Page 18 of Face

Avoiding the question and then trying to charm me. I was young but not stupid. I put on a practiced smile and said, “Well, I guess. Speaking of…” I fished five one-hundred dollar bills from my pocket and handed them to her.

She looked at them but didn’t take them. “Nah, this one’s on the house. I mean, I should take it for having to endure that frisking from big red back there, but it’s fine. You’ll just owe me one. How about that?”

I didn’t like that either. I wanted to see her again but not because I owed her. However, something told me she was holding back and I wanted to get to the bottom of it. “Here, this is my personal cell. Hit me up when you want to call in that favor, all right?” I scribbled down my number on a sticky note and handed it to her.

She grinned and stuck it into her pocket. “I will.”

“If we’re done, let me walk you out,” I said.

She stood, and I inhaled that rosy citrus scent once more, memorizing it.

We walked out into the clubhouse and poor Venom was pacing like the expectant father he was.

I looked at my watch. “Only three more hours, man.”

He stopped pacing and looked at me, then Rocky, then back to me.

“Statistically, the first baby takes about twelve to eighteen hours of labor before it’s born. You’ll get there in plenty of time, I’m sure.” I used to think my brain was full of useless information. At least that one came in helpful this time.

Harlan went to his word tiles and touched Thanks.

Rocky made a noise. “Huh, clever. Who thought that one up?”

“Big red,” Jemini replied sarcastically.

“Well, he’s smarter than he looks.” Rocky laughed, and I cringed.

“He’s my fiancé, but thanks,” Jemini deadpanned.

Rocky had the grace to look embarrassed. “Oh, shit, I’m sorry. I have absolutely zero social skills and no real filter on my mouth. It’s why I stay inside most of the time.” She offered a sheepish smile.

“It’s cool. Thanks for your help today,” I said, opening the door for her.

“No problem. Call if you need any more help.”

With that, she walked out and disappeared into the night.

I closed the door and went to walk back to my office, but Jemini stood in my way, her arms folded across her chest, an eyebrow raised. “Did I interrupt something when I came back to the office with the news about Kalissa?”

I forced a straight face and feigned ignorance. “What? No.”

A small grin forced her lips up. “I beg to differ.”

“You imagined it,” I replied, side-stepping around her.

Damn her and her witchy intuition.

Chapter 7

Freaks & Geeks

Rocky/Devon

I flipped the sticky note around in my fingers. I had already inputted his number into my phone and shot him a text with mine so he’d have my non-burner phone number, but I was having a hard time throwing away the tiny yellow square of paper. What was wrong with me? A sentimental sap I was not.

The way his dark-blue eyes had searched mine that night he and Jemini had hired me to help them eliminate the malware on his computer was what I thought about as my eyes drifted closed each morning before I fell asleep. Then earlier, I got the call they needed more help, and I was, of course, happy to oblige. After all, I knew the problems they were having would be easy for me to get rid of. I wondered what Face would do if he knew I was the one responsible for the malware on the Nighthawks’ computer system to begin with? The vampires I worked for owned that site on the Dark Web and they paid me very well to keep that spyware on the site to track anyone who visited it. So long as those Cash App deposits kept coming, I’d continue to monitor the site and keep the spyware active. I didn’t have to tell Face that was where their viruses were coming from, but something about him made me do stupid things. He looked like he’d be a big, arrogant jerk, but he was the opposite. Polite and a little nerdy. Not really my type, but then again, I didn’t have a type. I knew any chance at dating or love had been taken from me decades ago, so I avoided even thinking about it. The way he was looking at me earlier and that weird moment between us had just been my imagination. Nobody that hot would be attracted to me. Nobody not hot would be, either for that matter.

Looking the way I did, I stayed mostly inside and really had nothing else going on in my life. After I was turned, I took night classes to learn computer science and then pored over hacking articles on the Dark Web until I learned how to do the most sinister things to cyber systems. Chat rooms were filled with people just like me, looking to get in where they could fit in, since it clearly was not in the real world. If I couldn’t be accepted amongst humans and fellow vampires, I would find my tribe online. After all, I could be anything I wanted to be on the internet. Right?

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