Page 174 of Vampires of Eden

Still enraptured within our passionate delirium, we made it back to bed and miraculously, we slept.

When I open my eyes again, the bright rays of the afternoon sun make me squint. There’s a sound… ringing. My ringtone. For my phone.

I lift and wince. My body aches in ways it hasn’t in a very long time. Good ways, rest assured. Gratified. Alexander is beside me naked, asleep on his stomach and with his golden head turned toward me on the pillow. God, if I fell asleep like that, I’d regret it dearly. My neck would punish me for days.

Ringing. Phone. Get the phone.

I asked Alexander to turn his off last night, but I left mine on. He’s the only vampire that ever calls me besides Leoni and it wouldn’t be her. She knew about my intentions for last night. My seduction.

Reaching across Alexander, I grab my phone from the bedside table. He grunts softly from my movement as I brush past him, but doesn’t wake. By the time I have the device in my hand, it stops ringing. What a pain in the ass.

I sit upright and rub my eyes, then brush back the unrestrained tangle of my hair. I look down at the screen—two voice messages and five missed calls. All from Raphael.

This is not reassuring.

Navigating to the call app, I hit play on his message and bring the phone up to my ear.

“Hey Daniel—Can you ask Alexander to turn his phone back on ASAP? We’ve got some trouble here.”

Next voice message.

“It’s me again. Listen, my back is up against the wall—can oneof youpleasecall me? Immediately? If I don’t give up some answers soon, his mother is going to stake me.”

The line goes dead.

Huh.

Two things. First, this does not sound good. Second, stakes don’t necessarily work. That’s a myth and common misconception. The amount of pressure and strength you’d have to apply to fatally penetrate a vampire’s heart is unfeasible by most humans. Plus, we heal and regenerate too quickly.

Well, it would probably work on me? Since my health is questionable and my regeneration is slow to begin with.

Something in the atmosphere tugs at my attention and I instinctively turn my head toward the window. Aside from the bright birdsong, it’s silent. Leoni is not home. It should only be me and Alexander here but… I sense another vampiric presence close by. Fading. As if it’s moving away from the cottage.

“Sweetheart.” I lean and bend so that my lips brush his ear and neck. I kiss him, trailing a line down the curve of his shoulder. “Rabbit, wake up.”

He groans once more, unbothered and with his eyes still closed. I run my fingers through the thick of his hair. “Do you sense someone here besides us?” His ability to detect other vampires is much stronger than mine, so I want him to check.

Alexander lazily opens his eyes and shifts onto his back. Once settled, he breathes and stares up at the ceiling, unmoving. “Someone is driving away… toward the main road. Maybe the mail person?”

“Maybe,” I say, even though they never come this late in the day. I brush off the odd sensation. “Anyway, something is going on at your estate. Raphael has called me five times… I think it’s about your mother.”

Frowning, Alexander pushes himself upright. Without question, there is an ominous tone to Raphael’s messages. Even still, I can’t help but watch this purebred in awe. His lovely goldennakedness in my bed. His skin and eyes awash in afternoon sunlight.

My handsome prince. All mine.

“Where’s… I don’t know where I put?—”

“Use this,” I say, holding my phone out for him.

As he takes it, he leans and kisses me on the lips. “Hi,” he whispers, his voice drowsy and rough.

I chuckle. “Hey.”

He scratches his chaotic bedhead with one hand as he examines the phone with the other, navigating to the call app. “How is it almost three o’clock?”

I shrug. “Time flies when you’re newly bonded and fucking.”

He shakes his head at me as he brings the phone to his ear. Raphael picks up immediately.