Page 18 of Vampires of Eden

“All afternoon?” he asks, smoothly pulling the car forward and out of the slick parking lot. “You said that last week and you were gone for hours! It’s hard on me when you disappear, because if your parents start asking questions—specifically, your madre—they dislike it when I don’t have satisfactory answers. Do you want me to come with you?”

“No. I’m sorry but, I need some time alone, if you don’t mind.”

At a stop light, he turns to me with his lips pursed. “What happened to ‘Where he goes, I go, full stop’? Was that only for show? Only when it’s convenient?” The light turns green and he pulls the car forward. When I don’t say anything for a long moment, he glances over. “Hello?”

“May I have some time to myself please?Please?” I widen my eyes in an obvious gesture. Like, God, cut me some fucking slack here.

Raphael exhales heavily through his nostrils. “Yeah alright… you sneak. But I require an extra day off next week in exchange for the guaranteed headache that cancelling these appointments at the last minute will cause.”

“Done,” I say, lifting my cup. I watch as the clustered buildings of downtown fall away. Soon, we’re on a two-lane road that snakes through an impressive army of snow-laden trees. Heading uphill and home.

“I’ll find Buffy when we get to the estate,” Raphael says, breaking the silence. “I’ll bring her up after you shower, if she isn’t already hanging around your door. She does that a lot lately.”

“She does.” It’s like she knows I need her there, now more than ever. “Thank you,” I say, smiling into my cup.

“What about feeding?” Raphael asks. “You’re due and you haven’t answered me about finding you a neutral source to replace Oliver.”

“I’m alright. Thanks, though.”

Raphael’s chestnut eyes cut across the darkness, scrutinizing me. Knowing him and what he’s thinking, I stop him before he even starts.

“I don’t want to talk about that right now.”

He exhales another heavy sigh of disapproval, but I don’t care.

We ride the rest of the way home in a prickly silence. Which suits me just fine.

CHAPTER5

Alexander

The drive out to Nantshire the next morning offers a sense of much needed calm. The trees tower over the road as if I’m entering a different dimension—one where my chest feels less constricted. The burden on my shoulders eases and I can breathe more easily.

I don’t know what it is or why, but it helps.

“It’s a nice surprise having you here today.” Kathryn holds the front door open, smiling as if she genuinely means what she says. It’s nice.

“Some time opened up in my schedule, so I wanted to come help,” I tell her, stepping onto the worn, creaking hardwood of the foyer.

The house smells like a strange mix of cinnamon rolls and construction dust. Bread baking, but also raw materials being torn apart. “How did the demo on the bathroom go?” I ask. “Is it all finished?” Roland and Kathryn decided to start the renovations with upgrading the bathrooms. They hired a crew to demo the old tile. We’ll install the new tile ourselves to save costs.

I’ve helped with the gardening in the spring and fall at the estate, but I’ve never done anything like this before—actual home-improvement projects. I’m looking forward to it.

Kathryn leads me down a narrow hallway amidst a discord of sounds echoing throughout the house. Pots and pans clamoring loudly from within the kitchen. Ahead, the bristling of sandpaper rubbing against a hard surface. Strangely, something in the air creates a distinctly warm buzz against my skin like an electric current.

“The demo is all finished,” she says, glancing over her shoulder. “The crew got everything cleared out over the weekend. Now, the wall surfaces need to be cleaned, dried and sealed before we’re ready to tile. We started yesterday, so your timing is perfect.”

“There are three bathrooms, right? The smaller one here on the first floor, the larger one upstairs that’ll serve as the main facility for your residents, and then the one off the kitchen and near the back porch?”

Kathryn slows near the open door to the smallest bathroom, then peeks her head inside. “Yes, that’s exactly right—Hey, is everything okay?” She taps the wooden frame with her knuckles.

Without warning, the blithe ease I feel fizzles and disappears. No, not disappears. It tightens into something tense in my gut and chest. A kind of unanticipated stress flares up my spine—like the warm electricity I felt a moment ago has been dialed up twenty notches.

Daniel is crouched in the bathtub. His clothes are covered in dust from sanding and his dark hair is tied in a tight knot atop his head. When he turns, he lifts the clear plastic goggles from his face. “Yeah, all is… well.” His opaque eyes focus on me over Kathryn’s shoulder. Like a switch being flicked, his dark eyebrows knit together in displeasure.

The change in his expression isn’t subtle at all.

Instinctively, I take a step back.