Page 16 of Even Vampires Bleed
Why am I covering up for him?
“What happened?” Elhyor asks when I don’t add anything.
“He said it was a migraine, but it came in an instant so I made him rest,” I answer again, and I want to beat myself for covering for him.
“And where is he?” Angie asks.
“In my room,” I answer, and this time at least it’s the truth.
Elhyor moves toward his office, so I follow him, but Angie seems to have decided something else. She pulls on Elhyor’s hand and gets him to follow her up the stairs. I know where she wants to go, and I immediately scream internally.
“Maybe I should go first,” I say before we reach my bedroom door.
This is going to be bad. This is going to be freaking bad.
Angie doesn’t wait for me though and opens my door wide in front of everyone.
Léandre is still in bed, tangled in the sheet with his bare chest glistening with the light filtering through the door.
This doesn’t look like he went to rest after a migraine. Not at all.
I cringe at how this must look from an external point of view.
Angie takes a step back and closes the door as she turns in my and Elhyor’s direction.
“I’ll be in your office,” she says to Elhyor. “Get him to wake and dress and join us,” she adds to me, and I don’t miss the harshness in her tone.
I slip inside my room as I hear her grumble on her way down with Elhyor.
I don’t know what came over me to lie, but now I have to explain that to Léandre.
I almost feel like laughing.
If only I didn’t want to both throttle him and cry in his arms at the same time.
I cross the room to get the key pass for the rooms from my desk and on my way back to the door, I sit on the side of the bed and shake Léandre’s shoulder.
“Wake up, sleepy head. Your best friend is in a mood because you slept here. So, you better get up and take a shower. I’d stay, but we need to hurry and you need clean clothes. I’m going to pick them up in your room.”
He looks at me with sleepy eyes before he possessively snakes his arm behind my back and drags me against him.
“We don’t have time for that,” I snap at him.
“What’s wrong, Little Luciole?” he asks softly, and I don’t have the mental strength to fight him to get free of his embrace.
“Two teams were sent to destroy the servers linked to your microchip, and it went wrong. My dad and his team didn’t come back. And when Angie asked me where you were, I lied. I said you had a migraine, and that I let you rest in my room. She wanted to talk to you immediately, and she found you naked in my bed, so obviously she knows I lied—especially since I probably need to open the window. The whole room smells like sex, and no one could miss it, not even a human. And I’m mad at you. You weren’t here on theparvis,when all of this was for you. But I’m even madder at myself because I can’t seem to be really mad.”
By the time I’m done with my speech, I’m crying, and Léandre is cradling my head against him.
“I’m sorry Little Luciole. I’m not right in my head right now. But I’ll do better,” he whispers against my forehead before dropping a small kiss there.
It feels so good, but I still need to get us going. I hate it, but Istill do.
“Take a shower. I’ll be back in a minute,” I tell him when I finally manage to untangle myself from his arms.
I swipe my fingers under my eyes to dry my tears, and then I’m out of the room without a second look at Léandre.
He’d better hurry his butt and be under the shower when I’m back in the room.
