I thought of something I didn’t want him to know. I raised the shield and held it firm. The pressure slammed down like hammers on my skull,boom, boom, boom. He slammed again and again. My head spun, clenched and loosened, clenched and loosened. Dots raided my eyes. My legs wobbled.
He let go of my head and gripped my arms. “Very good. What was it?” he asked.
I squeezed the bridge of my throbbing nose. “Something I didn’t want you to see,” I said, fighting the urge to vomit. Then it rose like a tidal wave and there was no holding it back. I lurched for the balcony, ripping the door open and gripping the edge, as a wave of eggs and toast exploded over the shore.
When I finished, I wiped my mouth and groaned, turning back slowly.
He was leaning up against the desk, ankles hooked with a smug grin on his face. “I take it you’ve had enough for the day now?”
Chapter 52
Darkness Holds The Stars
Water lapped soundlessly at the sandy banks. The late afternoon sky reflected off the dark lake like a mirror, the surface painted with streaks of orange and pink and pools of smoky black as twilight drowned day. I sat on the small wooden jetty, my legs dangling over the edge.
Overhead, an eagle split the sky, its wings outstretched and soundless. Ethan lay on his back a few feet away on the grass, his hands tucked behind his head, his eyes closed. Silent but not asleep.
On the quiet shores of the bank, cocooned by nature, it felt like a holiday destination, the distance not vast by measurement, but a long way from the chaos of the world. Making everything seem smaller, easier to deal with. Making it feel like I could breathe.
Ethan’s phone ringing jerked through the quiet. He sat up, pulled his phone out of his leather jacket, and grimaced before he answered, placing it on loudspeaker so I could hear.
“You’re with her.” His deep voice bolted through to my heart. Guilt that I’d left him, when he probably wanted to be here with me.
Ethan sprang to his feet. “I’m assuming you already know I am.”
I held my breath, waiting for him to explode, but he said, “Good, stay with her, keep her safe at all cost, Ethan.”
“I don’t need you to tell me to keep her safe,” Ethan grated. “I’ve been doing it since I met her.”
Clearly, they hadn’t resolved their argument.
“I don’t want to argue with you.” Karson paused. Then his voice quietened. “Just tell her to call me when she wants to come home. Tell her I?—”
“Karson,” a voice interrupted. “I need to speak to you.”
“Can it wait?” he snapped. “You can see I’m busy.”
“No, Louis is concerned about the opening tomorrow night. Apparently, a vampire killed a witch and it was unprovoked. He wants to talk to you about security.”
Karson sighed. “I have to go.”
Ethan snorted. “What, no words for her, nothing you want to say to ease the distress of the woman you love?”
“Don’t be an asshole,” Karson grumbled. “It’s beneath you.”
“Pretty sure it’s not, actually.” But he was talking to no one because Karson had hung up. Ethan slipped his phone in his pocket.
My teeth worried my bottom lip. They were fighting over me. I picked at a splinter in the wood. “I don’t like it when you two argue.”
“Don’t worry about it, we always argue.” He sauntered over, springing onto the jetty. “That’s just what happens when there are two assholes in one family.”
I huffed a laugh. “I’d say there are more than two.”
One side of Ethan’s lips curled up as he sat down beside me. “That’s a very solid point.” He took my fingers and pulled them gently from the wood I was still picking at, placing my hand on my lap.
“I think you might be taking the protection thing too far. I’m pretty sure I can handle a splinter.”
“Always a good idea to be careful around vampires,” he said casually, scanning the horizon.
