Page 50 of Sweeter than Honey

It’s much more than that.

And that breaks my heart.

Chapter 17: The wooden top

Renata

I give Lily a nod as I pass her on the way to my desk. “How was Elijah this morning?”

“He slept all the way through the night,” Lily tells me. The radiant smile on her face puts me in a good mood. “And he showed me his manicure. Thank you again for watching him last night, Ms. Espina.”

“I wish you would call me Renata,” I say. I don’t know if it’s a mistake to be more personal, but it certainly can’t hurt, can it? “We’ve known each other for a while now. We don’t need to be so formal.”

She blushes slightly, a rosy hue over her dimpled cheeks. To my pleasant surprise, she concedes. “All right,Renata.”

When I close the door of my office behind me, the flutter of her heart and the succulent smell of her blood dissipates. I wonder if it would make sense to move her desk in here…

No, I have to maintain some boundaries. I can’t move Lily’s desk into my office just so I can smell her blood. Besides, I probably wouldn’t get anything done with her tantalizing scent distracting me. I’m behind as it is.

But I allow myself one more distraction, before sitting down at my desk for the night. I go to the mahogany cabinet in the corner of my office. I don’t open it often. I don’t like the way it makes me feel. But tonight, I can’t help it.

I open the second drawer. There’s only one item inside it. The last remaining relic of my first life. I used to keep it in my crypt, butI never spend any time there, so I brought it up here. My fingers reach out to pick up the colourful wooden top. Its paint is a little faded, but it’s still perfectly round and smooth. I remember when the vibrant green and red seemed so special, so bright. Now everything is bright. The world is so different than it used to be.

But some things are the same. Like putting a small child to sleep.

There’s a painful throb in my chest. But for once, I don’t try to push it away. I close my eyes, holding the wooden top tightly in my fingers.

I know that some vampires forget their first life, if they live to be very, very old. But even though it’s painful, I don’t want to forget.

A voice on the desk phone speaker takes me away from my bittersweet memories.

“Renata,” Lily says. “Lexi and Hallie are here to see you.”

I put the top back in its spot in the cabinet, and I shut the drawer gently.

“Send them in,” I reply.

My sisters enter my office.

“Oh,” Hallie says, looking out at the view of the moonlit lake. “It’s dark in here.”

“The switch is beside you,” I tell her. “I keep the lights off when I’m alone.”

Hallie turns on the light. I notice that she’s holding her own Stanley tumbler, her’s a shade of purple.

I scowl at her. “Not you, too.”

“It’s actually not a bad idea!” Hallie says, taking a sip of bloodwine through the comically large straw. “You should try it!”

“I would rather be bound in silver,” I reply, taking a seat behind my desk. “What do you two want?”

“You said you wanted the reports from the internship program,” Lexi says, dropping a shiny black folder on my desk proudly. “It’s all here! I even got Damien to give them all grades, with feedback, and I asked Lily for the daytime shift report.”

“Thank you, Lexi,” I concede, taking the black folder.

“Oh, and another thing,” Lexi continues. “Can I borrow your…”

“No.” I take the black folder and open it, flipping between the reports.