He winced. “But after that, when I’m king, you can … go back to your life here if you want, and I can come to you daily. It’s only an hour drive.”
The future king of the vampires was going to drive into the human world every day to feed from me?
That meant…
“So if you’re king, you’ll live there? In Vampire City? Forever?”
He inclined his head, vulnerability crossing his features. “I mean, you could live there too if you wanted … but I figured with your distaste for my kind—”
“Yeah, I probably wouldn’t be able to sleep at night,” I told him honestly.
He chuckled. “Fair enough. Just for the month, then? Liv can come too. You will have my full protection and be there as guests of a prince. Nothing bad will happen to you.”
Now it was my turn to chuckle. “We’re vampire killers. I’m not worried about it.”
He inclined his head. “Is that a yes? I can’t tell.”
I opened my mouth to speak when my burner phone went off in my pocket.
The only person who had this number was Sterling.
I opened the archaic flip phone and hit the green button. “Hey.”
“Let’s meet at the place. Now.”
My eyes bugged. “Right now?”
“NOW,” Sterling pressed; there was a wild tone to his voice. Something had him unhinged.
Crap.
“I’m on my way!” I snapped the phone shut and looked to Luka, who had concern etched all over his features.
“I … gotta go, I’ll be back in an hour.” I tore out of the room and into the hallway.
“Need help?” Luka was a blur behind me.
“I’m good,” I told him as I grabbed my purse and slipped a stake inside from my hunting bag, which sat by the door.
“If Liv wakes up, tell her I went to meet Sterling and I’ll be right back.”
Luka’s eyes went stormy. “Sterling the ex?”
I nodded. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy the look of jealousy that passed across his face.
With my mind fully on Sterling and what he might have uncovered to pull me to our meet-up spot a day early, I fled Luka’s apartment and that amazing, steamy kiss.
Chapter Fifteen
I threwmy Beetle into park and jumped out onto the sidewalk at Riverfront Park. It was bustling with activity on this hot summer day with a ton of families out and about. The snow cone food truck had a line of twenty people. I tried to peer past them and onto the bridge where Sterling would know to meet me. After we talked about whatever it was he wanted to tell me, I was totally inviting him to start the new hunter firm with Livvie and I. It felt so right and I was so excited about the prospect of being able to be in control of who I hunted and why.
I peered around, past the laughing families and people on bikes but saw no sign of Sterling. Where was he? I glanced at my burner phone when something caught my eye on the bench near the duck pond.
It was a small cardboard box, and on this side facing me was the House of Rose logo…
He must have left the package and bolted. Maybe he was worried about being followed. Crossing the space quickly, I slowed as I reached the box; the lid was popped slightly open. When my gaze fell on the crimson fluid dripping out of the bottom right corner of the box, my stomach dropped.
No.
