Page 85 of Blood Bound (Blood Mafia 3)

Despite it being one of my favorites, I fall asleep after the first chapter.

* * *

The next morning,after eating breakfast with my parents, I go to find Evelyn. When I woke up, there was a note from Mateo on my kitchen counter with a few suggestions on where to look.

I hate to admit he’s being charming, but damn the blood sucker is a weasel. Instead of using my supe sense to seek her out, I take my time going through the list of possibilities, drawing out the inevitable. I reach the third place on my list, the roof of the building, and hesitate when I see Evelyn sitting on the bed of cushions where my powers awakened.

If she notices my arrival, I can’t tell. She’s sitting crisscross, with her hands on her knees and… she’s chanting.

Slowly I make my way toward her. There’s no sign of Trey, I guess they finally finished him off.

I don’t want to interrupt whatever this is, and I’m being a chicken shit. I need to drop onto my knees and beg for her forgiveness. Not literally, but you know what I mean.

I was a total asshole. She’s been amazing since I arrived, if not a bit scary, but she’s offered me nothing except kindness.

“Ommmmmm.” Evelyn’s chanting is deep and the natural vibrato of her vocal cords is something any singer would envy.

I sit in front of her, crisscrossing my legs. I pinch my index finger and thumb together in an O shape and place my hands on my legs, copying her posture. Closing my eyes, I join her on her next Om.

When she doesn’t yell at me or say anything, I settle in and steady my breathing, using the exhale to Om and the inhale to prep for the next one. We do this for a few minutes before she stops.

Opening one eye, I see her staring at me with nothing but vulnerability. I snap my other eye open and tackle her in a hug.

She falls back onto the cushion and wraps her arms around me. I rest my head on her shoulder.

“I’m an asshole, Evelyn. You were right about everything. I didn’t trust you and you’ve done nothing to deserve that.”

Evelyn doesn’t answer straight away, and my chest constricts.

Am I too late?

Does she already hate me?

Did I miss out on my opportunity for redemption? Mateo had said there was only a small window of time where she’d forgive me.

“If you do it again, I’ll kill you.”

Oh thank Odin.

I burst into laughter and she does too.

“You should have felt your heart. I thought for sure it was going to burst through your chest.”

Lifting my head, I narrow my eyes at her grinning face. “You’re an asshole.”

“Youloveme.”

I smack her arm. “Shut up.”

“Admit it. You love me.You want to kiss me, you want to hug me, you want to love me.”

“You’re a horrible singer, you know that?”

Her eyes crinkle at the edges. “That’s not true.”

She’s right, but I’ll never tell her that now.

Rolling off of her and onto the pillows, I place my hand behind my neck and stare at the cloudy sky. It’s mid-morning so they haven’t totally broken apart yet.

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