Page 14 of Your Coffin or Mine
“Fine.” I can use the clothes until they find my luggage.
“Fine,” Vlad retorts, crossing his arms over his chest, a scowl on his face.
“Excellent,” Doyle says with a clap.
If this asshole thinks I am going to let him walk all over me, he has another thing coming.
My phone dings and then dings repeatedly for what seems like forever, causing my stomach to dip. Most of the messagesseem to be from Bernadette and there are lots of shouty caps. Oh shit. Woo hoo!Service.
“Hang on, give me a sec,” I say over my shoulder, typing out a quick message.
Burnie:
Hello?
Me:
What happened?
Burnie:
The screenshots won’t send! The asshat is playing victim and it’s working.
Ugh. I do not have time for this. It’s probably just another plea to try and get me back, the dipshit.
“Does the village have internet anywhere?” I ask Doyle.
“I think there are a couple restaurants that have?—”
“Alright, Sir Asshole, let’s go.” I turn around and head for the lobby, praying whatever Chad has done can be fixed. No matter where I go, it seems I can’t escape jerks.
Chapter 6
VLAD
She is a conundrum.Her fire and spirit are unlike anything I have experienced, and I find myself at a loss for what to say to her, grossly aware that I have no notion of how to even speak to such a creature.
Although the drive to the village is a silent one, the small sounds she makes when something catches her attention outside the vehicle are a surprise, and I want to ask what she’s thinking about. That is, until she pulls out that wretched mobile device to capture an image.
The castle became a revolving door of humans after Doyle enlisted a construction crew and the stench was stomach churning. After observing them from a distance, I concluded humans are typically disgusting creatures who seem to lack intelligence and are more than content to waste away gazing at technology like it is God.
She is anything but disgusting. Even so, she has looked at her phone no less than eight times in the last hour. Watching her so enthralled has me questioning what it is that pulls humans in all walks of life to stare at such a thing for so long.
Doyle has been badgering me for years to at least give technology a chance, that times have changed, and it would be a simple thing to catch up on current events. Perhaps it’s time. The special sunscreen concoction coating my skin makes living among humans... seem doable.
I mistakenly take in a deep breath and the smell of Doyle wrapped so closely around her floral scent has my fingers tightening on the steering wheel in annoyance.
I hate the scent of the overgrown dog intermingling with her wildflower-sweet smell. It makes me want to scrub her down in a scalding bath until I can remove all traces of him... And now I am thinking of her in a bath, naked. Blast... I don’t need to encourage my newly replenished blood supply to go south again.
“I love this car,” she says, reaching forward to brush her hand over the polished wooden interior.
“I do too. It has been a while since I’ve driven it.”
A frown puckers on her face. “It’s a Cadillac, yeah? If I had this car, I’d drive every day. Why don’t you drive it more?”
How should one answer that? I have been half a man for almost a century? It was one of Doyle’s antics to try to get me eating again sometime in the 1950s.
I clear my throat. “Obviously because I didn’t feel like it.”
