Page 18 of Blood Gift

That did it.

I was tired of tiptoeing around with him. Just because I’d promised some unseen force that I’d be a nicer person didn’t mean I had to let him walk all over me.

“It’s none of your business, and that is a stone-cold fact,” I growled. “My private life has nothing to do with you. You exist solely to keep me safe. Do you understand?”

Silence hung between us as we plummeted down to the ground floor.

When the doors opened again, he nodded. “Understood.”

I couldn’t help feeling like shit, but he needed to remember his place.

I knew his last charge had been a lot more easy-breezy than I ever was with Elias, so he had an idea that we would be friends. He was wrong. One of us had to rein it in. I let him hold the door open for me as we walked out of the lobby, and again as we entered the coffee shop at the corner.

I swept over the room immediately on entering.

Hewasn’t there.

Of course not. Every day, the possibility that I might have imagined him grew bigger and bigger.

It was my dream leaking into reality, as crazy as it sounded. No crazier than having the same dream every single night about a man I had never met, who I could only identify by a pair of eyes.

“I’ll get a seat,” Holden announced, leaving me on my own to stand in line.

I told myself it was for the best. I didn’t need any friends—and the closer we became, the more dangerous things would be for us. He couldn’t protect me if there were personal feelings involved. A business relationship was best for both of us.

I remembered the cold, aloof attitude I took toward Elias and wondered how I could ever have been so thoughtless. And I wished for the hundredth time that I could go back and apologize to him for being such a bitch.

To him and my sister, both.

My laptop bag hung over one shoulder and reminded me of the research I was pretending to do as a reason to sit for hours in front of my computer the way humans liked to. Pretentious jackasses.

It wasn’t like I hated learning more about the history of witchcraft’s evolution after our coven came to the New World, but it wasn’t my idea of a good time.

The approach of Halloween put the thought in my head, and it seemed like as good a reason as any to sit around doing research.

It was a stupid, childish excuse and I didn’t owe Holden anything—still, it provided a cover story in case anybody asked him for a report on my well-being. And something told me my mother was, on the regular.

I didn’t know how she contacted him. Cell phone, most likely. While he was in his room, alone, where I couldn’t see or hear them talking about me. It was enough to make my blood boil.

Which was why I spun so abruptly, latte in hand, and bumped into the man standing behind me. Coffee splashed out of the cup and splattered his jeans and shoes.

“Would you believe that’s the second time that’s happened to me this week?” he asked with a wry chuckle, as I scrambled for napkins.

I looked up at him as I handed them over and almost dropped my cup in surprise.

“You,” I whispered before I could stop myself.

Because it was him. I was sure of it.

The surprising thing was, he looked at me with just as much surprise.

“You,” he murmured in reply.

We shared one breathless moment before the reality of the situation trickled through, in the form of a barista asking if we’d please step aside so other customers could place their orders.

“I’m so sorry,” I breathed. “That was awful of me. Please, let me buy you a cup of coffee.”

“No, no, that’s all right. I shouldn’t have been standing so close to you. That’s what I get for not respecting personal space.” He chuckled good-naturedly.

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