Moving to help me set up the coffee machine, Luna smiles to herself.“P.m.I let you sleep.It looked like you needed it.You were exsanguinated pretty bad.That’s why you fainted.”
“It’s the price I pay for being with Theron.”Time for some straight talk with the only vampire who seems to understand my dilemma.“How did you meet Shadow?”
Luna watches me spooning cereal into my mouth.
“I’m not here to answer your chatty little questions, Aila.You’re not part of the coven or the club.Please don’t get my role of innkeeper confused with one of friendship.”
My spoon is poised halfway between the bowl and my mouth.“W-what?”
She makes an irritated gesture, rolling her eyes.“Try to see yourself through my eyes, Aila.Go on.Think of it as one of those trust building exercises.”
She can’t be serious.
“I’m twenty-eight, currently unemployed, and?—”
Luna cuts me off.
“Allow me.You’re a transient, a piecemeal worker.Nearly thirty and yet somehow still reliant on your mother.You skate by using your hot looks and tight little body.You like to play games with men’s hearts and mindfuck them with your ‘am I staying or am I going?’bullshit.If things don’t work out, no biggie, you’ll just move on down the road.”
I open my mouth to try and defend myself, but Luna snarls.
“And knowing that you have huge unresolved issues with a very rich and very powerful man, you come to our island—my island—and then try acting all innocent when you drag your shit right into my front yard!”
I am speechless.Living with my mother has never forced me to see things from another person’s point of view before.And now I’m trying to stare down a vicious female vampire.
Luna’s snarl turns into a sneer.
“I could have respected you, Aila.If at any time during your relationship with Hunter, you had followed through on the advice he gave you, that would make me question my current opinion.But”—she pauses, licking her lips for the final onslaught—“but you are an airhead, no-talent honeypot!Even your man-eater mother has more dignity than you!At least she knows when to settle down with one man!”
I’m not sure which one comes first: the vomit or the tears.I’m spewing up the cereal and crying at the same time.
Scoffing, Luna goes to sit on the couch, muttering “fucking drama queen” under her breath.
I’m sniffing, wiping my eyes, and hunting for a paper towel roll to mop up the mess.Determined to face Luna’s accusations on my own, I use the boiling water to make a cup of tea and add lots of sugar.
Sighing, I enter the living room and sit down opposite Luna.She looks shocked to see me.I’m sure she expected me to run for the hills.
Best that I start talking.“I’m sorry.I was selfish, and I had tunnel vision.I’ve been running for so long, I never realized that was what defined me now.”
Luna doesn’t even acknowledge that I’m talking, but she is still here, so that has to be a good sign.
“The only thing you have wrong is my emotional investment.I love Theron.It was that crazy sex-magic insta-love thing that happened with us.Yes, I would like to be able to run away from my problems.And yes, I would like to see more of the world without my mother tagging along.But my sexual attraction to Theron has grown into true love.Please take that as our base point and let’s move on from there.”
Luna is listening more intently now, I can tell.So I continue.
“Tell me what I can do to help, and I will do it.Stay.Leave.Apologize.Negotiate.”A big sigh escapes me.“I… I can’t go back to Piers.I’m not a sacrifice.But maybe it’s best if I cross over to Canada or the States.Take my problems with me.”
Fully engaged, Luna replies.“That ship sailed long ago.Theron would never allow it now.But there is something you can do to fix this, Aila.”
In the blink of an eye, a packet of cookies materializes on the end table in front of me.
Vampire speed is like vampire beauty: breathtaking.
I listen to Luna while eating the cookies, the slow crunch-crunch in my mouth adding some sound to the spooky silence in the rest of the house.
“Piers isn’t here because he wants the two of you to get back together.He needs you to sign an NDA.You’re not allowed to talk about your relationship with him.And he wants your mother to sign one, too.”
My heart soars.What a fool I’ve been!Piers is an adult now, and so am I.We’ve grown up and grown apart.The last thing he needs is for the stupid things he did as a youth to follow him into his thirties.
