Page 66 of High Stakes and Soulmates
He’s been absolutely torn apart. His intestines are strung across the room, his head torn from his body. Blood coats the room as panic hits me.
“Joaquin?” I call, but there are no other doors out of this room and I don’t see him anywhere. If he fled into the club, wouldn’t he have come to me? The only thing in this room is an open window.
I rush over to the window, looking out into the dark night. Where’s Joaquin? Where’s the man who entered the room? He never came out… did they both leave through the window? Did he kill Donovan while Joaquin fled? Why the fuck wouldn’t he have come for me…
Unless it was…thatman. Unless Joaquin didn’t want to draw him to me to keep me safe. I didn’t get a good enough look at him to know if he’s the man who killed my parents, but I feel like I’d have known… right? I would have…
I try to think about what the killer looked like, but all I can see is the blood. Screaming… sobbing… so much blood. It wasso dark that night… I just remember the pain and my brother dying. My mother and father torn apart in front of me…
The smell is choking me, and I realize I’m still holding the glasses. Hastily, I set them down.
I debate going back into the club as I realize that I don’t know what to do… I don’t know who to trust. My hand is shaking when I hear a scream outside the window, and my eyes fixate on the darkness. Was that Joaquin? It was too far away to tell.
Fuck.
I dash to the window, scrambling through it. I have my gun, at least. I’m not sure what the fuck it’ll do to a vampire, but I have it. I have it… and…
Should I go back? Yes, I should go back. I’m completely vulnerable out here… but I can’t get myself to turn around.
Fuck.
Quickly, I pull out my phone, but I’m afraid to call Joaquin. What if he’s hiding and the ring alerts the killer?
I call Ezio, feeling like he’s the only person I can rely on at this moment.
“Hey,” he says. “I’ve been wanting to get ahold of you. You won’t believe?—”
“Ezio, I need your help. I need you and Casimir… I’m at that club I told you about. I came here with my brother.”
“Joaquin? He’s… dead… isn’t he?”
“He was turned into a vampire. It’s why they never found the body… I lied and told them I saw the vampire kill him. It was a lie to keep him safe because we knew the vampire was hunting him down. But someone attacked Donovan… they killed him, and I don’t know what happened to Joaquin… I think it’s the guy who killed my family. I don’t know who to trust here at the club. Do I go back inside?”
“I’m heading there now. It’s about an hour’s drive, but I’ll run and make it there faster. I promise I will. Just go back to yourcar. I’ll talk to Casimir, see who he knows from the club and whether he can get someone to go with you. Please, be careful.”
“I will,” I say before hanging up. I hesitate, knowing that I don’t want to leave Joaquin alone when I could help… but do I even know where they went? And could I even catch up? I’m not a vampire. I can’t run as fast as one. And I sure as hell can’t fight like one.
I anxiously glance into the dark before looking back at my car. But when I do, I see two golden glowing eyes looking back at me.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
EZIO
“So Cyrus is like… off with the man of his dreams. I know it. He said it wasextremelyplatonic, so that means that it’s probably the man he’s ultra in love with, and he’s going to spend the night with him and be like, ‘Damn, you arefine. Ezio is significantly less fine.’ And then I’m going to get tossed to the bottom of the food chain, you know? It’s just not fair. Do you know how not fair it is? Very not fair,” I say. “You get me?”
Julian merely grumbles at me, which obviously means “I get you.”
“I just… am I being too needy? Do you think I’m needy?”
Julian grumbles some more, as though he has something better to do. I mean, what’s better than this?
“You’re right, but I’m trying to play it cool in front of him. I’m just ranting to you because you’re such a good listener and always give the best advice. And the advice you’re giving right now is that I should buy Cyrus something that will blow him the fuck away, right?”
Julian growls about that.
“Too much? Maybe… Your pacing is making me feel like you’re not getting it,” I say.
I stick my fingers through the crate the werewolf is currently walking circles in and boop his nose. He snaps his fangs at me in response, driven wild by the moon, but he’s just so cute and such a good listener that I don’t even care that he won’t remember any of this. Honestly, I can ramble all I want and he can’t complain at all, so it’s definitely a win.
