Page 11 of The Curse of Eternity (Descendants of Helsing #1)

Chin Held High

Eyes closed, I struggled not to fidget while seated atop the toilet’s lid. My nose itched, but I didn’t dare scratch it while Everly swiped eyeliner above my lashes. When I sensed her take a step back, I scrunched my nose and blinked hard.

“Don’t do that! It’ll smudge,” Everly admonished, clicking her tongue in disapproval while she held my chin around the dimple to keep my head straight.

“Why am I even letting you do this?” I asked, not for the first time, and peeked through my eyelashes as Everly turned away.

“Because you usually never let me and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.

” She winked at me, then puckered her lips like I was meant to mimic it.

So I did, rolling my eyes which felt heavier with all the product clumped on.

Once she was done applying something to my lips, she smacked hers and I followed suit.

“It’s not like I’ve ever had the opportunity, either,” I said, a bit sullen at the turn of conversation.

“Exactly, because you only date losers .” Everly huffed, oddly peeved. True, in hindsight, my ex partners were less than stellar. I squirmed at the uncomfortable thought. Like it was my fault that I picked the worst people for me. My gaze quickly settled on hers in challenge.

“Right, and your usual dating pool is what? Princesses?” I scoffed, but Everly grinned like she had a secret.

“Don’t forget, there was that one lady I was talking to online who said her father was an oil baron. That’s basically the same thing these days.”

“And I remember that one ending so well,” I said, vindicated, but Everly shrugged. Her face fell, and I internally winced at my teasing comment. Even if she had started it. “I’m sorry—”

“Our petty dating disasters aside,” she cut in, focusing on my curly hair while she ran her fingers through it with some kind of gel-like substance, “the point was that you never let me doll you up for a night out. So I’m taking advantage of it.”

“Yes, because if the vampire tries to maul me then at least I’ll look fabulous.

” I smiled wide, and Everly smirked. Seconds ticked by while she worked, but a glance at my watch revealed I had plenty of time, too much, really.

Weird tumbles started in my stomach, like moths made of acid.

Nervous, I picked at my plain fingernails for something to do.

“Have I told you that I’m talking to someone lately?” Everly piped up, surprising me.

“Uh, no. Who?”

Considering the blush spreading across Everly’s freckled face, it was probably more serious than her tone let on.

“Just a woman I met at Humble Coffee the other day. She’s super pretty, and totally took an interest in my Wicca stuff right away.

The first thing she told me was that my pentagram earrings were cute.

” Everly’s smile turned shy, and guilt swelled in my gut.

How long had I been hogging every phone call with Everly that I didn’t know she had met someone new?

I forced my expression to brighten. “What’s her name?”

“Courtney. And she’s super mysterious, too.

I hardly know her but there’s been absolutely none of that ‘new relationship’ awkwardness,” Everly rambled, practically glowing.

“She’s got connections all over the place, too.

She promised to take me to that up-and-coming nightclub—you know the one on Central Avenue?

There’s a line a block long on weekend nights, but we have plans for tomorrow.

And she’s so cool, she even said that I could bring friends! ”

“That’s generous,” I remarked, barely getting a word in.

“Yeah, do you want to go, or—Oh, um, I’m sorry.” Everly bit her lip, face flushed, and my hands stilled on my lap. Like she was embarrassed to have brought it up, her attention fell to the sink where she started packing away her makeup.

“Eve, I’m going to a bar tonight. I can handle being around alcohol,” I assured, but her bright green eyes were full of uncertainty.

“That’s true, I just didn’t want to overstep… I remember how you told me you liked to avoid those places on principle—”

“Because I usually end up at night clubs for work, not partying.” I exhaled a dry laugh, glad I skirted the words ‘hunt’ and ‘vampire’ when there was a knock on the bathroom door.

“We’re decent,” Everly said, and cleared her throat. Did everyone in my life not trust my word anymore? Discomfited, I stood as Addison opened the door and held out a black length of fabric.

“This is all I could scrounge up without spikes or rips in it, as requested.” She handed it over, and Everly cooed at it while holding it up by the straps. Personally, I was dumbfounded.

