Page 29

Whispering, he said, “I think someone’s here. Fuck! I forgot about him. Natasha must have given him a key.”

“Who?” I whispered back.

Zand shook his head as he crept toward the bedroom. “My brother.”

“Your vampire brother?” I asked.

“Yes, Harlen. He must have a human here. I warned him. I hear human breathing.”

Even while holding my breath, I didn’t hear anything, but I followed a few steps behind him.Zand’s temper was turning up.

As we turned the corner to the doorway of the bedroom. My eyes widened at the sight before us. Harlen, his brother, was sprawled across his bed, tangled up in the black silk sheets with my best friend Morgan nestled against his chest.

The floor held a messy mix of clothing sprawled about, making it clear what had transpired between them. My mouth hung open, and I had to think to close it.

“Damn it, Harlen!” Zand yelled out, a bit too loud for my human ears.

I stood there, too confused to do anything until I could find my voice.It came quicker than I thought it would.

“Zand?” My voice drifted from the doorway.

Zand’s bark rattled the unlikely pair. A disheveled Morgan and a groggy Harlen were sitting up in bed, staring at us.

“Harlen,” Zand called out sharply, his voice just loud enough to wake the dead. “What the fuck? What’s going on?”

“You told me I could stay here.” Harlen mumbled groggily.

“Coco.” Morgan spoke up. “I know this looks bad, but I can explain.”

Morgan really didn’t know what she was getting herself into when it came to Harlen. I didn’t even know him.Was he safe?I just knew he was a vampire.Was he the kind of vamp that killed people? I really didn’t know. I knew his character was questionable.

“Look,” Harlen said. “We’re all adults.”

“You’re an adult. You’re a fucking moron.” Zand didn’t have any problem expressing himself.

“What did you do to her?” I asked, piggy backing off of Zand’s attack.

Harlen looked puzzled, but ignored me. “Calm down, brother. I had consen?—”

“Bullshit!” I don’t know why I said that. Morgan wasn’t crying and screaming.

“Chanel, please, let me handle this,” Zand interrupted Harlen’s response to me before he could get a word out. Zand motioned toward the door. “Take Morgan upstairs. I need to talk to Harlen.”

“Come on, Morgan,” I said as I started picking my friends’ belongings off the floor and out of the chair. I slung her purse over my shoulder and didn’t watch as she wrapped herself in the heavy duvet.

After a second or two, I glared at her and told her to hurry her ass up with my eyes. I roughly guided my friend away from the tense situation.I couldn’t let her see two vampires fighting. What did that even look like? I wanted to get her as far away from the brothers as possible.

As soon as we were outside the apartment and in the hallway of the complex, I rolled my eyes at my friend. I prayed no one would run into us. It would be my luck if Miss Hampton in apartment 1B was going for a walk and bumped into us.I couldn’t explain this walk of shame if my life depended on it.

I climbed the steps, with Morgan trailing behind me. We made it to my apartment door without incident. Fishing my keys out of my purse, I fumbled with them for a second before unlocking the door. I sighed when I was able to get us both inside the apartment without any of the tenants seeing or hearing anything scandalous.

“Morgan, what are you doing with him? Yuck!”

“Ah fucking.” She spoke to me like I was slow.

I squinted my eyes at her. “Seriously? Why? What are you doing?”

“Coco, I know it looks bad.”Morgan walked into my bedroom and sat down on the edge of the bed.