Page 24 of Love Bleeds

“It’ll come to you.”

Crimson said nothing in response, glancing away from the table and Vlad. Another girl caught his eyes. But this one not because she was pretty--which she certainly was, with her flowing red hair--but because she appeared to be watching them. She was drinking what appeared to be red wine. Another vampire?

Crimson looked back to Vlad, but when his eyes darted to the vampiress again, she was still watching them. After a moment, she approached their table with a smile, her glass in her hand and her gaze never leaving Crimson. "Your Nicolai's new child?"

"I'm not a child," Crimson protested, even though he knew what she meant by that.

"Nicolai sired you," she specified. "You're his second."

Crimson nodded. He couldn't put his finger on it, but there was something about this woman that made him uncomfortable. There was something oddly intense about the way her eyes bore into him. When she looked at him like this, he had no idea what she was seeing, or what she wanted from him.

"I don’t recall seeing you around," Vlad spoke up, studying the woman. "What coven do you belong to?"

She turned to him. "Is that a question you ask a woman you've only just met?"

"Only the ones I can't place."

"You may call me Alice," she said as if Vlad had asked for her name rather than her coven. Her eyes focused on Crimson again as she took a slow sip of her drink. "How are you enjoying your new life as a vampire?"

Crimson shrugged. What was he supposed to say? "Not like I have anything to compare it to."

Alice graced him with a smile, as if he'd said something funny. "It's tough to lose that many memories, I agree." She took a slip of paper out of her pocket and handed it to Crimson. "But it's a great opportunity to make some new ones."

Crimson peered down at the note in his hand. It had a long number on it. Alice's phone number? His gaze shot up again, but Alice was already leaving their table, disappearing into the crowd.

Vlad watched her go, a thoughtful expression on his face. “What a curious woman.”

Crimson didn't know what to say to that, so he simply studied Alice's phone number again. Nicolai had given him a phone. He could put the number in there. Would Nicolai mind if he called Alice? Would he check?

Would Crimson evenwantto call Alice?

Did this meeting qualify as strange enough that Vlad would tell Nicolai about it?

Unsure of anything at all, Crimson tucked the piece of paper into his pocket.