Page 71 of Vampires of Eden
My whole life, my eyes have only alighted for Oliver. He was supposed to be my mate and in my mind, I accepted that as truth. I believed in our pairing and it felt right to yearn for him. Even though, in the end, he practically despised me and fell in love with someone else.
But now,thisvampire? Daniel?With his snarky remarks and cold dead stares like he’s always on the verge of telling me that I’m a fucking idiot?
What strange and unknowable entity within me would respond to him like this?
I’m so… confused. I wish I could dig a hole and lie in it. Since that’s an even more obvious sign that something is wrong, I’ve settled for camping out on the couch in the study and marathoningBuffyto take my mind off of what happened. I don’t want to think about it.
Lying on my side, I’m halfway through the episode where Cordy and Buffy get kidnapped by frat boys who try to sacrifice them to a demonic man-snake when Raphael reappears with my phone. Focused, he taps away as he sits on the arm of the couch at my feet.
“You’re an invasive prick, you know that?” I say, craning my neck to look over at him. There’s nothing in my phone. Kat texted and asked why I left early yesterday, but I haven’t responded. That’s all.
“You have messages from an unknown contact,” he says, reading. “It’s Daniel.”
“What?” Everything inside of me lurches and I sit upright in a full-blown panic.
“I knew it,” Raph says quietly. Nonchalant and ignoring me. “I knew it had something to do with him.”
“Give me the phone!” I lift, flipping on the couch and sitting up on my knees so I can reach Raphael and my mobile, but he swiftly moves away to stand, still reading.
“What on earth happened?” Raphael looks up at me and my whole face flushes. Like fire in my cheeks, neck and even down to my chest.
Fucking humiliating.
I can’t breathe.
“N-nothing,” I choke out. Super convincing. “Nothing happened.” My mind feels as if it’s in a messy tangle of knots. I can’t talk to Daniel—he’s going to rake me over the coals for this. Without question, he’ll scream at me and call me a manipulative pervert. Which, I probably am. I can’t ever face him again.
Raphael folds his arms and his expression softens. “You do know that… this situation with Daniel isn’t like with you and Oliver?—”
“Iknowthat. Why the hell are you of all vampires bringing up Oliver right now?—”
“Because you’re not an adolescent anymore, Alexander. You and Daniel…” Raphael shifts his weight and sighs. “You’re not a couple of nobility kids forced together for the sake of business arrangements and kept under strict supervision. This isn’t anything like the game that you’re used to playing. If something happened, just talk to him and figure it out, okay? You’re allowed to do that. You two are adults and can make that choice.”
“There’s no ‘me and Daniel,’” I say, baffled. “I’m just—I’m the depressed idiot that shows up to help sometimes. The purebred that he barely tolerates.”
Raphael lifts his fingers to his temple and massages. “I seriously doubt that’s the case.”
“And what if… if I don’t want to talk to him? What if I can’t face him again?”
Dropping his hand from his temple, Raphael steps forward and hands me my mobile. “Then grow up and do it anyway.” He walks around the couch toward the door to the study. “I didn’t raise a coward. And nothing about you is idiotic. Except for the fact that you just called yourself that.”
Turning to watch him, I frown. “So… I’m right, then?”
“You’re wrong. I’ll stop reading your messages from now on, okay? Unless it’s an emergency. Text him back. Right now.”
“What constitutes as an ‘emergency’?” I ask, sneering. He doesn’t respond. Just throws his hand up dismissively as he leaves the room.
Horrified, nervous, I flip my phone over in my hand like it’s something that could attack me if I make any sudden movements. Bringing it up higher with both hands, I tap my code in, then navigate to the messages.
[Hey, this is Daniel.]
[Will you call me? Can we talk?]
[Please don’t ignore me.]
Me ignoring him? Why wouldn’t he be ignoringme? I’m the offender in this scenario.
I bring the phone up higher to text, but my hands freeze in fear. I drop them back down to my sides.