“Is it still folded up?” I asked, taking the dress when it was offered only to realize that, no, this was the entire length. While holding it up against my bust, I doubted it would cover all of my ass. “This is a shirt.”

“It’s a dress,” Addison stated in monotone, her deadpan stare on my frazzled shock. I swallowed, not wanting to be ungrateful, and Everly shooed Addison out the door.

“Try it on and see how it looks,” Everly squealed at me, stepping outside just as her black cat, Bast, rushed into the bathroom meowing her head off. About to argue, I raised my hand to get Everly’s attention, but she was too focused on closing the door to the hall.

It clicked shut and, alone except for the feline, I breathed a sigh.

Would it be really rude to only pretend I’d tried it on?

Maybe marginally better than if I refused it outright…

Except curiosity got the best of me, especially when I glimpsed my face in the mirror’s reflection.

Glitzed and glammed was an understatement.

I looked like I was being preened for the prom night I never attended.

Ignoring the silver eyeshadow and dark eyeliner, plus the oddly shiny lips I pressed together, I frowned at the outfit.

How was I supposed to get the thing on? A handy zipper down the side let me shimmy it up, barely making it over my hips, eons wider than Addison’s skinny frame.

Somehow, the material managed to stretch to cover my butt and then some.

Then came the question of my machete. Since there weren’t any belt loops, I shrugged and strapped it tight around my waist. It wasn’t unusual to see weapons on a person’s hip this far South.

Counting it as an accessory, I bobbed my head at my reflection.

Weirdly enough, I liked it. The dress contoured my curves, pushing up my braless breasts to create way more cleavage than I could attain naturally.

There was a soft tap on the door. “How’s it going?” Everly called out, and my shoulders slumped. Right, I wasn’t actually going on a date.

This was too ridiculous, even for me. Forget trying to ‘blend in’ with the regular weekend night crowd.

The vampire would have to deal with my T-shirt and jeans.

I was about to unzip the dress, and then hastily wash off the makeup, when Bast started scratching at the door.

Mewing like I’d been holding her hostage for the last five minutes, she darted out the second I cracked the exit open.

“Oh my goddess!” Everly shrieked, placing a hand over her heart while she stared me up and down. Panicked, I tugged down the dress’ hem.

“I was about to take it off,” I mumbled, my face burning when Everly stepped into the bathroom to get the full three-sixty degree view.

“No way!” she hissed, like I’d suggested we skin her cat. “You look so good! There’s no way you can not wear this tonight.”

“But I’m meeting with the vampire!” I whispered, voice straining, and Everly waved a hand like that was a small, unimportant detail.

“Isn’t this way better, though? Think about it, he’ll be easy pickings if he’s too distracted by how hot you look.” Everly’s gaze roamed from my face to my bust appreciatively, like she took personal validation in gussying me up.

“You’re crazy. I’m getting changed, help unzip me—”

Before I could turn to give her access, Addison called from down the hall, “What time did you say you had to be there, Maria?”

“Seven!” I called back, grateful for the hour I’d have left to get unready.

“Uh, you should probably start going, then,” she replied, her slim frame appearing outside the bathroom door, and her pencil-thin eyebrows furrowed.

“It’s only five-forty,” I said, glancing down at the chunky watch on my wrist. Confused, I squeaked when Addison showed me her phone. “What!”

“Daylight Savings happened last night,” Everly said, her voice small and eyes wide when I whirled on her. “We sprung forward, I thought you knew…”

“Shit!” I stomped out of the bathroom, rushing to don my cotton jacket—crazily matching my ensemble from my black boots to my backpack purse. “Okay, I’ve gotta go. How do I look?” Breathless, I faced Everly and Addison. The former brimming with delight while the latter hung back in the hall.

“Like you’re wearing makeup,” Addison commented, her expression bland, and I gave her a ‘come on’ look.

“You look great ,” Everly assured, and then her voice dropped to a whisper. “Are you nervous?”

“Not nearly as much as I should be,” I admitted, a hand on the door while Everly scooped up her midnight cat to keep her inside the cooled apartment. Silence descended, and I suddenly felt tongue-tied about how to leave things. “I’ll call you when it’s done, okay?”

