“For the extent of her human life.”
It’s a shot to the gut and I pull up short in my pacing, lifting my glass from the end table and draining it dry. “It goes without saying, it would be worth it.”
“Well, Damien, you asked me if what you are feeling is love or magic, and I have the answer.”
“You do?”
“What you just said… everything you’ve told me about why you love her… you never mentioned her blood.”
I close my eyes, suddenly hungry for her. “Her blood is incredible. I dream of it.”
“But it’s not why you love her.” A statement. Not a question.
“No.”
“Congratulations, you love her. It’s not magic.”
I circle the ice in my drink, listening to it clink against the now empty glass. It’s real. It is. “I’m not sure congratulations are in order.”
“No?” Cassius’s brow furrows.
“If I mate her, it changes everything. I can’t truly be with her unless I break the Gowdie hold on me, and if I do that, what then? Do I give up on our quest to find a way home?”
Cassius drains the rest of his drink and rises to cross to the bar to pour himself another. “I’ll tell you what I think. If she is the woman you say she is and she fights for what she holds dear, it won’t be long until you know how she feels. She’ll tell you. She’ll show you. And if you choose to mate her, you’ll know one thing for sure.”
I hold out my empty glass to him and he refills it. “Oh? What’s that?”
“When it comes to the rest of it, she’ll only be a factor for her short human life. If you love her, Damien, enjoy it while it lasts.”
27
Nailed It
ELOISE
My mind drifts to Damien over and over as I drive Grams to Nails & Such. It’s all I can do to focus and stay in the moment. But I refuse to allow myself to daydream about our last two nights together. Not today. Grams is feeling stronger, and I don’t want to miss a minute of it. Of course, her excitement for our outing has something to do with it. Physically, she remains as feeble as ever, but she grins all the way to the salon, and although I have to help her out of the Jeep, she walks herself inside.
“Nora Harcourt, look at you strolling in here all gussied up.” Simone Williams meets us at the door and takes Grams’s elbow, helping her to her nail station. The heavyset woman has always looked out for her, especially since Grams’s illness caused her skin to become as delicate as old newsprint.
“Hi, Simone,” I say cheerfully.
“Love the hair, Eloise.” She grins warmly.
“Thanks. It’s as close as I could get to my natural color.”I fluff my new red curls. I’ve been bleaching and straightening it since almost the moment I met Tony, and he made it known that he preferred it that way. He considered it more refined. This morning, I colored it back to red. The box dye I used took to my platinum hair like water to a sponge, and the color came out even brighter than my dark red roots. My head is bright enough to belong on a Marvel character and as curly and wild as Julia Roberts’s in Pretty Woman. I love it. Along with the now purple dress I’m wearing, I feel free, like Tony is nothing but a speed bump in my life’s roadmap instead of a permanent roadblock.
I take a seat in the waiting area while Grams picks out a color for her nails. She chooses an OPI shade called Suzi & the 7 Düsseldorfs, which is a sort of bright tulip purple. There’s nothing old ladyish about it. We’re cut from the same cloth, Grams and I.
While Simone starts removing Grams’s old polish, I dig through a pile of magazines for something to read. I’m tempted to pull out my phone and scroll social media now that I’m somewhere with reliable Wi-Fi, but the truth is, I don’t want to risk seeing pictures of Tony on his boat or leaning up against his newest car. I don’t want to answer messages from acquaintances about what happened or how the divorce is going. The only friends I care about are Maeve and a few people I know from teaching, and all of them text me directly. So, I leave my phone in my purse and pick up a Cosmo, ready to read an article on how I can make my skin glow in three easy steps.
I cast the magazine aside, though, when I see what’s underneath it.
The latest issue of Echo Mills Today stares up at me, a photo of a man walking his dog on the cover. Ipick it up and start flipping through the pages. Same as before, it’s filled with nothing but advertisements.
“Oh, you found another one.” Simone glances over at me, shaking her head. “I thought I threw them all away. Don’t waste your time, El.”
“Why not?” I ask. “I thought I saw an ad for Nails & Such in here.”
She concentrates as she slowly paints a line down Grams’s thumbnail. “That’s just it. We didn’t pay for any ad. And the phone number’s wrong. If someone wanted to gift us ad space, the least they could do is get the info right.”
