Page 39 of Life Blood
Chapter Fifteen
Falling asleep in Logan’s arms was literally a thirty-second process. The guy didn’t mess around. I felt nothing but love and warmth emanating from the vampire, and Boots’ rhythmic purring helped whisk me off into a deep, dreamless sleep.
After my cell phone alarm went off at 6:00 a.m., I felt rejuvenated and ready to take on the day. Interestingly enough, I also felt a longing to see all four of the cousins again. Even Zac who was an absolute dick the night before.
I took a shower, wondering why my urge to see any one of them was so intense. I felt so strongly attached to them…almost possessive of them. I felt like I was finally beginning to understand what Cole meant about their sense of devotion toward me. I felt it for them as well. It was as if they were the missing pieces to my life.
After I combed and dried my hair, I headed toward the closet. After yet another night of sleeping in my clothes, and I was ready to wear whatever new wardrobe the bitchy vampire chick picked out for me.
I glanced at the color-coded attire and tried to judge what I was in the mood to wear. I snatched a pair of neatly folded jeans off the shelf to my right and pulled them on before I grabbed a black, cotton sweater off of a hanger as I looked over at the formal dresses hanging at the far end of the closet.
At least I’ll be prepared if anyone should ask me to attend the opera.
I slid my feet into my Vans and headed downstairs. The large house was eerily silent, but the pull toward the voices coming from the patio brought me back to the porch that overlooked the pool.
“I’m swimming in that tonight!” I said to the four cousins as I approached them. They were seated around a patio table eating breakfast when Braden stood and motioned for me to sit near him.
“Sleep well?” Zac asked, his voice mimicking his attitude from the night before.
“I did,” I answered his serious demeanor. “I need to find my backpack and make sure I have everything ready for—”
“Already done,” Logan beamed after sipping his orange juice. “You’re all set for a fantastic day at school.”
“So how is this all going to work?” I eyed Cole who was staring down at his phone. “Cole?”
“Simple.” He glanced up after locking the phone, “You’re with us now. You ditched your boyfriend so that idiot’s just a few conversations from being out of your life completely. Your best friend moved without so much as a goodbye…I’d say you won’t have much explaining to do.” He took a bite of his buttered toast and leaned back casually in his chair.
“Okay, fine. I just want to get through this day, go to work, come back here, and go to bed.”
“Sorry,” Logan leaned forward, biceps stretching the sleeves of his shirt. I glanced away from that only to be captured by two sapphire blue eyes that bore into mine. “You don’t work at the coffee shop anymore.”
“What!” I stood up. “Listen. I know you all want to protect me and I’m some special little cupcake to all four of you,” I glared at Zac’s solemn expression, knowing he was pissed this was happening too, “but you can’t take every bit of normalcy I have away from me. It’s already messed up that I have to live here for protection.” I folded my arms and eyed each one of the guys, “And stop trying to show off with your perfect bodies, touching me to get my heart racing and shit, all of it. Can we at least try and ease into this twisted lifestyle we’re all apparently destined to have?”
“You’re feeling the draw more, then?” Zac asked curiously.
“I don’t know what is happening to me. I’m having a hard enough time trying to process all this supernatural stuff. This might be no big deal for you, but it is for me. I need my routine to feel as normal as it can. You can’t take work away from me too.”
“Elle, you have to be reasonable,” Logan rubbed the back of his neck, “Youknowyou can’t keep working there, and you have no need to earn a paycheck. You cannot possibly think that it’s safe for you to be there—a place where any vampire can walk in and smell you—not after taking the precaution of moving in with us here.”
He was right. Expecting my life to ever be normal again seemed ridiculous now.
“True,” I conceded as I turned to leave, “Where’s my backpack?”
Braden was at my side in a flash as I marched into the house.
“Elle,” he said softly as he turned me to face him.
I looked at his hands, gently caressing my upper arms. “Can I ask a question that seems pretty weird to me right now?”
“Anything.”
I rubbed my forehead, “Is it normal for me to feel like all four of you are somehow mine? Like, as in,mine?”
The smile on Braden’s face should have been good enough for me, I felt happiness and relief without him even saying a word.
“It’s better than normal. We have been doing everything possible to research Life Bloods to see if this all was feasible. We haven’t learned much and are still searching through old books, but,” he parted his lips in a way that made me chomp down on my bottom lip to prevent myself from an impulse kiss.
“But, what?” I asked, my voice more controlled.
