I wipe the bar down. “I can’t close the bar. And the reason they give you the evils is that you’ve bagged the top dog of the club. Those fang bangers are desperate to become an ol’ lady. You’ve won yourself the top prize. They are envious. It’s a good job you’re what you are now,” I murmur quietly. “I wouldn’t put it past them to stab you in the back to get Lucian.”
She curls her lip, that possessive vampire rage bubbling to the surface. I smile, my grin deepening.
“They ever touch Lucian, I will tear them apart,” she snarls.
I laugh and shake my head as she blinks, almost surprised by her own reaction. “Don’t worry, it’s part of the primal instincts we get from being this way.”
She nods. “You ever felt it?” she asks innocently, before realising. “I er… I don’t mean… I’m sorry,” she mumbles.
I give her a tight smile. “No. I haven’t.”
“Please come tonight. You can come when the bar is closed. It’s not starting until after eleven anyway. I’ll even stay and help you close and clean up,” she pleads.
“Evelynn…” I pause. “I don’t want to see him,” I admit.
Evelynn nods. “Let me speak to Lucian.” She pulls out her phone and calls him, moving outside so I can’t hear the conversation.
I continue to work, serving the locals of the town; people who still, to this day, look at me with sympathy and pity in their eyes. They think it was an electrical fire. The club made sure I was away all night at that festival. When in reality, they found me panicked, feral, and hunting. They all took care of me, showed me how to live, how to cope, helped me grieve.
All but Silas. He kept away. Even when I asked Lucian how he could allow Silas in the club after what he did, Lucian just said he did it for the good of the club. His loyalty is stronger than iron.
Evelynn walks back in, nibbling on her bottom lip. “So… Silas will be there, but once he’s hooked up with a fang banger, you won’t see him,” she winces, watching and waiting for my response.
“Ugh, fine. But you help me clean up. And you can’t just disappear to go fuck Lucian,” I warn.
She smiles widely. “I promise to do all of that. And no fucking Lucian until at least three a.m.” She holds out her hand to shake on it.
I roll my eyes and shake her hand.
Hours pass, and once the bar has closed, Evelynn and I clean using our vampire speed. Have to say, it’s fun having someone with me. It feels like it did back when my family were here. Music blaring on the jukebox, both of us singing and dancing as we clean.
I hadn’t realised how much I missed the company.
“Okay,” I sigh, chucking the cloth into the sink at the back of the bar. “Let me quickly change, and then we’ll get going.”
Evelynn nods and takes a seat at the bar.
“What are you doing sitting there?” I ask, pausing.
“Waiting for you,” she shrugs.
“You can come upstairs and wait,” I smirk.
“Okay, cool. I didn’t want to invite myself up there, and you walk around with your flaps and wangers out.” Evelynn shrugs, walking around the back of the bar to follow me to my upstairs apartment.
“Flaps and wangers?” I ask, brow raised. “I’m not about to get naked and flash you.”
“Why not? Am I not your type?” Evelynn’s smile widens.
I laugh and shake my head. “Shit, you tease Lucian like this?” I ask, still laughing.
“Sometimes. It doesn’t really take a lot for him to snap,” Evelynn smirks.
“Oh, I know. He’s a very serious dude,” I snort.
We walk into my bedroom, and I open the wardrobe. I kept my old room, not my parents’. After the fire and the rebuild, it just doesn’t feel right taking their room.
Evelynn takes a seat on the old rocking chair in the window, looking out over the town.
