock dinged, telling me it was midnight, and I panicked. I hadn’t even started dinner yet!
I ran back into the kitchen and worked at a furious pace to pull out all the ingredients and cook up a good meal for my woman.
As the scalloped potatoes were baking, I made the table. I took out a white linen cloth, two long-stemmed red candles, two wine glasses, and the black crystal plates I bought for this occasion. I added the final touch, placing a whole bouquet of roses on the table and placed one black rose in the center.Perfect.
I moved back to the stove and placed the bacon-wrapped filet mignon in the pan with melted butter, scooping the butter over the meat as it was cooking on one side before turning it and giving it the same love and tender care. I wanted everything to be perfect. No, more than perfect.What was more than perfect?
As I pondered that thought, a thud came from upstairs, followed by the pounding of feet. Soon after, she yelled down the stairs, “Oh, Lexington! You have some explaining to do!”
A flutter worked its way through my heart as my skin heated at the sound of her voice. My blood pumped hard and fast as she came down the stairs.Oh, good, my rose is up.
1.Stay by Justin Bieber
Chapter 8
Ishouldbethinkingabout finding Lex, about where I think he could be hiding, how I should catch him, and what I would say to him once I did. Instead, I was wallowing in my guilt, making the men that came with me do most of the leg work as I sat in the back of the black SUV.
While they stopped the car and asked around a few small settlements, I was sulking, thinking about Rayla and all the things I should’ve said to her. Thinking about how she looked when I left, with her forced smile and disappointed eyes, my chest tightened and it was hard to breathe. I felt like it was my fault.
I growled out, slamming my palms on the head rest of the seat in front of me. It was all because of those damn heirs. I wasn’t like this before. I realized I was letting my jealousy get out of control. The seeds of negative self-worth uprooted and sprouted throughout my mind. I didn’t need the texts from Rick telling me to chill out or the reminders from Ternin I needed to trust Rayla more, which was his fancy way of telling me to let go of the reins, but I didn’t think he knew how hard that was for me. I had been her constant shadow for most of my life, I didn’t know how to be anything else.
She wasn’t wrong when she told Evan that Rick and I were with her to make sure she didn’t take things too far and make an impulsive move due to emotions and bloodlust.
At her core, she had this tendency to feel hard and fast. To give all she had once she was in. An approach she had for everything in her life. It was either all in or all out, no in-between. She used to tell me that in-betweeners were useless. Either not gutsy enough to try, not steadfast in their resolve, or not strong enough in themselves to be worth it.
While this strength in her character made her a great leader, it also made her prone to be a little obsessive. Blood, violence, pleasure, pain, adrenaline—those were her drugs of choice, and she would fall into them headfirst if Rick and I weren’t there to remind her, to reel her back.
She had gotten a lot better over the years, controlling her desires for a while, but then she would do something like jump off a casino building, drag race in traffic, or drain someone dry for the fun of it. It made for great street cred, people thinking she was slightly unhinged like Ternin, but it made me worry. Like now.
What if she needed me? What if she got herself into trouble? What if she took something too far by accident?
I could already hear Ternin’s voice in the back of my head.Boy, we can cover up any mess she gets herself into. You need to let her go, let her do something on her own without you and Rick there.
I couldn’t tell him I was deathly afraid to do that. That I still got flashes of her lying broken and bloody in some broken-down alleyway, moving in incremental inches because the pain was so great.
I took a deep breath in and out, trying to calm my panicked heart from bursting out of my chest. My fingers gripped my knees so hard I was surprised the bone didn’t shift. I couldn’t go after her. I bit the inside of my lip, choking down a sigh from the pain, reminding myself to be strong. To follow my duty to Rayla, not my heart. My heart was of no concern when it came to her.
I thought back to that day twenty-two years ago, when Ternin showed up to that orphanage in the slums of Las Vegas in his all-black Rolls-Royce.
All the kids had circled around the car like vultures, not only impressed with the machinery but wanting to see if they could find something to steal without getting caught. Trying to find their mark. Not me. I wasn’t dumb like the rest of them, only thinking with my stomach. I had known fucking with the person that drove that car was like tearing your heart out and giving it to them.
That day was sunny and hot, like most days in Nevada, as I stood under the large shade tree with two other vampire kids. It wasn’t easy being vampires without sires or parents. You had to learn everything on your own the hard way. It’s why I had a scar the size of a frisbee on my back. Covering up that ugly spot was the start of my tattoo journey, so the burn was both a pleasant mistake and a needed lesson.
It didn’t take long for Ternin to talk to the headmaster, Veronica. To tell her he wanted only one kid, and he would observe us all day and tell her which one he wanted after he was done. I remember thinking he was creepy, standing in a corner all day and watching us with an eagle eye. I don’t know why, but I made it a game that day to hide myself while also keeping an eye on him. I didn’t know my game would cause him to think of me as a viable candidate.
Miss Veronica pulled me aside after dinner, telling me she had to talk to me about something when she shoved me into her office. I turned around, feeling like something horrible would happen, and I clawed at the door to open.
“Sit down, boy.” I stiffened at his voice, and my stomach dropped. The blood drained from my face as I turned around. Whatever he was going to do, I didn’t want it. I didn’t want to be sold to him for something unsavory. I didn’t want to be cheap labor that turned into a dead body in a ditch. I didn’t want to turn out to be nothing, just some waste of a life to be used by adults how they saw fit. I wanted to choose my own destiny.
