Arabella steps back, her eyes flicking to me. “What’s the plan now?”
I know what she’s not asking me.Are you going to call the Conclave?
I check the astrology app on my phone. “The full moon finishes in the morning. According to my super speedy and totally factual internet research on werewolves, once the sun rises, your friend should revert back to her human form within a few hours. Apparently, it takes that long for the wolfishness to wear off. Maybe then she can give us some answers.”
“Us?” Arabella smirks. “As if you’ll be awake then. When the sun comes up, you will be tucked in your bed like a good little Upyr.”
The magic of two monsters whispers in my veins. Over the years, I’ve dared to test the edges of what their blood has gifted me – superior strength, a high pain threshold, and an extreme tolerance to sunlight. I’m confident this is a battle I can win. “Excuse me, what kind of weak old vampire do you take me for? I’m in peak physical and mental condition. I have been training for this very challenge ever since my Kiss. I can resist the glowing orb of vampiric doom.”
“Is that so?” Mischief glints in her eye. “I bet I can survive for longer.”
“I doubt it. Me and the sun are the best of friends.” I pretend to flex.
She scoffs. “I once trained formonthsto withstand the rising sun. It may have been some years ago now, but I can assure you that you have no hope of beating me.”
“Fancy a wager?” I ask. “We will wait together for Celeste to turn back. The first one to fall into the dreamless sleep owes a favour to the other.”
She licks her upper lip. “What kind of favour?”
“Whatever the other person wants. Within the bounds of Upyr decency, of course,” I say quickly. “I’m not going to demand a kiss.”
“I’m not concerned whether you are or not, since I’ll be the one who triumphs.”
“Itoldyou that Arabella Macquart can’t resist a challenge.” I hold out my hand.
Her eyes flash. “Fine. But when I win, I will make youpay.”
I grin. “Is that a promise?”
Her fingers close around mine, cool and soft and determined. Her firm handshake jolts my injured arm in its socket.
“Sweet Gideon, I love it when you state the obvious with such a sense of discovery. It is a promiseanda threat.”
Arabella orders my staff to fetch two comfy chairs from Brimstone and place them in front of the cell. She doesn’t seem bothered by her friend snarling and hurling herself at the door. She slips down into a chair, pulls a slim eReader from her purse, and starts reading.
After ten minutes of watching her brow furrow in concentration, I cannot bear the silence. “What are you reading?”
She holds up a finger without looking up. “None of your business.”
“Is it something for the book club? Something full of smut and red flag men? Komal explained to me the appeal of red flag men, which is why I stole your car.”
“I like romance heroes who don’t annoy me while I’m reading.”
“Fine. Maybe I’ll write my own romance about a red flag heroine, based on you.”
She snorts. “We both know my red flag is that I’m too good to be true.”
I laugh.
Another ten silent minutes go by.
“Hey, Arabella?”
“Bequiet. I can’t hear myself losing the will to live.”
I cup my hands over my crotch, ready to defend myself if necessary. “I want to know what you’ve been doing with yourself since that night we spent betwixt your golden sheets…”
She looks up from her eReader with a huff. “You think I’m going to engage you in conversation, as if we’re two old friends? This is my Bloodeve. I don’t talk to anyone on my Bloodeve.”
