Page 69 of Even Vampires Bleed (Even Ever After #2)

Léandre

I hate the house.

I hate the sun.

I hate this bed.

I hate being alone.

I hate everything.

But mostly, I hate the fact that Cassiopé isn’t here with me anymore.

I feel lonely, but it’s more than that. I feel like a piece of me has been torn from my body and has followed Cassiopé wherever she is.

I have no doubt that the piece in question is my heart, because I feel like there’s a hole in my chest and it’s been filled with spikes instead.

I don’t recommend it. Not at all.

Angélique has visited me once already. Surprisingly—not—she didn’t bring a mattress with her.

At some point, I’ll have to talk to her about her meddling. Because I’m sure of it now—that’s what she’s been doing all along .

Anyone could have joined me here in the forest, under my faraday cage—anyone.

And Angélique and Elhyor decided it would be a good thing to send with me the girl who got her heart broken from my memory loss.

I can’t be too mad. A part of me was thankful when they decided to send her.

Because her smell was familiar, and I couldn’t wait to get to know her better.

All that while the time I spent with her was torture for her.

I’m not mad at them, but I would understand if Cassiopé is.

And maybe that explains why Angélique had no idea Cassiopé wasn’t here anymore.

Cassiopé must have gone back to the Sacré Coeur instead of Notre Dame.

I’m not sure it’s like her to sulk, but I have to remind myself that she fled to the humans when she couldn’t cope being in Notre Dame anymore.

Because of me. Past me. New me. I don’t know anymore.

But now I can’t help wondering what she is doing.

Did she start robbing things for the humans? Or is she just hiding with a broken heart once again?

Knock knock knock .

What the hell?

Who just knocked at the door?

The only people who know I have been staying here are Angélique and Elhyor, but Angélique was here just three days ago.

If it was urgent, neither of them would knock—they would just barge in.

I stand from the bed.

Yes, I’m on the bed at three in the afternoon, basking in Cassiopé’s scent. I’m a creep. Sue me.

I walk to the door and open without even questioning who is here beforehand.

It’s Angélique, alright.

But she didn’t come alone.

I don’t know how she managed to get the girl and what looks like two metallic suitcases through the trees without any scratches, but I can’t see anything on them, not even a torn shirt.

I recognize the other woman.

She’s the one with the AI who made my more than gloomy diagnosis.

Why is she here?

I must have gawked because Angélique pushes my shoulder aside and forces me out of the way so she can get in.

“Miss F might have a solution to your problem. Now, sit,” Angélique tells me, forgoing any salutation.

“Hello to you. How are you?” I answer obnoxiously.

Angélique waves a hand in the air before saying, “Yeah, all of that. Now sit so she can tinker with you, and we can leave. I’ve been in your damn forest for over a day now, and I just want to go home.”

What the hell?

What was she doing in the forest?

And why hasn’t she come to see me if she was around all this time?

It wouldn’t have been the same as having Cassiopé back, but maybe she could have kept me entertained.

Wait.

“Tinker?” I ask and my voice must betray my alarm because Angélique looks at me like I’m too slow to understand.

The other woman looks at us, amused at our interaction.

“I take it that you didn’t ask in advance if I could slip another chip under his skin…” she says to Angélique as if I’m not even in the room.

Another chip?

What the fuck.

No.

I’m not getting anything else under my skin.

This brain chip is already the bane of my existence .

“When would I have found the time?” Angélique asks flippantly. “I’ve been digging holes with you since we arrived here. I didn’t have time to fly here and explain. And you’re the expert—you know no holo can work here.”

“I thought you all had magic, anyway,” Miss F says with a shrug.

“The only magic is in our blood,” Angélique grumbles under her breath.

“Anyway. Back to the problem. Do you consent to getting a chip under the sole of one of your feet?” the other woman asks.

“No,” I answer right away.

Both women roll their eyes at the same time, and I would find it funny if we weren’t discussing putting another object of doom under my skin.

“You don’t even know what it is for,” Angélique says. “Have a little faith.”

Her last sentence is accompanied by a wicked smile that makes me think she knows more than she’s willing to say.

She makes a large movement with her arm to Miss F—as if she’s leaving the scene for her—and then sits on my couch.

“It’s a portable faraday cage,” Miss F says, and I must look at her dumbly because she feels the need to elaborate.

“I’ve studied this one. The forest one, I mean.

And I managed to replicate the design, but for it to work, you need at least three pieces of electronics on you, and one of them must be on your foot.

So, unless you want a toe ring that you can never remove, I suggest that the foot one be the one under your skin. ”

“Why?” I ask. I’m not sure what I’m asking, though.

“Why do you need one on your feet? Or why do you need chips? Or why am I doing this? You need to be more specific because I don’t have time to guess what’s in your mind,” she says as she flicks her curly hair over her shoulder.

I didn’t think about the third question in the first place, but now I can’t help but wonder. If it had been planned, I’m sure Angélique would have told me two days ago, and the other woman seems to have come prepared. So now that she asked the questions out loud, I want to know.

“All three.”

“Let’s start in order,” she says with an amused smile. “First, I’m doing this because a woman hired me to do it. Not this one,” she adds when I flick my eyes in Angélique’s direction. “A tiny one with green eyes and long black hair. Ring a bell?”

Cassiopé.

But I thought she was supposed to forget me—that she wanted me as far away as possible.

Has she been trying to get me out of this forest prison all this time?

The woman looks at me with cunning eyes, and I realize she’s trying to analyze if I know what is at stake here. She must see what she was looking for, but she continues talking.

“As to why you need chips on or in your body, it’s quite simple.

I was able to replicate what’s under the ground of this wonderful cage of yours.

And the dude who built it had four anchors to make its perimeter.

They’re big—huge. Which explains why there is a high ceiling above your head where you’re still protected.

In your case, it’s a bit different. We don’t need to cover as much surface, but we need for it to be completely wave-proof, which means I need one of my anchors at your lowest and your highest. More or less. We have a few centimeters of margin.”

She stops to take a break and ensure that I’m still following.

“Now, with the fact that the electronic chip that wiped you is already in your head, I didn’t think you would want one under your skin there again. And the third one must be in the middle of your body. So that leaves your hands, hips and, hum… Well, you get it.”

Yes, I get it. And she’s right. I don’t want anything near my head again. And well, if she’s thinking about implanting something in my cock, there is no way in hell, either.

“So, my foot will have to do,” I tell her.