I fished around for my boxers and stumbled to the bathroom. On my way back to bed, in my groggy state, I opened the wrong door. I didn’t realize I’d entered the wrong room until my hip connected with the sharp corner of a desk that I was pretty sure wasn’t there last night. I blinked, bringing the room into focus, but a blackout curtain kept the space in darkness. I felt around for the light switch.
The overhead light came on, and it took me a second to believe what I saw in the room was real.
The far wall held an assortment of large wooden crucifixes. So many photographs and posters decorated the walls that I couldn’t tell you the color of the paint. As my shock wore off, the photos looked familiar. They were pictures of me, of James, and of people throughout history labeled and organized by year… and Hannah walking Carlos. He’d been to my house, around my daughter.
“Ryder?”
I started, spinning around. “I thought you went back to sleep.”
Luke leaned against the door frame, arms crossed over his bare chest. “You were taking a while. I was worried you were sick.”
I motioned to the pictures on the walls. “Hannah and Kian were right.”
“About what?”
“Don’t play dumb with me, Luke. You think you’re a vampire hunter?”
“Iama vampire hunter. I work for an elite group of hunters. Yes, we’ve been watching James for a while. He’s elusive—we haven’t obtained the concrete proof our president needs to authorize a move against him.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. It sounded like a low-budget movie, or a child playing make believe. “Who’s your ‘president?’”
He shrugged, surprisingly casual about my discovery. The hallmark of a zealot, maybe? “I don’t know. They’re secluded for their protection. All communication is conducted through text or email. I’ve never spoken to them, not even on the phone.”
“Why are you telling me this? What do you think is going to happen? Do you expect me to help you?”
Luke smiled, and it made my stomach sink. “Not at all. I didn’t walk into that bar intending to pick you up. I saw you there, and couldn’t walk away without trying.”
“You want to kill James?” I felt sick. I swallowed the churning in my stomach.
“I don’twantto. But it’s the only way to get rid of them.”
“Them?”
“Monsters,” he stated with a shrug, as if it were the obvious answer.
“You’re delusional.” I left the room, shoving him out of the way so I could get my clothes. “I’m out of here.”
I was already half dressed when he found me in his bedroom. “Ryder?—”
“I never want to see you again. I don’t care if you’re Kian’s brother: you better stay the hell away from my daughter.” I tugged my shirt on, slipped into my shoes, and ordered a car from my phone. “I have a pet to get home to.”
My stomach had barely settled by the time I made it home. I let myself in, took the screeching puppy out, then fed the both of us. I stood in the kitchen eating scrambled eggs straight out of the pan, dropping a few bites to Carlos.
What the hell had my life come to? I loved Hannah, but since she’d come into my life, things had only become crazier. From moving to taking care of my drunk daughter, to falling in love with a fucking vampire, I thought I’d finally gotten my life in order. Then said vampire dumped me because he feared for my safety while he was being hunted by forces unknown, and I’d drunkenly hooked up with the very person responsible.
I finished eating, then downed a couple glasses of water. I didn’t have the resolve to deal with any of it. I showered, cleaned up the dishes, then reached for the bottle I kept on top of the fridge.
Chapter 26
My stomach lurchedfrom the copious amount of whiskey churning in my gut. I launched out of bed, barely reaching the bathroom sink before the contents of my stomach splashed onto the porcelain. I managed to turn on the cold water between heaves. The bitter, acidic taste of whiskey and bile only made me sicker. I fumbled for my toothbrush and fought against waves of nausea that only subsided when every bit of the taste was gone. For good measure, I grabbed the mouthwash and took a swig straight from the bottle.
God, I was a sight. My pale skin was clammy from the hangover. My eyes were red. Sure, that was from the hangover too—not from crying. My throat hurt, my chest burned.
This was why I didn’t do relationships, or open up to people. Why I hadn’t settled down since Erin. I’d taken a chance onhim, and he’d stomped on my heart. Full on ripped it out, chucked it on the ground with the force of a volleyball spike, and stomped on it for good measure.
I spit the mouthwash out. I’d been too hurt—and too drunk—the last week to examine our fallout, but after seeing that room in Luke’s house…
I tried to see it from James’s side, even though I still disagreed with him.
