Page 27 of Taste of Forever (Vampires of Sanguine #3)

Heather

T he bartender in the VIP loft brought me a spicy margarita and set it down on the coffee table. “Laith just called. He’s on his way over,” she said, straightening. “Can I get you anything else?”

“Oh, great! And no thank you, I’m fine. Are you sure I can’t start a tab?”

“Absolutely not,” she said cheerily before walking to the opposite end of the loft.

I finished the rest of my water before starting on the marg. The bartender up here, Makena, was a dragon shifter and the spices in the drink were a special blend that came from her people’s territory, the Shadowburn Cliffs. We’d talked for a while as I had waited on Laith.

He was over three hours past our agreed-upon time, but the truth was, it was a huge relief because I had also been well over an hour late.

I was supposed to only do a partial shift at work, but got held over due to a mix-up in the lab.

Once cleared to leave, I ran to Pulse Point in a panic, only to find out that Laith was also held up doing some work thing.

What did he even do for a living? It was embarrassing that I had never asked, when he seemed to admire my field of study.

In any case, I didn’t mind waiting for him. I danced on my own to a few songs, chatted with a nice group of brusang and human ladies, and got to know the VIP section’s bartender, Makena.

I felt more relaxed and carefree in Sanguine ever since we danced that last time. It felt like I could be myself here and no one would judge me. The days back in my world had crawled by, both with work and looking over my shoulder for Soren all the time.

Nothing in my situation with Justin had changed.

Our relationship was on another part of the same old cycle.

Currently I was in the phase of not saying a single word to him because I was sick of putting in all the effort.

If he wanted to have a live-in girlfriend, the least he could do was say, “Hi, how was your night?”

A flurry of footsteps drew my attention to the stairs, where Laith appeared at the top landing.

His pale blonde hair was messy in an unintentional way and still damp like he’d just rubbed a towel over his head.

There were a few wet spots on his white T-shirt too, like he’d jumped in the shower and rushed over here with barely any time to dry himself.

“Hey, I’m really fucking sorry.” His brow furrowed and his mouth was tight. “I didn’t expect work to take so long. I got here as soon as I could.”

“It’s okay.” I leaned back against the couch, my body unfurling with even more relaxation now that he was here. “I was actually held up at work too and was late getting here. And the bartenders told me what was going on.”

“Oh, thank fuck.” Laith dropped onto the love seat next to me in a heavy sprawl. He rubbed his eyes and then his whole face with a groan. “Thanks for understanding. I felt terrible about making you wait around so long, but I just couldn’t get away.”

His remorse was touching. I turned to face him, curling my legs underneath me. “It wasn’t really that long. I danced for a bit. Talked to some people. Might’ve made a few friends.”

A corner of his mouth pulled up, but it was a shadow of his usual smirk. “Good. I’m glad. Still, I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

“Maybe we should trade numbers? So we can give each other a head’s up just in case something does come up again.”

I expected him to make some flirty remark, maybe tease me about my boyfriend like he usually did. But he just said, “Sure,” and pulled his phone from his pocket. He waited for me to recite my number without another word, let alone a suggestive joke.

After giving him my digits, I decided to dish it out myself. “Wow, I love your enthusiasm about receiving a girl’s number. The victorious moment everyone yearns for.”

Laith barely gave me a smile. Not even a chuckle. He only made a faintly amused noise as he said, “Texting you now.”

I got a vampire emoji from an odd, six-digit number. “Oh good, it works. I wasn’t sure if it would.”

“Yeah, it should work if we’re both in Sanguine. It’ll probably be spottier if you’re home. Sometimes our signals ping off human-world towers, but it’s not consistent.”

His voice was flat with hardly any inflection at all. That, along with his lack of humor tonight, was the biggest sign that something wasn’t right.

“Hey.” I scooted closer, until my knee almost touched his. “Is everything okay? You don’t seem like yourself tonight.”

Laith’s head tipped back, his gaze on a distant spot in the ceiling. Then only his chest moved with a deep sigh. “It’s been a rough night. Sorry I’m not in the best mood.”

“Sorry? You have nothing to apologize for.” I almost said, you’re human before remembering that he was in fact, not. “You’re a person, not an amusement robot.”

