Page 70 of Flock This

“And how does that help me?”

“I thought you might want to take a look at his private quarters?”

And just like that, I didn’t give a damn if this man was a dying thrall, if he was bound by a vampire and being dragged to his own dead, right now he was my only hope.

His smile showed he read my agreement. “Very good. Meet me at the elevator on the south side of the building at sun-up.”

* * * *

Hours later, I tugged at the collar at my throat. After a few days without it, I’d found it chafed me again. Or maybe it was because of my nerves.

I’d visited with Kelvin for my meds—we still hadn’t talked about our little naked slip-up—before he’d turned in for the day. He’d offered his balcony to me again, but being that close to him seemed like a bad idea.

I was nothing better than an addict when it came to him and stepping foot in his bedroom felt like asking a gambling addict to stroll through a casino. I knew my limits and as it turned out, distance from a bed was one of them.

He hadn’t asked me what I was up to—in fact, if anything, he’d been even more careful than usual. Our relationship felt strained and uneasy, something I didn’t care for. It was like a reminder that we both were pretending nothing had happened even if we couldn’t forget it.

“You look deep in thought.” Roger’s voice had me turning to find him there, dressed in the same gray that I had. While mine was a fitted dress, his was a loose robe, like men wore. Somehow, he managed to look pretty good in it, though.

Forget gray sweatpants season—it’s black robe season I want!

“Doing long division,” I said with a shrug.

He pressed the button to call the elevator, and I gave him a subtle side-eye.

“Don’t worry—I won’t go crazy just yet. You’re perfectly safe with me.”

“You know, polite people let worries like that go unsaid.”

“Do you know why the elderly are blunt? Because we know we have little time left, so we refuse to waste it on pointless niceties. If I were worried about my sanity, I wouldn’t leave that cell and I certainly wouldn’t meet up with you.”

“So you’ll give me a heads-up if you start feeling a little crazy?”

“Yes, I will.”

I stuck my hand forward, my pinky finger held out. “Promise?”

He frowned at my hand, as though it took a moment for him to work out what I wanted. With a soft laugh, he interlocked his pinky with mine, and we sealed our agreement with one shake of our entwined hands. “Promise.”

He continued to chuckle even as the door opened and we stepped onto the elevator. It made my cheeks heat, the way he viewed my eccentricities as less annoying and more charming—even if slightly childish.

Roger pressed his palm against the reader, and the light flashed green, showing it still recognized his access. It surprised me, honestly. I didn’t expect vampires to be quite so respectful when it came to thralls—even if they were the last of the vampire.

I opened my mouth to ask him about what he knew, but he cast me a quick look and shook his head. “Better to speak where we know it is private.”

“Right.” The fact I could so easily forget about things like that annoyed me.

The elevator stopped on a familiar floor, and for a moment, I felt like I was right back where this all started. I recalled walking down this hallway, considering stealing the fancy artwork and thinking about how I might get the pieces out unseen.

I’d had no idea what was going on back then. I could have never guessed where my story would go, where I’d end up just weeks later. I miss being that carefree idiot…

I stayed beside and just behind Roger. We hadn’t passed anyone on the way, but even if we had, I doubt they’d have looked twice at us. We were nothing to the vampires around—just ghosts who hadn’t realized we were dead yet.

Roger opened the door, and I froze at the threshold for a moment, unable to force myself forward.

He paused a few steps in, then turned when he realized I no longer followed. He didn’t coax me, didn’t ask me, just allowed me the time and space to work through my own bullshit.

I took one deep breath before forcing my feet to move, to bring me back into the place where everything had gone wrong.

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