Maybe that was best … maybe cutting off his head was too hard for me because it felt like murder, but killing from thirst while I wasn’t there wouldn’t really be blood on my hands, right?
Except the memory of him looking up at me from the bathroom floor, asking me to put him out of his misery, had burned into my brain. Then he’d made me spinach and steak like he cared…
He did care.About my platelet count. I needed to keep reminding myself of that!
A genius idea came to me then.
Grabbing my coat and cell phone, I flew out of my apartment and headed for Luka’s place. This idea would change everything.
As I turned the corner, passing the hunter library, I slammed into someone’s chest.
“Shoot, sorry.” I backed up and looked to see who I’d collided with.
Of course it was my ex-boyfriend, because that’s exactly what I needed right now.
“Sterling. Hey.”
He was rubbing the spot on his chest where my face had smacked. Being five-foot-four and dating a guy who was over six feet tall had its challenges. “In a hurry, Aspen?”
Man, I’d missed his deep, gruff voice.
“Yep. See ya.” I stepped around him, then his arm came out and gently grasped my hand.
“Hold up, Rosie.” He rattled off his pet name for me like it was no big deal and my stomach dropped.
I froze, looking up at his beautiful face. What’s with ex-boyfriends? Why did they get ten times hotter the moment you broke up?
“What’s up?” I tore my hand away from his, hating that I missed his touch. Sterling was a commitment-phobe and I wanted marriage, a house with a white picket fence, and two kids. We were bound to break up eventually, I just needed to get over it.
He looked down at me. “Why do I feel like you’re avoiding me?”
Oh for Pete’s sake, he wasn’t this stupid, was he?
“Because Iam.” I crossed my arms and he frowned.
He looked offended. “I thought we were cool.”
“We are. I don’t wish you were dead, but I don’t want to have coffee and talk about our hopes and dreams,” I informed him. “That’s what being cool is about.”
His frown depended. “You’re still pissed at me for leaving?”
I chuckled. I’d forgotten how clueless and stupid Sterling was when it came to matters of the heart. “What do you care? I told you that I was in love with you and you moved across the country. End of story. Now enjoy your new life and leave mine alone.”
I brushed past him but couldn’t help glancing over my shoulder to see the hurt in his eyes.
“Aspen, wait! It wasn’t like that.”
Liar.It was exactly like that. He tried to position it as a “job transfer” that had magically come up the day after I told him I loved him, but it was all bullshit. He told me he wasn’t the committing type the first time we’d kissed. I should have listened. Picking up my pace, I didn’t stop, I just continued to plow through the House of Rose like hell on wheels. I was not going to let Sterling mess up my already complicated week. I just needed to get through the gala and then he’d run back to New York with his new girlfriend.
Stepping outside, I walked two blocks to where my yellow Beetle was parked, then I turned off my phone in case the society had GPS’d me, and slipped my repaired watch into the glovebox, making sure that was off too. As I was heading over to Luka’s apartment, questions spun in my mind. How long could he hole up in that place without his psycho family finding him? I wanted to know what Maz was talking about when she spoke of a rumored drama in Magic City and what he did to get into jail. Also, why was his own family trying to assassinate him?
When I got to his door, I banged a few times, really loud, like a cop would. Vamps slept in the day, so it would take something loud to wake this dude no doubt. I could … feel him, just beyond the door. Even after only twenty-four hours apart I had the mild headache, thirst, and agitation symptoms of needing to feed. They were manageable but annoying.
The door wrenched open and my breath caught in my throat.
Luka stood there shirtless, low slung silk sleep pants barely hanging onto his hips. Silk was like the thinnest materialeverand only served to outline every inch of him … it hid nothing.
I gulped.
