Chapter Forty-Three
Kierse evaded the vampire guards that put Red Velvet on lockdown. But the rest of Third Floor seemed to continue as if nothing had happened. What was one dead vampire in a place that served fresh meat and blood on every corner? She was shaken up, but she needed to make sure she had covered her tracks at least.
She didn’t have any blood on her. The alleyway had been dark, and her hood had been up. If there were cameras, she might be caught, but she hadn’t noticed any in the gloom. In fact, she hadn’t noticed them anywhere except on the gates of Louis’s residence. As if the only thing he really cared about in his lawless world was his own well-being. Fucker.
Once everything seemed to calm down, she texted Graves to let him know she was on her way and backtracked down the long corridor that led to the checkpoint. She rescanned her card, passed through the wards, and was on the other side.
Graves waited for her at the mouth of the tunnel. “Well, how did it go?”
“Not to plan,” she said. She couldn’t seem to get her hands to stop shaking.
He took one look at her face and her trembling body and asked almost gently, “What happened?”
“Not here,” she said.
But she could barely get the words out.
Graves just nodded. He understood the need for secrecy more than anyone else she’d ever met. More than herself, even. So, when he guided her away from the tunnel, she followed mutely.
She needed to get it together. She could not have a breakdown. She could not lose control. She had to get back to the library, back to the safety of Graves’s home. Back to the safety of... Graves.
When had she started to think of him as a safe place? Hadn’t he been just another monster? But now he... wasn’t. That much, she knew.
She trusted him. Not just with her body the other night, but with her safety, and now her... secrets. She could trust him with her secrets about Torra.
“This is far enough,” Graves said, pulling her to a stop. “You’re shaking. Tell me what happened.”
Kierse leaned back against the tunnel. She was still shaking, and she couldn’t get herself to stop. “A year ago, I was dating someone. Her name was Torra.”
“Okay,” Graves said uncertainly.
“We met through the Dreadlords, and things got serious fast. She wanted me to move in. She wanted a relationship. A real life together,” she told him, remembering it like it was yesterday. “I was still... not ready for that. She thought I would never be ready. We had a huge fight and broke it off.” She met his gaze. “And then she disappeared.”
“Disappeared?” he asked.
“Into Third Floor.”
Graves stilled. “And you found her?”
“I thought she was dead, Graves,” she said around the knot in her throat. “I thought she was gone forever. Vampires raided her apartment and stole her. I only found the information after the fact, but Nate couldn’t get into the underworld. He couldn’t get in because he was a human sympathizer. We didn’t know about the wards. He lost a wolf trying to get below, and he had to stop. We both had to stop.”
“Fuck,” he whispered.
“So, I planned to find the people who did this and get answers.”
“You never mentioned this.”
“I know,” she said, letting him see the desperation in her expression. The vulnerability that she so rarely showed anyone. “I don’t talk about her. Not with Nate. Not even with Gen and Ethan.”
“And yet you’re telling me,” he said slowly as he realized the implications of this.
“I want you to understand.”
“Tell me.” But it wasn’t fierce; it was reassuring, as if she could talk to him, as if it could always be like this.
“I found the vampire who stole her. I killed him.”
Graves’s smile was dangerous. “Good.”
“You don’t judge me for it?”
“Why would I? He deserved it.”
“Yeah,” she said, breathing out. It wasn’t her first kill. No, Jason had claimed that honor, but she had always fought to stay out of those situations. She had never gone looking for trouble like that. “Yeah, he deserved it. I’d do it again.”
“I’d do it for you.”
She nodded, mutual understanding settling between them. “He told me Torra was alive. I saw her at the brothel. She’s working for King Louis.” Fire sparked in her eyes as she let him see her fury. He met it with his own need of vengeance. “I promised to get her out. I promised to find an exit for her. And I promised to fucking kill him in the end.”
Graves was silent for a moment before nodding. “He’s earned it.”
“Yes, he fucking has.”
“And you?” he asked, taking that last step forward toward her.
“What about me?”
“Are you going to be all right?”
Her fire extinguished at that look in his eyes. Not pity. Not that horrid word that she could never accept. But understanding, acceptance, vulnerability. An instant where they both let their guard down in the wake of unequal tragedy.
“I don’t know,” she admitted.
“Come here.” He held his arms out toward her.
And for a moment, she couldn’t process the offer. Couldn’t put together this Graves who was offering her comfort with the hardened monster she had first met. Couldn’t believe that he could change this much for her, as she had changed this much for him.
She wanted it.
She wanted it every bit as much as the sex.
So she stepped forward into his embrace. She flinched at the first touch, but once his warmth enveloped her, she released the last wave of tension holding her upright and settled into his arms.
Then she began to cry.