Page 92 of Blood and Buttercups

I sigh, wishing this night was over. “Yeah, I’m ready.”

20

The police station has tea.

Officer Kerrington hands me a mug with a logo from last year’s Strawberry Shortcut, a local race that’s held during Strawberry Days. The community festival is coming up in a few weeks. I have a booth reserved.

Since the prescription blood seems to be working, I should make it. You know, unless my crazy vampire stalker kidnaps me and takes me across the border, where we’ll enjoy cheap vampire healthcare and live out our long lives while fanning ourselves with our money.

Maybe I should be grateful. Some people have stalkers who can’t hold down a job and are barely able to scrape up enough cash to purchase their drugs. My stalker is handing out Lamborghinis like they grow on trees. On the stalker scale, Ethan’s pretty high up there.

I laugh to myself as I blow the surface of the steaming tea. I thought I was doing all right, but now that the adrenaline has worn off, I’ve realized I’m not okay.

I’m waiting to go into the back for a “chat.” Max is in there now. The chairs in the waiting area are upholstered but hard, and the large room smells like strong disinfectant and coffee.

Concerned, Officer Kerrington kneels in front of me. “How are you holding up?”

“My stalker offered to buy me for two hundred thousand dollars and his very expensive car, there’s vampire blood on my front porch, and all my records keep getting erased in the NIHA system. I’m feeling a bit freaked out, to be honest.”

“Why didn’t you tell us you were attacked the night before we brought you in to talk about your boyfriend?”

“Ex,” I say scathingly, not sure why it even matters. But itdoes. “And I didn’t have any idea it might be relevant. As far as I knew, I just went out with a freak with a vampire fetish.”

A smile crosses his face, but he schools it stoically. “We’re going to work with NIHA to figure out what’s going on.”

I study him over the top of my steaming cup of tea, wanting to believe him but starting to lose faith in the system.

He gives me a lopsided smile that’s probably supposed to be reassuring. With his wholesome vibes and officer’s uniform, he’s cute. Olivia would probably trip all over herself to talk to him.

But my mind is on Noah.

Another officer appears with Max, this one a man I don’t recognize. “You can come on back, Miss Edwards.”

Officer Kerrington rises with me, and he follows me into the room they took me to before.

“We just need to get your statement,” the man says. “Have a seat. Can we get you anything?”

He looks like he’s in his mid-fifties, with short, graying hair and a beard. He was probably home with his family before he was called in to deal with this.

I settle onto the hard plastic chair and show him the mug. “I have this, thanks.”

He sits behind a laptop. “When you’re ready, why don’t you tell us what happened tonight?”

I take a fortifying sip of over-steeped, slightly stale tea and begin.

When the officersare finished with me, Officer Kerrington escorts me down the hall and into the waiting area. A familiar man sits next to Max and a woman I’ve never met.

Noah’s boss rises when he sees me, his expression grim.

“They called you?” I say.

“Montgomery and the police both.”

“Sorry you had to drive over here again.”

It’s not a terrible trip, but it’s a good two to three hours, depending on where you’re at in Denver. And if you’ve already driven it once, I don’t think you’d be eager to do it again on the same day.

“It’s fine. I’m sorry you’ve been put into this position.”

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