“Eva, you can’t…” His words were cut short as he pulled her behind him, hiding her as the bathroom door opened. “Alice, what are you doing?”
A woman stood in the doorway, quickly stepping inside and closing it behind her. “I could say the same for you. Fuck’s sake Kace, this is the women’s bathroom,” she quipped with a roll of her eyes. “Riley needs to talk to you, and we only have a few minutes before they find Eva.”
Eva stepped from behind Kace at the mention of her name, ignoring Kace tensing as if to stop her. She didn’t recognise the blonde who wore a simple black dress with a similar design to her own. She met Eva’s gaze without hesitation, with no hostility or pity.
“You need to trust me,” she said, her words for Kace when he remained exactly where he was. “Think of Hunter.”
A low growl. A warning. “Alice…”
“Go, before Augustine suspects anything,” Eva said, gently placing a palm on his upper arm. He pushed into her touch, and Alice’s attention dropped to the connection. “I’ll be fine.”
Kace looked as if he was ready to argue, but he finally left without another word.
“Okay, we don’t have long.” Alice hiked up her dress, revealing a dagger attached to her thigh.
“You have weapons?”
“What? You don’t?” With a quick tug she released the strap, holding it out. “I want this back, by the way. Kace gave me the blade as a gift, it’s perfectly balanced for throwing.”
Eva was surprised at the sudden jealously that knotted her stomach. Why would Kace give this woman a knife? “I don’t know you.”
Alice let out a frustrated huff. “No, but you trust Kace?”
“Yes.” Eva was surprised by her own quick response. Since when did she trust Mr tall, dark and brooding? She was clearly desperate.
“Then take this and hide it beneath your dress. You’ll have to be careful with your slits, but it’s something until we figure out how to get you out of here without compromising Hunter.” When Eva hesitated Alice dropped everything beside the sink. “Look, why do vampires not have any friends?”
“What?”
“It’s because you’re all a pain in the neck!”
Eva was unable to stop the smile that curved her lips. “So you’rethatAlice. You’re exactly how Kyra described you.”
Alice narrowed her eyes. “I’m going to take that as a compliment because you’re in a very stressful situation right now.”
Eva ignored the garter, instead turning to the mirror. Her makeup wasn’t as bad as she expected, her lipstick only slightly smeared considering her kiss with Kace was more of a violent clashing of lips than a gentle caress. Blood flaked on her jaw while her eyes had returned back to their natural blue. It had been so long since she had seen her own eyes, so long since she hadn’t been starved or in pain. It had made her forget, if only for a few seconds everything that had happened. But then she remembered she was there against her will, that she had been turned into a vampire, beaten and assaulted for months.
Shit.
“What’s the date?”
Eva’s stomach sunk as she counted in her head.
“It’s the twenty-first of April.”
“I haven’t had a period in three months.” Panic spiked her voice. “What if…”
“Eva,” Alice interrupted, stepping forward slowly. “You can’t have periods anymore.”
Eva froze, blinking at herself in the mirror. “No periods? That would mean…”
“I’m sorry,” Alice said carefully. “But vampires can’t have children.”
Eva swallowed past the lump in her throat. “Of course they can’t, I just…” The words caught, and Alice wrapped her arms around her as Eva broke. Rather than recoil at the embrace Eva pushed into it, needing the soft comfort.
Vampires were always unable to have children, but for some reason she hadn’t connected the information. She was only twenty-five and had wanted to live her life before she settled down, but she had always known children was something she desired. To become a mother. And now it was just something else that was taken from her.
“I’m so sorry,” Alice whispered.
