Page 23 of The HalloQueen

“Non, Bels, I barely touched it.”

“Then explain why I woke up thinking I got roofied?!”

“My love, I have a store full of customers. I have staff out there-”

“Jesus Christ, if you’re going to eat those kids-”

I was so offended that I laughed out loud, “You think I would risk exposure for some zitty teens?”

“You’re the vampire here, not me.”

I jumped up and flashed to her side, pressing my index finger to her lips and her eyes flew wide in disbelief, “I need you to be quiet,mon coeur. I am trying to live here, just like everyone else. I am not suddenly going to kill a store full of people when I need their money to move on.” I sighed when the overhead intercom called for a manager to the register knowing damn well that I was the only manager.

“I’ll meet you tonight and explain everything, okay?”

“But, I, Tommy-” She was flustered and turning a wonderful shade of pink, clearly wanting more information that very moment.

“Go drop off your ‘sample’ if you don’t want to believe me - there will be no drugs in your system, and if I was a vampire interested in killing you I would have done it by now.”

Her eyes widened further, and I caressed her soft cheek with the back of my hand, calming her enough that she whispered, “But - I… I have so many questions.”

I nodded, “I’ll answer all of them. I’ll see you tonight.” I leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the top of her head and took her hand to guide her back out to the front of the store. My insides churned, frustrated that mortal teenagers were so useless that some sort of pirate or black cat-related emergency couldn’t possibly be solved without me during one of the most important conversations of my life.

“I promise. I’ll come by tonight.”

“But-”

“I promise you, Bels.”

11

ANNABEL

Okay, I didn't know what I was expecting, but an energy-sucking vampire wasn’t it. I was hoping he’d say I’d just fallen asleep and I was out of my mind, and then I’d go to the urgent care and prove him right, but when he touched me I felt my emotions drain out of me. It was like I was an extra thick milkshake and I was trying to ease my stress through a coffee stirrer, and then Thomas blasted through all of my defenses with a boba straw. I felt in control of my body like I could have pushed him away from me if I’d tried, but I wasn’t scared of him, if anything, it was a relief to get the anxiety out of my system so fast.

I climbed into my Jeep and pulled the bottom elastic on my crop top to blow some air conditioning on my boob sweat to help dry it out. I didn’t know if it was boob sweat from heat or nerves, but regardless, I needed a second to air them out while I got my head back on straight.

A vampire was a vampire, right? I mean, folklore doesn’t exist out of nothing. Stories, tales, and warnings that came down verbally over centuries didn’t just poof into someone’s head.

“Well pardonez-moi for not knowing the conjugation of your silly ‘poof’ word.”

I laughed, hearing his words in my head so clearly, it was as if he was yelling them into my ear. Oh my god. Could he read my mind? Please let me be a Bella.

I panicked and grabbed a stack of sticky notes out of my purse, and quickly scribbled, “can you read my mind?” on it before peeling it off and sticking it to my dash with a nod. Then I scribbled out, “are you going to accidentally or purposely kill me at any time?” and slapped that on my dash as well.

I needed a fucking coffee. I pulled out onto the road outside the shopping center and drove the three blocks to the coffee place with a drive-through and ordered myself a Roasted Marshmallow. It was my drink of the summer while I waited for PSL to return. It was a white chocolate and marshmallow syrup latte with an extra shot of espresso. It tasted like camping. Not that I’d know, or camp, really - these boots were made for walking, not hiking.

My car’s phone system rang and I picked it up when I saw it was Shannon.

“You get laid?” I asked instead of saying hello.

“I was calling to ask you the same thing!”her cheery voice echoed through my car and I immediately turned the volume down. If he was such an energy sucker, why couldn’t he have found a way to remove the stupid hangover symptoms?

“Uh, no, I apparently passed out on the couch and he left,” I answered honestly.

“Well, I guess it’s a good thing you’ve been fucking him for years then, right? At least you didn’t fall asleep in a vulnerable position with someone you just met yesterday.”

Even I heard how awkward my laugh was, “oh my god, I know right?”

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