“You can have the next three nights off, do whatever you please,”I tell her.
I see her small beady black eyes through the slats, and I swear I can sense a smile cross her features.
“She’s a smart one, your Ember. She used the blood on her dress from the night Baptiste was slain.”
Her words click then, that she didn’t catch his name, that it was fast. Though she still toyed with me, making me think a living vampire gave her their blood.
“You’re free to go.”
With a high-pitched squeak, she squeezes herself through the slats and flies away.
“Good luck, you’re going to need it,”she chimes in before flying completely out of viewing distance.
I finally place my order, an involuntary smile taking over my face as I stare at my witch’s door.
Maybe my sweet, caring Ember will survive me yet.
Chapter 7
Iwake with a jolt, my breathing heavy as the dream fades away. I’ve had this dream plenty of times, a faceless man, his teeth in my neck as he holds me against his chest. But this time? This time he had a face, Warin’s handsome face to be precise. It felt natural, like it’s been him all along in my fantasies and I’m not sure what to do with that realization.
Why did it feel so right? He’s secretive, he broke my fucking doorframe last night. Though, I think it was over the idea of another vampire being around me. Still, he can’t be trusted and I absolutely should not be having wet dreams about the vampire who’s basically blackmailed me into an arrangement.
It must be because I’m tired. I spent the entire night consoling crying fairies and dealing with Gus berating me about getting involved with vampires. I hardly got any rest, that must be why my mind is playing tricks on me.
Disassociation is the only way to handle a wake up call like this, the fairies and Gus must still be asleep, instead of sitting over here stewing over what I’ve come to believe is a century old vampire, based on my limited Google research.
So instead of thinking too hard about the dream or how I’m going to get myself out of this mess, I gather up the supplies Violet requested for her clinic and head to Main Street.
After I drop off the herbs with Violet, I chastise myself for not telling her about Warin. But as I watched her rushing around her clinic helping a set of twin sisters and talking about what’s going on in the pack along with all the coven drama—most of which is centered around my grandma and other elders who hate change—I know I need to handle this myself.
I glance down at my protection ring and pride fills me. I did that. First try, with a workaround that I figured out. I’m capable. I just need the chance to prove myself.
I’m so caught up in my thoughts that I startle as I bump into a man standing outside of Iris’ shop.
“I’m so sorry,” I say, tilting my head back to see the man, he’s extremely tall.
He’s scowling, his dark eyebrows pinched together as he looks down his nose at me. He’s dressed in simple jeans and a T-shirt, but his arms are covered in strange geometrical tattoos.
Suddenly, and almost animal-like, he tilts his head at me, his pupils dilating quickly, almost so black and large I think I’m imagining it.
“Do you shop here?” he says, pointing at Goddess Apothecary.
“Yes, it’s one of my best friends’ shops. Are you looking for something in particular?”
“Best friend?” he asks and I look around the street.
“Uh yeah,” I reply, a tingling sensation shooting up my spine, and my pointer finger kinda throbs, so I squeeze it tight.
Who the fuck is this guy and why is he asking a million questions?
He looks down at my hand, his eyes dilating again.
“Interesting. You’re Married?” he asks.
He stares at my ring and then looks over my shoulder, his pupils dilating. I glance over at where his gaze hits, and all I see is an umbrella swiftly shifting behind a building. His behavior is odd, but I shrug it off and cover my ring with my other hand.
I’m absolutely disillusioning this bitch the moment I get home.