That earned me a faint smile as his head turned slightly toward me. “Thanks for saying that. I feel like a court jester sometimes. Like it’s my job to always gotta keep the mood happy and light.”

I shook my head. “That’s not realistic for anybody.”

“So true.”

He looked so defeated that I couldn’t push aside the growing concern in my chest. We’d met up a number of times now, but I didn’t really know him. What happened in his life outside of these feedings?

Laith had never been anything but respectful and sweet to me. It suddenly felt wrong to know so little about him personally. He didn’t seem to need shallow transactions of blood for information right then. What he needed was a friend.

After a few seconds of hesitation, I reached out and placed my hand on his forearm. “I’m sorry to hear you had a rough night. Do you want to talk about it?”

Laith’s throat bobbed as he swallowed. He was quiet for so long, I almost thought he wouldn’t say anything.

“Tonight, I saw a friend for the first time in twenty years.”

“Oh.” I could only infer from his tone that it hadn’t been a happy reunion.

“He was imprisoned, and well…it wasn't wrongfully done, but it was unjust. He turned himself in to protect someone else. Until tonight, none of us have seen or heard from him since he went away.”

His voice lost some of the flat affect, tightening with a painful rawness that hurt my heart to listen to. I found myself wanting to soothe those hurts, to comfort him from these pains. On some level, I knew he’d do the same for me.

I held tighter onto his arm as my thumb stroked in a soothing motion over his warm skin. “How did that go?”

Laith sighed deeply again. “Well, he’s alive. That’s the only positive in this situation.”

“Oh God. So he’s not being treated well?”

Laith let out a bitter laugh. “No. Not at all. And he’s been there, enduring everything they’ve done to him for so long. He’s a different person, putting it mildly.”

“I’m sorry. That must be so difficult.” I fought the urge to lean my head on his shoulder, to wrap around him in a protective embrace.

“Not as difficult as his life has been over the last two decades.” Laith rubbed his face.

“I think that’s what’s mindfucking me the hardest. Like we’ve all just been living our normal lives over the past twenty years but he’s been in Hell the whole time.

He’s the most selfless person I know. It’s not fair. ”

“There’s a term for that. Survivor’s guilt.”

“Of course you would know that, Science Barbie.” The corners of his mouth inched wider, more of the Laith I knew peeking through.

“That’s not a hard science concept. I might have read it in a self-help book, I dunno. But it’s a common feeling. I don’t know your friend’s situation, but I’m pretty sure it’s not your fault he’s in there.”

Laith straightened, his face returning to seriousness. “No. He made his choice to turn himself in. I had to tell that to another friend tonight. Someone else who’s feeling survivor’s guilt.”

“See? You’re not alone.”

He nodded, his intense, red gaze locking onto me. “Thanks for listening, Heather.”

“Sure.” I held his gaze, refusing to stare at his lips. “Thanks for trusting me enough to talk about it.”

“We’re not sure how yet, but we’re trying to get him out.

” He clenched his hands into fists and then opened them again.

“He’s our family and he’s being tortured in there.

But it’s… complicated. We’re the most powerful clan, but the clan holding him is almost as strong.

And ruthless. They’re not afraid to spill blood, but we’re trying to prevent any unnecessary bloodshed.

So we’re trying to decide: try to negotiate a release, or go for an old-fashioned prison break.

It’s delicate, because we need the people of Sanguine to know we’re capable of peace.

But, if we wait too long, we might be too late for Kalix. ”

“I’m so sorry.” My fingertips stroked lightly down his forearm toward his hand. “That’s such a terrible burden.”

“Yeah,” he sighed. “Still, Kal still has it way worse.”

“I can’t even imagine. But he’s lucky to have family like you, willing to fight for him.”

Laith huffed out a mirthless laugh. “You’re sweet to say that.”

“Just speaking the truth.”

An easy silence fell between us. He clasped my hand in his, brought it to his lips and placed a light kiss on my knuckles. My heart picked up speed as his thumbs pressed into my palms. How could a simple hand massage be so sensually charged? The tension was making my chest tight.

Laith’s massage traveled to my wrist, his thumbs tracing the veins he’d begun to know so well. His eyes lifted to mine and his lips brushed the skin of my hand as he asked a question.

“May I drink from you?”