Page 51 of Even Vampires Bleed
Anyone would have looked at me this way, I would have thought I was about to be grilled with questions until they got to the bottom of it. But it’s Elis I’m talking about, and I’m pretty sure he thinks the less he asks about me, the less I’ll ask about him, too.
So, he stays quiet, and I know it’ll stay like this.
“Cassiopé,” I say when my voice accepts to work normally again.
“That’s a lovely name,” I hear Léandre say behind me, and I quicken my pace.
The quicker we do our first meeting, the quicker I can be away.
That doesn’t make much sense, but I don’t know if I’ll survive for long with him acting so casually.
I want to hug and kiss him. I want to show him how good we were together, but I hate even more that I still want that.
It’s all over.
This man isn’t my Léandre.
This man works out; it’s obvious now that I can cast side glances while we walk to take a better look.
My Léandre didn’t like working out. He liked books, and he would have never been sent on a mission to steal something.
I believe he only followed when we went to Blois because I was going, no matter what anyone told me.
Going was for me.
So, this man, the one who chose to come to theSacré Coeur—and came prepared—isn’t mine anymore.
We enter the church and then get down to the catacombs.
We pass Christina’s office and then enter the room that was given to us to prepare for this.
The room is bare except for a very big table, showing blueprints of the aisle that used to house the former Michaël, from what I understood. It’s not in Versailles’s castle, though. It’sunderit. This is where we’re supposed to go.
No one has said a word during the walk here.
With Elis and I, it’s to be expected. With Léandre, it’s more because if he ever visited the catacombs—he probably doesn’t remember, and he’s now soaking in the feels.
His eyes are glittering in the light of the electric candles that are installed on the walls.
“Where do we start?” he asks when we’re all inside the room, “Is it just the three of us?”
“We need to be discreet,” Elis says. “Do you think ten people would be?”
I want to tell him to shut up because Léandre can’t really know, and that anyway, it’s going to be difficult to be totally discreet with a bear in tow.
“Alright, then. How do we get in? How do we carry everything?” he asks, and I’m glad he did because that’s at least something I know how to answer.
“I’m our way in, he’s the one who carries everything,” I tell him, and I’m amazed at how I managed to keep it short and also—more importantly—stay where I am.
“But how?” he asks again, and I realize my answer wasn’t foolproof.
Oh well, I’m getting better at being curt, but I’m still not completely on point.
“She does her shit and I’m a bear,” Elis says.
When he puts it like that…
I can see on Léandre’s face that he’s not convinced, though.
