Again, I am struck by the uncanny way his face and body glow soft silver in the dark.It’s a very subtle glow, pale and gray, but it’s definitely not coming from another light source.
“I’m not the girl who talks smack about her exes to her new lovers, trying to stir up shit on both sides.”
“That ship has sailed, don’t you think?”
Suddenly I’m panicked.“You’re not going to go full vampire on him, are you?I mean, Piers is an asshole, but he doesn’t deserve to die.”
Shrugging into his leather jacket, Theron stares down at me.
“There you go again.”
The way he says it irritates me.
“There I go again what?”
“You were terrified when you ran away from the jetty, Aila.Or have you forgotten?”
Sulking because this is not how I wanted our post-coital love-talk to go, I shake my head.“No, I have not forgotten.It… I was in shock.”
He ignores my rationalization.“Why were you afraid?”
There is a long silence as my brain wrestles left side against right.The animal side of my brain wants me to tell Theron my deepest, darkest fears.And the sensible side insists that I’m exaggerating.
“I can’t tell you, Theron.I think it’s best if you form your own opinion about Piers without my input.My mom says he might have changed, that he might have come here to apologize.Or maybe it’s a coincidence.”
“Let me get this straight.You want to give your ex-boyfriend—the one who’s been stalking you for ten years—the benefit of the doubt.In case this is a coincidence?”
God, it just about kills me to have to say it, but I must.I never wanted to be a drama queen, that girl who likes to stir up trouble.
Now is not the time to tell Theron about the threats Piers promised me.
“That’s what I am hoping.”
Ducking out of the tent flap, Theron growls.“I don’t believe in coincidences.”
ChapterTwenty-Five
Theron
Ipush my Harley downhill, which gives me some time to think.
Turned into a vampire at such a young age robbed me of learning more about the human female condition.But because I will never know what it feels like to fall in love as a human, my only frame of reference is doing it as the creature of the night I am now.
As powerful and ruthless as I am, the first time I saw Aila changed certain aspects of my monstrous personality.Instead of leaving her to reap the consequences of her unwise actions at Harry’s Saloon, I intervened.And then I left her a tip.
I mean, part of the fun of being on the hunt is watching events unfold from my very special vampire viewpoint.Being able to climb onto the grid rafters in dark clubs like a leather-clad bat and watch shit go down.
But even back then, I was sensitive to Aila’s special blend of feminine charm.
Why do I want to meet Piers Jordan?
Curiosity.
Time for me to hear the other side of the story.Because whatever it was that Piers did to Aila in the past turned her into the person she is now.And that affects me directly.
Parking my bike in the row by the clubhouse and giving it a quick wipe-down, I head for the bar.There’s a mirror in the entrance.I give it a quick glance to make sure my human disguise is on properly.
Fangs retracted.Check.
