Page 29 of Vampires Don't Give Hickeys
Chapter Ten
“Are you sure you shouldbe making coffee? You look like hell.”
I slammed the rude customer’s coffee down on the counter with a fake-ass grin on my face. “I’ve never felt better.”
She gave me the stink-eye and must’ve been the defending champ of sneering because her upper lip just about reached her forehead. “I’m going to disinfect this cup.”
“Okay, you do that.” I saluted, dismissing her, and then turned my attention to the next customer in line.
I was sure she was right—I probably did look like hell. Though the scratches and bruises from my harsh meeting with a window last night had faded quickly due to my slayer healing power, the mental scars were still there. I hadn’t slept last night. How could I with memories of what had happened to Tim streaming through my head? It had left me too shaken to eat, sleep, and function as a normal human being, let alone the slayer.
Sylvia sidled up next to me with her back turned to the line of customers and whispered, “Are you okay?”
I nodded since the next customer had finally settled on what they wanted. But no, I wasn’t okay. After the first glimpse of sun bleeding through the morning sky, I’d run across the street from my apartment to a pay phone to call the police anonymously. A few hours later, I’d taken a trip to the bank with the bundle of checks signed Luc Morningstar for one enormous check that I’d promptly dropped in the mail to a cancer research company donated in Mom’s name.
I liked to think she’d be proud of that. Of me too. God, I missed her something fierce. I wished I’d been allowed to tell her about the top-secret part of my life, but the golden letter said I couldn’t. Like, I literally couldn’t. The words magically fled my tongue every time I tried.
After several hours of serving coffee and somehow not killing anyone with how horrible I apparently looked, I started toward my home away from home, the place I’d wanted to be since I’d first stepped foot inside several days ago.
The door creaked inward before I climbed the steps, welcoming me inside with open arms, and the house immediately sparked its warmth and comfort up my skin. I just about collapsed on the floor, already missing the smell and feel of this house even though I was now standing inside it.
“Hello?” I called.
Maybe they’d gone out for Halloween. It could be there was a vampire friendly night club I didn’t know about, with dancing, Bloody Marys, and maybe even actual bloody human Marys. But the thought of them with some imaginary chick named Mary shot a pang through my chest. I hardly knew them and had zero ownership over them, but I didn’t want to share.
Yet the house didn’t feel empty at all. I stepped through to the living room where the furniture had been arranged to how it had been with the coffee table in the center and no sign of Jacek’s mats. To my left was the kitchen, where on the table waited a steaming mug of coffee and a slice of apple pie. Tears welled in my eyes because this was exactly what I needed. Not food, exactly, but someone who cared. Who would listen. Three someones were even better.
“Sawyer?” I called, my voice warbling slightly.
The front door closed gently behind me, but no one was there. Yet there was a presence here, and it felt like Sawyer’s, silent, authoritative, and hidden in shadow.
“Okay, well...if you’re here, I’ll just start taking off my clothes, then,” I said, more to lighten my own mood.
A low chuckle sounded from somewhere inside the house. “I won’t stop you.”
That was Sawyer, all right. His deep, commanding voice rolled pleasantly to my ears.
“I’m curious. What doyouwant out of life, Belle?” Sawyer asked. “Other than not having to marry the devil?”
“I want...” A lot of things, but some of those things I wasn’t sure I could put into words, and some of those things involved more of what Ididn’twant. Like being the slayer and wearing that burden on my back and having a dark unknown trying to kill me. I heaved a sigh and paced the length of the living room. “World peace would be nice. Also, I would like to talk to an actual vampire instead of this lovely coffee table.”
Sawyer appeared in the hallway, a massive stack of brawn and man, with one bare shoulder leaning against the wall and his long, jean-clad legs crossed at the ankles. His russet skin matched the golden hue of his eyes, and the sun and moon tattoos on his torso climbed up to his black curls sweeping his ears.
“Better?” he asked softly.
A breathy, affirmative sound pushed between my lips. I cleared my throat. “Why hide?”
“I was standing five feet away from you,” he said, stepping closer. His large frame dwarfed mine and shrunk the room until it was just him and me. “That’s hardly hiding, especially when you didn’t look.” He raised his hands and plucked the cotton from my ears. “But you did hear.”
I sighed. I’d put those in as soon as I’d left work. “There’s a story behind that.”
“Does it explain why you’re upset?” he asked, the words tight with concern.
I nodded and swallowed hard. “Last night’s patrol was...uh, difficult.”
“Care to tell me about it?”
