Page 14 of Luna & Andres

"You're hopeless. . ." I muttered. I leaned my head back and stared at the twinkling stars. We'd need to get money somewhere, but the time was all wrong. The banks wouldn't open for another few hours.

He furrowed his brow and looked into the fire. "Maybe. . .maybe you should just go home."

I lowered my eyes to glare at him. "What a stupid thing to say."

He frowned. "Why? All these people are after me, and I don't know why. They could hurt you."

My eyes flickered up to his face and I pursed my lips. "Since you seem to have forgotten, I'll remind you. My roommate turned into a werewolf tonight and nearly tried to rip your head off. He might do the same to me if I go back there."

"But you keep telling me I'm one of these werewolf things, so why don't you leave me?" he wondered.

I glared into the fire. "That's different."

"How is it different?" he challenged me.

"It just is," I insisted.

I reached into my coat pocket. My fingers brushed against only cloth. My eyes widened and my pulse quickened. I grabbed my pocket and turned it inside out. Only lint fluttered out. I looked over the ground.

"Where the hell is it?" I hissed.

"Where's what?" Mortale asked me.

I stood and my eyes swept the ground. The weak glow from the fire and the stars above us were my only sources of light. "My necklace. The one I showed you earlier," I reminded him.

"Oh. You mean this?" He reached into the high collar of his coat and pulled out the chain. The small, silver balls glistened in the firelight.

I straightened and frowned at the necklace. "You fixed it?"

He looked down at the necklace and shook his head. "I don't know. It was just there."

I pursed my lips and stood. He flinched. "I need some time alone," I told him.

I turned away from him and towards the lapping waters of the river. He held out his hand. "But-"

I glanced over my shoulder. "I'll be fine. Just don't go turning into that monster and running away." He averted his eyes to the ground and hung his head. I sighed and half-turned to him. "I. . .I believe that you don't know what's happening." He lifted his head and his eyes widened. It gave me some pleasure to see those emerald eyes. "But that doesn't mean I'm letting you off. I'm going to get you to remember, Mortale, even if it kills me."

A small smile graced his lips. "If we're going to be together than you may as well know my first name. It's Vincent."

I raised an eyebrow. "So Vincent Mortale is your full name?"

He gave a nod. "Yeah. At least, I think so."

"Don't you know?"

He hung and shook his head. "No, not really. I. . .I just know that's my name."

"I'll call you Vincent, but don't go spreading that name everything. Those two people who broke into the house learned that name from Meyer. They're going to keep their eyes open for it," I warned him.

He furrowed his brow and looked up at me. "Who were those people?"

I sighed. "You don't even know why they're after you, do you?"

"No, I'm sorry."

"Then I guess we'll just have to be careful."

Very careful.

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