Page 23 of Ghoul Kisses

“When is it?” she asks.

“Tonight at seven-thirty.”

She stands on her tippy toes, kisses the bridge of my nose, and exits the room. I dress in a pair of dark jeans and a white t-shirt with a pair of Nike shoes. I roam to the computer room, where Jack perches in a chair. Mac is leaning against the wall.

“Any updates on Pete?” I slouch in the chair next to Jack. He must have trained with the young warriors because he smells funky as hell.

“No, he disappeared,” Jack says angrily.

Another dead end.

“How did your trip go with Sarah?” Jack asks. I smile at the memory of me telling her how I felt. She is holding herself back, worries that my being from a different species might be a problem for her. She is beautiful; she needs to know that. I need to make her feel good.

Mac shoves himself off the wall and sits in the chair next to me.

“It was great.”

“Did you bang her?” Jack asks, cutting to the chase. I disregard his message.

“I need you to pull up the guest list from the auction. A vamp outbid me on the Paradox box,” I inform him.

“I thought vamps don’t go to Hawaii because of the sun,” Mac says wryly.

“I thought so too; she must use magic to go out in the daytime,” I say. If vamps go out during the day, they will burn to death. Their skin is sensitive to light, that’s why you only see them at night and on cloudy days.

“Find out what coven she is from.”

“I’m on it, boss,” Jack says.

Since I’ve been slacking in the royal duty, Odessa wants me to help with the gathering for tonight.

I head downstairs to the ballroom; we haven’t used it since the 1800s. Nicholas speaks to a servant about the type of drinks to serve. I clear my throat. The servant turns and bows towards me.

“How can I help you, sire?” he asks.

“Hire a chef to cook Sarah’s meal,” I order. The servant nods. Nicholas raises his brow.

“What?” I ask.

“Are you really going to bond with her?” Nicholas asks. He must sense my emotions around her.

“This is not up for discussion.”

“If Dante knows about Sarah, he will kill her. You know that,” he puts his hand on my shoulder, and I shake from his grip.

“Does Sarah know about Leyla?” His words are etched with concern.

Leyla, that bitch, used me as her sex toy, lied to Dante, and told him that I raped her. Dante knew his mate was a whore, so when he caught us in bed, he snapped her neck. When Nicholas and David rescued me from Dante, he told me he would come after the person I love—revenge for destroying his home. I’ve been waiting three centuries to get my revenge, and if he comes near Sarah, I will rip his vocal cords out. Just thinking about him makes me want to punch a hole in the fucking wall.

“No, and keep it that way,” I warn, turning on my heels. I set up tables in the middle of the floor. Odessa taps me on the shoulder. She kisses my cheek, looking lovely in her purple flowery dress, even if her hair looks kind of weird.

“To give you a heads up, Mae is here.” Odessa plants her hands on her hips. Fuck no! I have enough bullshit to deal with without her needy ass. Mae wasn’t supposed to come back from Spain for another year. After I told her I needed a break from her, she left. When I escaped Hudson, she nursed me back to health, and we were in a relationship, but I was with her out of guilt. I broke up with her a year ago. I couldn’t keep up with the charade of pretending I cared about her.

“Why is she here?” I ask, annoyed. She is the last person I want to see.

“To see you, duh,” Odessa answers.

I don’t respond as I spot the woman across the room. Mae shoots ice from her right hand into the punch bowl, cooling off the drinks. Yep, that’s definitely her. She has the opposite power of Kate, her sister; she can freeze things. Kate can ignite fire with her hand. She turns around, and our eyes lock on each other as she walks towards me.

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