37. Chapter 37
Chapter 37
Delilah
I wake up with a yawn, groping for Cedric next to me, but when I open my eyes, the bed is empty. Not even Blaine is here, which is odd, since he doesn’t usually get up unless I do.
I lift my head, a pout forming on my lips.
I don’t like this , I think to myself, my mind still bleary by the most restful sleep I’ve had in ages. I eye the room with one eye closed, though only feeble rays of sun are penetrating through the curtains.
“Cedric?” I call. A few moments later, I hear Blaine’s paws getting closer, the door opening slowly as he comes in and climbs up his small ladder.
“What are you eating, boy? Please tell me you haven’t learned to reach the kibble,” I say as he licks his nose.
“I can confirm he has not,” Cedric says as he comes in, a tray in his hands and his brows pinched in concentration. I look over at him, hair mussed and crinkly pajamas, and it might be the greatest sight I’ve ever laid my eyes on.
“You’ve made me breakfast?”
“Terribly cliché, I’m aware,” he says as he reaches the bed, carefully propping the tray next to me, then sitting down next to it.
“Terribly thoughtful,” I correct him.
“Yes, well, I tried my very best.”
“Blueberry pancakes!” I squeal, every trace of sleepiness gone. I reach out for one, more moved and excited about the gesture than I can say.
“Blaine might have begged a few off me,” he says. “The blueberries, not the pancakes.”
“If he’s taking advantage of you, it means he likes you a lot,” I say before taking a bite, and the pancake’s texture is so soft and foamy in my mouth I nearly let out a moan.
Cedric eyes me with a tiny smile that somehow feels more blinding than a megawatt neon sign. “Good?” he asks.
I nod enthusiastically, reaching out for the mug of matcha latte he brought along the food. I also notice that, for the first time, he’s not wearing his watch, an object that from what he told me is really important to him. That he feels comfortable enough here, with me, to take it off? It fills me with a bubble of stupid, disproportionate happiness .
“I thought you weren’t a sugar fan,” I say, trying not to dwell too much on his bare wrist, cradling the mug between my hands.
“My brother is, and making pancakes was one of my daily duties,” he says, avoiding my gaze. I can’t expect him to spill his guts about every thought that crosses his mind, especially because I can’t do the same.
I nod and take a sip of the latte, which tastes just as good as the one from the coffee shop. This man is just too good to be true. “Maybe you are a barista slash baker in another life.”
“Maybe,” he repeats, his expression clearing out as soon as he looks back at me. “Delilah, I was hoping–”
I’m about to take another sip when something tingles my upper lip, exploding into brief yet searing pain.
My eyes widen as I slap a hand on my mouth and nearly drop the mug in my other hand.
“What happened?” Cedric asks, kneeling next to me on the bed.
I shake my head, a little hysterical laugh escaping me.
“I jus’ hut my toof,” I say through my hand.
“Have you chipped it? Let me see–”
I clumsily scoot off the bed, hastily putting the mug down and pressing my hand tighter to my mouth. “’S fine, be righd back!” I say before ejecting myself out of the room with all the grace of a goblin and shutting the bathroom door behind me with a thud.
“Shit!” I hiss as I remove my hand from my mouth, taking in the terrifying elongated canine.
I can’t even get excited about food without sprouting fangs? This is on another level of disastrous. I love food. Though my joy had probably more to do with the fact that Cedric made it for me, which would keep proving Faye’s theory correct .
You’ve fixed it before, you can do it again . I take another peek at my reflection in the mirror, concentrating on my teeth.
I breathe in deeply, making sure not to shut my mouth and accidentally stab myself, then exhale as air slowly whooshes out.
He’s waiting for you . I squeeze my eyes shut, and when I open them a few minutes later, I witness the last bit of my canine retracting with another zing of pain.
“See? Easy peasy,” I whisper, giving myself a thumbs up in the mirror. I open the door and nearly crash into Cedric.
“Are you alright?” he asks, brows etched with worry.
“No casualties,” I say, smiling fully so he can see my teeth are intact.
“Good,” he says, a hand coming up to scratch at his light stubble. “Well, since that crisis is averted, I–”
The doorbell chimes quickly one, two, three times, interrupting him.
“Were you expecting someone?” Cedric asks, something like frustration in his tone.
I shake my head. “Faye doesn’t usually bother ringing the doorbell or letting me know she’s coming over, for the matter. I’ll go see who it is, you guard the pancakes from this little blueberry monster,” I say as I press a kiss to the top of Blaine’s head, who’s come to see what the commotion was about.
