Page 72 of Even Vampires Bleed (Even Ever After #2)

Cassiopé

I don’t know how long I slept, but when I finally wake up, I still don’t feel like myself.

Oh god, I smell so bad.

I’ve taken two showers before going to bed and yet I feel like I didn’t manage to get rid of the filth of the trash system.

Maybe the scent is stuck in my nose permanently?

I sniff my pillow and the scent gets stronger.

Nope. Not just stuck in my nose.

Slowly, I get out of bed and throw my shirt into the trash.

Soon, the bed sheets follow.

There’s probably a way to get them back to normal, but I can’t be bothered with it.

They’re just a proof of what I’ve been doing for the past few days and I don’t want the reminder.

I drop everything in the bathtub and set it on fire.

I’m not about to set Notre Dame on fire just for the sake of destroying smelly fabric.

I get ready with the shower head in case the fire grows out of proportion, but the fire stays in the bathtub.

At least the fire stays where it is.

The smell, on the other hand…

Oh god. The smell is awful.

It’s like the fire multiplied a hundred times how nasty it smells.

I run to my window and open it as I activate the evacuation system in the bathroom. It’s supposed to be for when there’s too much mist after a hot shower, but it’ll have to do.

I wait a bit longer and when there’s only ashes left, I bring back my trash can from the bedroom and fill it almost to the brim.

It’ll have to do.

I’m not sure I made things better though because all I can smell now is the weird mix of fire and trash system.

Ew.

I want to puke again.

But instead, I hold my breath while I bleach my bathtub and rinse it.

I’m being extra careful because I didn’t think things through, and I’m doing all of this naked.

I don’t plan on bleaching myself even though I still smell like a dirty trash can.

When the bathtub smells better than me, I finally step in and lather myself with soap. I rinse, scrub, and rinse. And lather myself with soap again. I do the same with my hair and then I finally feel like I don’t smell too bad.

I’m spreading a heavy dose of body cream all over myself when my stomach starts to grumble.

How long have I been asleep?

I search for my holo for a minute before realizing I left it in my desk drawer.

Twenty-seven hours. Ish.

That’s how long I slept.

Holy freaking shoot.

I didn’t even know that was possible.

It’s true that I stayed awake for days to sneak inside Versailles, but still, I wasn’t expecting to stay asleep this long.

I don’t even know what I am going to open my door to.

I’m pretty sure that what I did two days ago was not something that went unnoticed.

I’m wondering what mayhem started when I went to sleep.

Is there a revolution in the streets of Paris? Did the grand battle we were all waiting for happen already, or are we all still holding our breath?

I’m not sure I’ll find out though, because it’s four in the morning, and I doubt anyone is still awake except for the teams patrolling Notre Dame.

I put a shirt and sleeping shorts on.

I’m only going to the kitchen to get something to eat. I don’t need to get dressed or anything. The only plan is to stuff my face.

My plan is slightly derailed when something falls on my feet as I open the door, though.

Not something.

Someone.

“Ouch,” Léandre says as the fall to the ground wakes him up with a jump.

“What are you doing here?”

Even to my ears, I sound alarmed.

What is he doing here? Why is he not still in the forest, where he’s protected from anyone messing with his brain?

He stands and grabs me softly by the shoulders.

It’s like he doesn’t know what he’s allowed to do after the last night we had together.

“By here, do you mean Notre Dame? Or specifically your door?” he asks with a cocky smile.

“Both,” I answer without thinking.

The fact that he was at my door is giving me butterflies, and I need to kill those nasty bugs fast if I don’t want to get hurt again.

But wait. I killed Michael and Gabrielle. He should be okay now, right?

“I have to thank you for the first,” he tells me with a knowing smile, but it’s like my brain is slow to find what he means because it’s only when he adds, “The electrician found a way,” that my mind manages to focus on where I was before the assassinations.

“That’s awesome! How did she do?” I exclaim before remembering it’s the middle of the night and that there are dozens of bats trying to sleep.

Instead of answering me, Léandre shows me the ring on his finger and the new earring that adorns his left ear.

“What?” I ask.

Yes, I’m that slow today—or is it tonight?—but I’ll blame it on the past few days and the trash smoke I inhaled just minutes ago.

I still don’t know what I’m supposed to look at. The ring and the earring are simple, so I don’t see what this is about.

“She gave me more chips. One in the earring, one in the ring, and another in my ankle. I’m now a faraday cage all by myself,” he says with a bright yet sleepy smile.

“It’s been hard to use my holo though, because it doesn’t work when on my wrist, only if I use it with my fingers.

And it has to be on a table or something else. ”

I can’t help it. I jump into his arms and squeeze.

It seems to take him by surprise, but his arms wrap around my back almost right away, and I feel him squeeze me too.

Oh god, I needed that hug.

“What is that smell?”

I’m torn away from Léandre’s warm embrace at his question.

Oopsie.

“I might have burned something,” I say with a sheepish smile.

“Might?” Léandre asks with a raised eyebrow. “It smells like you set a trash can on fire. And I don’t mean the one you have at your desk that’s probably only filled with paper. I mean, the trash bins at the back of the kitchen when the city service is once again on strike.”

Double oopsie.