Page 2

I peeked at him through one eye, a teasing grin twisting his lips along tawny beige skin. His hooded brown eyes met mine, and stretched lines furrowed above his eyebrows. “If I wanted to tan, I wouldn’t have announced it to the remaining CEG population.”

“As if you’ve never done it before,” I responded, his grin deepening across flushed skin and exposing teeth biting against his left cheek. My instincts quickly surfaced as my eyes sprung open, my legs cementing to the ground. His left arm traveled through the air, twisting through my defense, wrapping around my neck. My body spun and rested against his, his figure tense against my back.

I remained composed, though.

“So, you called to attack me?”

His hold tightened, allowing my airway to be unaffected but tight enough to hint at his advantage. “More like I wanted to test you.” His right hand pulled against his left wrist, his arm pressing deeper into my neck, bringing my head onto his shoulder. “It’s been a while since we last brawled.”

“Huh,” I blurted while my shoulders rolled against his chest. “I thought you said there was no point in a brawl when there’s no competition.”

His grin vanished. “What?”

Before he could think of his next move, my elbows drove through his abdomen, and his breathing responded with uneasiness. Swiftly, I gripped his right wrist and motioned below and around him, pushing his arm onto his back and forcing him toward the nearest wall. His body flattened against it while strands of hair grazed his cheek, a warm smile now decorating his expression.

“Sometimes, I wish I’d bite my tongue more often.”

“Glad you’re not the only one who thinks that,” I said as a laugh slipped my lips. I quickly released him and took a few steps back. I could never be too cautious around his sneak attacks.

Six years of friendship, and he still thought I didn’t know his tactics by now. He was an open book, one that overshared with no need to be asked— whether it was stories or actions. It’s what made guardians love him.

Lace saw them as humans and vampires with goals rather than business pawns to hold over the ongoing feud between governments.

Sometimes, it was his downfall. He was bad at holding secrets, and it was noticeable whenever he bit away at his cheek. It was a habit that made it easier to know when he’d attack and when he spoke the truth. A pattern that made me open up to him from the beginning.

He patted his suit down and tried fixing the necktie I had accidentally wrinkled with my harsh pressure. He had recently started dressing up because of increased visitations from the Vampire Ministry and Bureau. If it wasn’t for that, he’d lounge around in fitness wear in hopes he’d fit in with the guardians.

“Thanks for beating my ass,” he said as his fingers laced through the knot and swiftly loosened it.

“What type of friend would I be if I didn’t finish what you started?”

His eyes flicked onto me, the tie sliding from his collar and onto his palm. “I was trying my hardest to not wrinkle a tie this early.” He started making his way inside and through the main lobby, my feet quick to follow beside him.

“Oh please,” I mocked, my voice low as we passed security. “If that was true, you wouldn’t have attacked me. Ah! Don’t look at me like that. You know it wasn’t a test.”

Lace rolled his eyes as we entered the nearest available elevator and clicked the office floor, a gleam lingering in his gaze as I met them. “If I could, I’d reprimand you for speaking back.”

I nudged his arm as I nodded at him. “You’re the boss.”

“You think?” Lace flashed a brief smile as the elevator dinged open. I rarely visited the main building alone. I was never able to memorize the endless hallways since they fused into cubicles and doors. I could only make it out alive if Lace led the way through this never-ending trap.

Besides, he’d typically come to visit me in the training room, or we’d meet across the grounds. Our jobs came first, but our friendship was always a priority.

Our relationship was complicated, but we always had each other— especially after my cousin left to his post a few months back.

Lace’s office was the only one wide open among the sea of closed doors, and once we entered, it became part of them. Files swallowed the floor and covered the walls; his desk was only accessed through a single pathway which I followed closely until I reached the floor-to-ceiling windows.

The landscape from his floor had a clear view of the grounds, but specifically, what hid outside. Trees obscured most of the sight, but tucked beneath them were roads that stretched to the nearest human and vampire cities. But as the CEG was based on the outskirts of New York, they were a good distance away.

“So?” I asked while I turned to him, “What’d you call me for?”

There were only two things he ever discussed here: either I was heavily in trouble, or it was work-related.

“The Two-Species Treaty feud is still ongoing, but it has become the main focus as a way to cover up the current disorder that’s erupted within the Vampire Ministry.”

“What do you mean?”

Lace’s nostrils flared as he collected a few scattered sheets on top of his desk, turning them so the letters faced me. “The Mubaraks of the Regal Vampire Families have gone missing. This has left Heads of Ministry to have an empty spot, one that can’t be replaced.”