Page 69 of Blood Bound (Blood Mafia 3)

Letting her go, I pull out my phone and tap out a message. Alissa appears about thirty seconds later, having flashed from her own apartment.

Demi’s eyes narrow on me when she sees her friend.

“Why is she working? She should be resting, Grayson.”

“She’s the only one I trust for this job.”

“It’s okay, Demi, really. I feel fine and I want to help, I don’t want to be left out because everyone’s worried about me.” Alissa straightens her sweater. “I’ll take good care of them.”

“Of course you will,” Demi says as she embraces her friend. “Thank you.”

We leave Alissa outside of the apartment, deciding it’s better to let Demi’s parents decompress without a vampire present.

“Everything good?” I ask, starting in the direction of the elevator.

“They’re handling this all a lot better than I expected.”

I nudge her side when we stop in front of the elevator. “Did you expect them to shun you?”

With a half shrug, she presses the call button. “Maybe.”

“You know, from what I can tell, there’s probably nothing you could do—aside from being a serial killer—to make them shun you, and even then, I bet your mom would visit you in prison.”

The elevator doors swish open and we climb in. She presses the button for Mateo’s floor and comes to stand next to me, linking her hand with mine.

“She’d probably try to bring me cookies and get in trouble with the guards.”

“Especially if she punched them.”

Demi snickers, then gasps. “Oh, I shouldn’t laugh, but you should have seen how determined she was to make you hurt.”

“I did see it! You get the same look in your eyes sometimes, mostly around Mateo.”

Mentioning his name makes her smile fall and she presses her lips together.

“Still mad at him?”

She sighs. “I don’t know what I am anymore. He killed my real dad, Grayson. How can I be okay with that?”

I shake my head, because I don’t know.

The elevator is at floor thirty.

Six more floors to go.

“Maybe you don’t have to be okay with it, but you might be able to understand why he did it.”

She pulls her hand from mine and glares at me. “Whose side are you on?”

I sigh. “I’m on yours, but I’m also on Mateo’s. He didn’t kill your dad for no reason, you should at least hear what he has to say.”

Crossing her arms over her chest, her eyes cloud with frustration as she glares a hole in the doors. The elevator dings, arriving at level thirty-six, and she presses her fingers into her arms so hard the knuckles turn white.

“Are you okay?”

She nods. “I can’t promise to do anything when it comes to him right now.”

“I understand,” I say, stepping out of the now open doors and waiting for her to follow.

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