I put my slippers on, grabbing a scrunchie from the bathroom to tie my hair in a somewhat presentable updo before opening the door.
“Hello, how can I help you?”
“Hello gorgeous,” the young man says, one arm against the doorframe, his golden-rimmed glasses glinting in the sunlight. “I’m told you might know the whereabouts of my brother? Six feet, allergic to laughing, responds to the names Bumhole or Cedric .”
Oh, stars.
Cedric
As soon as I hear that voice, I break into a run toward the door, Blaine following me suit with a bark.
Sure enough, my half vampire little brother is stepping into Delilah’s home as he passes a careless hand through his wheat-blond hair.
“You’re not supposed to be here yet,” I say through gritted teeth. Blaine barks again, as if sharing the sentiment.
“I’m so happy to see you, too,” Marcus says, thoroughly unfazed.
“I’ll give you guys a minute,” Delilah says, offering me a weak smile as she hurriedly walks back to the bedroom. When I hear the door clicking closed behind her, I step closer to Marcus.
“I am happy to see you, but–what the fuck, Marcus?”
“Joe doesn’t know,” he says, placing both hands on my shoulder. “I made sure of it.”
“Yeah? In the same way you made sure he didn’t know about your escapade to that hotel?”
Marcus sighs, pushing his glasses to the top of his head. “Look, I know it’s not ideal–”
“We are breaching the bloody contract!” I hiss, not wanting Delilah to overhear, given her tendency to eavesdrop through closed doors. “How did you even find the coordinates? Who the hell was stupid enough to bring you here– ”
“Some people can be terribly easy to enthrall, and I flew commercial! It was not fun, but I figured it’d be the most inconspicuous–”
My glare is enough to shut him up.
“Before you start yelling, and I know you want to, the truth is I was worried about you, alright? You’ve been weird, and distant, and even though you want to strangle me a lot, I love you. I couldn’t shake the feeling that you needed me.”
“And you couldn’t wait a few more days to tell me that?”
“No, I couldn’t.” He raises one eyebrow, as if to dare me to deny him, but the fight leaves me all too easily. I both fear and marvel at how soft Delilah has made me.
I shake my head, closing my eyes for a second. This is bad. And it’s my fault. If I’d been more honest with Marcus, he wouldn’t have come here to bloody check on me. He might have done something equally stupid, but perhaps not jeopardized his entire future. His life.
“She’s something to look at,” Marcus says, and my worries are momentarily shoved to the back of my mind at his words.
“Do not even think about it,” I grunt.
“You could have told me you had a girlfriend! Is she the reason you’ve been acting all cagey?” he drones on, having the nerve to look affronted.
“It’s–I can’t talk about this right now. Listen to me: she doesn’t know about you. All she knows is you’re my annoying little brother and our father hates us both. I was going to talk to her about everything, but, as usual, you have the worst bloody timing.”
“Holy balls, you were going to tell her about me?” Marcus asks, genuine surprise in his green eyes.
“Well, fucking hell, when you say it like that–”
“No, I meant–you trust her that much? ”
I open my mouth on an affirmative answer, but close it right after. I do, don’t I? I’ve known this girl for a matter of weeks, and yet I would happily lay my neck on the line if she needed me to. I’d go to lengths I’d never gone before for the chance to make her happy. I wasn’t unaware that she’s important to me, but the force of what I truly feel for Delilah threatens to make me lose my balance.
“Yes, I do.”
Marcus nods, shrugging his light jacket off and placing on the hanger, as casually as if he were home. I’m about to tell him that’s rude, but when he looks back at me again, he all but grins.
“I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself,” I say, the diametric opposite of glad.
“Oh, brother,” Marcus says with a shite eating grin. “You are properly gone, aren’t you?”
I am. I am, and it should be paralyzing, but all I can find inside myself if I picture Delilah’s face is… peace.
“In the off chance Joe doesn’t send an army to take you back to Cambridge while he scours the world for another location to exile you to that hasn’t been compromised,” I start, hoping Marcus understands the gravity of the situation, “can you promise me not to utter a word to Delilah about you? Not until I can do it myself.”
He mimics zipping up his mouth, smiling crookedly. “Pinky promise, but without the pinky. The driver on the mainland closed the car door with my fingers inside, and it still hurts like bloody hell.”
I roll my eyes before gesturing for Marcus not to move as I go and retrieve Delilah.
It’s going to be a long day.