“Ryder, wait!”
I ignored his order. I stomped down the hall, not answering when Dani called out to me. I crossed the main room, bursting through the front door. I didn’t stop to register the cold on my bare arms as I rounded the corner of the building, heading toward James’s office window.
At first, I didn’t see anything. The side of the building only housed a large dumpster and a pile of abandoned boxes. I stood there for a second, looking around. The heat of my anger inured me to the chill, even as it threatened to creep into my bones. With a frustrated growl, I turned to go back inside and finish what I’d started.
One of the boxesmoved.
A different sort of chill swept over my body. James stood behind me, ready to rush to my side.
“Who’s there?” I called.
I took a cautious step backward as the stack of boxes shifted and a face popped into view. It wasn’t until he completely straightened and stepped into the streetlight that I let myself breathe.
“Kian?” I huffed. “What the hell are you doing?”
“You again?” James muttered from behind me. “What’s your family’s obsession with this place?”
To James I said, “We still need to talk. And you—” I turned back to Kian, who now held Hannah by the hand, helping her out of the pile of boxes. I sighed. “You two come with me.” I looked back at James, who gave me a silent gesture of understanding that our conversation would have to wait.
Hannah opened her mouth to explain, but I simply pointed toward the parking lot, not moving until they did. I followed them to Kian’s car. They both remained silent, looking anywhere except at me. Kian sulked, face red and arms crossed over his chest. Hannah picked at her nail polish.
“Someone better start talking,” I said. “What were you doing sneaking around a bar in the middle of the night? On a school night, no less.”
“I graduated,” Kian mumbled.
“Not the point.”
When neither of them spoke further, I pulled my phone from my pocket. “Have it your way. I guess I’m calling your parents.”
That got a reaction out of them. They both started yammering, and I couldn’t understand a word out of either mouth. I silenced them with my hand, then pointed to Hannah. “You.”
“It wasn’t her idea,” Kian interjected.
“I’ll get to you in a second.” I looked back to my daughter. “Hannah, what were you doing?”
She stammered, eventually turning her eyes back to the ground. “It’s ridiculous.”
“I couldn’t agree more. Imagine how ridiculous your mom will find it.”
“We… we just…” Hannah let out an exasperated breath. “We just wanted to see if we could get a glimpse for ourselves.”
“A glimpse of what?”
The teenagers exchanged glances, sharing a knowing look before Kian finally gave me some sort of answer. Shrugging one shoulder, he said, “Thevampire.”
My brain froze like a 2005 computer. I wasn’t sure how much time passed while I simply stared at them.Did he really say what I think he just said? Before I recovered, the two burst out laughing. Cute. They seemed to think this situation was funny, huh? I stood there, waiting for them to realize I wasn’t laughing with them. Kian was quicker to regain his composure than Hannah, who bit her lip to stifle the giggles that threatened to push through.
“Are you drunk again?”
They both shook their heads. “No, sir,” Kian said.
“Eww, don’t call me ‘sir.’” I tried again. “Vampire? What the hell are you talking about?”
“You haven’t heard the rumors?” Hannah asked. When I simply raised a brow at her, she continued. “They say your boss is a vampire.”
I blinked. “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”
She put a hand on her hip. “What about his red eyes?”