“Good luck.” Everly nodded, beaming, and I turned heel to rush out the door.

Traffic would be annoying. Teeth gritted, I hopped into my car in record time. The Taurus’ engine hummed as I waited to merge onto Montgomery Boulevard, but I hesitated. It wasn’t too late to call my family. We could plan an ambush while I distracted the vampire for who knew how long—

‘I didn’t want to overstep,’ Everly’s words drifted back, circling in my head only to grow louder alongside my family’s criticisms. The eggshells they all walked on around me… Hurt, conflicted, but mostly determined to prove them wrong, I stepped on the accelerator.

The low rumble of my idling engine cut off.

Silence surrounded me in the parking lot, but it felt strange to be parked in my usual spot at my old haunt on Central Avenue.

The Cold Stone Creamery’s red neon sign illuminated the sidewalk, contrasting the blue exterior of the Two Fools Tavern four lanes away.

I’d never glanced twice at the pub across the street before today.

Inhaling deep, I flipped down my sun visor to give myself a once-over in the mirror. The effects of Everly’s craftsmanship were marred by my grimace in the face of all that makeup. My eyes closed. I would just have to accept that I’d be sorely overdressed for tonight.

Why the hell did I let Ethan’s snide teasing, and Everly’s eagerness to play dress up, get the best of me? The whole thing was so silly, immature, and I stalled by double-checking that I stowed my wallet in the glovebox, along with my phone, before leaving my purse on the passenger seat.

Sure, being without a way to call for help might have left most people a sitting duck, but I wasn’t most people. My machete’s sheath bumped against my hip as I stepped out of the car. At least my address and my family’s contact numbers were safely out of the vampire’s reach.

The car locked with a twist of my key as I turned—and nearly jumped out of my skin. Standing a foot away was none other than the undead man himself. Dressed in a simple black button-up shirt beneath his leather jacket and dark-washed jeans, he looked like any other middle class white guy.

It was the sheen across his pallor that gave him away, silvery and ashen, almost anemic.

Dark circles bruised beneath his almost black eyes contrasted the slight smile quirking up the corners of his mouth.

Like he was trying to hold back his amusement.

My whole being warmed with chagrin as I met his gaze, but I kept my back straight.

“Don’t do that,” I said in a huff. Drake’s gaze momentarily wandered from my face, and I zipped my jacket higher to cover my chest, readying myself for whatever insulting opinion he might have—

“Apologies, I simply was too impressed to purposefully make noise on my approach,” he said, and I blinked. Was that a compliment? “Although admittedly, I am partial toward your ordinarily scrappy appearance.”

A laugh bubbled up my throat, escaping before I could squash the insane hilarity of this situation. It was too late to turn it into a cough, but I cleared my throat all the same while Drake smiled.

“Perhaps this will return you to your roots.” His grin broadened when he raised his hand, my denim jacket in his grip.

“Hey!” I snatched it from him, earning a low chuckle that reignited my ire.

“I was wondering where that went. And what happened to my walkie?” I shrugged on the added layer, and suppressed a contented sigh.

Feeling more right with the familiar weight on my shoulders, I swept my hair out from the collar while Drake seemed to hesitate.

“The radio?” he asked, and I nodded. His lips pressed together, almost a wince. “It broke on the trek to my domicile. I had hoped to repair it, but alas…” The vampire shrugged, and his seemingly-honest discomfort brought me up short.

“Oh.” Not like I’d expected to get it back. When I shifted, a puff of air rose from my denim jacket. It smelled nice, clean in a way I’d never gotten out of my washing machine. Had he had it dry-cleaned? Baffled, but refusing to lower my guard, I frowned.

“I was wrong,” he said softly, his attention flickering to my midriff before rising to my eyes. “Any attire suits you.”

“You’re not gonna convince me of anything with flattery,” I retorted, but my voice quavered, and he inclined his head in a dignified nod.

“Alas, I promised proof, and so I shall deliver.” With a hand extended toward the Two Fools Tavern across the street, he stepped aside. “As is the custom in this country, ladies first.”