11. Chapter Eleven
Chapter Eleven
Beau Drewitt
Racing through C&Q
“KAI. KAI. KAI. KAI. KAI!” I scream as I barrel through the bookstore, shutting off lights and throwing locks behind me. I stumble through the back door and meet Kai at the door to the speakeasy. He looks at me with bewildering eyes, as I’m only now a yard from him whilst still screaming.
“What the fuck is wrong with you? Are you okay?” Kai grabs my shoulders, eyes wide.
For a split second, I have enough sense to pull it together. “It was her. She—was—out—and—her—car—not—she—took—charter—and—” I stammer over my words.
“Please, take a breath, or whatever it is you’re supposed to do. Are you in danger? Shit, I didn’t even bring the rope or the spray bottle outside of the cellar!” Kai jokes.
I lean forward, palms on my knees, trying to contain myself. It was her. Elowen. She appeared out of thin air just like I asked. How is that possible? Pure coincidence, maybe. But still. “She, Kai. She. Elowen Briar. That’s her name. I’m freaking out, man.”
“Never in my life would I imagine badass Beau freaking out over a woman. Is she, like, an Amy Winehouse lookalike or something?”
I force myself to calm down enough to walk him through what happened.
The way his face morphs through every possible emotion is Oscar-worthy.
Kai hangs on to every word that I say. I spew every thought I have had the past few hours, from realizing the stranded girl outside was the one from the vision to how I could tell she was actually interested in me.
Not just attracted. She was intrigued. Enamored by the idea of me.
“Okay, so what’s the plan?” He quickly questions.
“Kai, hurry back. Thomas is going to sing your favorite song!” A female voice booms from the cellar.
“GIVE ME A SECOND, KALEVALA.” He yells, “Women. Geez!”
“Wait. Who’s Kalevala?” I ask.
“Kalevala. The woman who enchanted you earlier and then moved on to better prey. She even said I was easier to enchant. Take that.” He slides his sunglasses down from his hairline to his eyes, clearly expecting me to be impressed.
I’m not. He slides them back up into his hair again.
“She’s a little scary, but hey! A conversation is a conversation. ”
“Anyways, have fun with that. The plan is, she’s coming back in the morning to get her car. I have her number. Maybe I could ask if it’s okay to text her?” I stumble over my sentences before thinking them through.
“You asked for her number and you still think you need permission to text her? Beau, it’s a text message, not a wedding proposal. She can ignore you if she wants.”
“That’s not what happened. I needed her number for the driver to send the ride info,” I explain.
“Did you, or did you not, just say you had her put her contact in your phone? Did you happen to tell her you own the—”
I sigh and pull out my phone. “No, of course not. Although, you do make a good point. I just don’t ever want to assume. Assuming is like an ass?”
“Assuming makes an ass out of you and me, Beau. You need to get it together, man.” Kai throws his head back and lets out the loudest laugh I’ve ever heard. I let out a low growl in response to his corrective comment.
Fine. One text. She saved a quick parentheses message after her contact name. I chuckle to myself. Well. That’s hilarious.
To: Elowen Briar (Damsel in Distress):
Please let me know when you make it safely. This is Beau, by the way. :)
Okay. Maybe, the smiley face was a little too forward, but I did it and here we are.
A loud crash explodes from the cellar. I swoop in to survey the damage. The party is still raging, the speakers pounding. Nobody bats an eye at the sound of breaking glass. Nothing looks off until I spot a couple going at it against a shelf.
“Hey! Knock it off or get the fuck out,” I yell.
“Beau, dude, calm the freak down. They obviously didn’t even realize they broke anything or they’d have stopped. What is going on with you? I’ll shut it down for tonight. BUT, I’ll be late in the morning. You owe me one.”
“Probably a good idea.” I don’t stop to reconsider. I head straight to my loft, my non-true pulse thrumming. Something is seriously wrong with me.
I rush upstairs, slam the door, and slide down against it, legs folding beneath me. What was that about?
I toss my phone aside and grab my sketchpad for the second time tonight. Odd. I had planned to bring someone back to the loft. Instead, I sit on the floor, pencil in hand.
I jot everything down.
-Overheard dumbass Benny talking about his therapist. She’s a therapist. I didn’t know that yet.
-She’s not interested in him. It’s strictly professional. Sexy.
-He walked into the bar without permission. Breaking and entering.
-I saw Elowen in his memory.
-I sketched her. I wanted to remember what she looked like.
-I sheepishly slipped back into the memory. In hindsight, my dick was doing the talking.
-I wished she were here, physically in front of me. Then, she was.
-I purposely didn’t jump her car so I could see her again. She can never know that I own jumper cables. Another reason I didn’t offer a ride was because she would’ve been uncomfortable on both the motorcycle pressing against me and/or locked into a car with me.
-She is attracted to me. Same as I am to her.
-She is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. Drop. Dead. Gorgeous.
The idea of us together did cross her mind when our hands touched. Although, she can’t know me really if I’m something else entirely.
Vampirism isn’t like the books. We don’t glitter in the sun.
We’re just pale. We don’t need sleep, but we can sleep.
There is a council, but most of them keep to themselves.
They don’t sit around planning our demise or try to initiate us into their “cult”.
Or at least, I don’t think they do. We don’t go blood-crazy right away.
Vampires can go days without feeding. It’s the hysteria that kills you, the questioning, the suicidal thoughts, the ache to be close to anyone, really anyone with a pulse.
She wasn’t debating a night with me though. That’s crazy, right? She was debating seeing me. Really seeing me. This is very, very new territory. This is a bad idea.
For now, I’ll save her a seat in my mind. Her own place for memories.