Chapter 22 #2
“But you signed Sophia’s pardon,” I point out.
After Noah and I finished our conversation, we all promptly headed into the dining room and drew up the paperwork.
“Yes,” he answers.
“What incentive does she have to tell you now?”
“Your stalkers have made you jaded, bunny.”
“Okay, but even if she does tell you…what if the house she worked for sent her to spy on you? Did you think of that?”
“I hope they did.” He gives me a grim smile. “Then I can send her back as a spy for me, and they won’t question the time we spent together.”
“You want to turn her into a double agent?”
“Naturally.”
“Vampires,” I mutter. “What makes you think she’ll transfer her loyalty to you? You’ve tried to kill her twice.”
“But I didn’t.”
“Yeah, okay. That makes it better.”
Noah stands, admiring his work. “Finished. Let’s go get the mattresses.”
“Am I allowed to help with that?” Cassian asks Noah as we walk down the hall. “I wouldn’t want to accidentally turn you into a vampire again.”
Noah rolls his eyes and then looks at me. “Did you call your parents yet?”
“No.”
At first, this seemed like the perfect solution, but I realized as Noah set up the bedframes that my parents probably won’t be excited that I invited two more vampires into my house, even if they are women.
But it’s too late now. What’s done is done.
“How long do you think we’ll have to make this arrangement work?” I ask.
“Only until we figure out who’s been watching the house and take care of them,” Noah answers.
“Larissa went out before they left and patrolled the area,” Cassian tells us. “She didn’t see anyone.”
“We’ll keep watching,” Noah says. “Eventually, we’ll catch them.”
My mind wanders to the night we found Ethan’s thugs waiting for us. I shiver at the memory, not eager to scrub any more blood off the porch.
Cassian gets a text. After he reads it, he sighs. “Piper, may I borrow your truck? Sophia says she bought too much, and they can’t fit it all in Larissa’s car.”
“I thought they were getting sheets?”
“Apparently, she decided the room was a little sparse and bought some furniture as well.” He pockets his phone. “I don’t know.”
There’s only one store open this time of night, and I can’t imagine it’s up to Sophia’s standards. But whatever.
“Yeah, let me get the keys,” I say. “Do you know how to drive a stick shift?”
“I was alive when they invented the stick shift.”
“Ah…right.” I grab the keys off the side table. “I’ll walk out with you. I need to get the mail.”
“The check still hasn’t shown up?” Noah asks.
I shake my head. “I’m afraid someone swiped it, but Beth claims no one has tried to cash it yet.”
“You should get one of the mailboxes with a lock. The carrier can slide the mail in, but you can’t access it without a key.”
“That’s a good idea. Maybe we can look for one this weekend?”
“Sure.” Noah steps outside with Cassian and me. “I’ll walk down with you since it’s dark.”
When I reach inside to flip on the porch light, nothing happens.
“I just changed that lightbulb.” Noah frowns at the fixture.
“Weird,” I say. “So much for them lasting two years.”
“Why don’t you wait here? I’ll grab the mail and be back. Lock the door, okay?”
“All right.” A little spooked because Noah’s tone is off, I close the door behind him and Cassian. A few minutes later, I hear the truck rumble out of the drive.
Just when I start to worry Noah is taking longer than he should be, he texts me.
Noah: Can you get the door? I forgot my keys.
I hurry to open it. “Did you see anyone—”
I gasp, stumbling back.
The man on the other side is dressed head-to-toe in black, from his hat, to the mask over his eyes, to his long-sleeved shirt, and his very black boots.
And one thing is immediately apparent—he’s not Noah.
I try to shove the door closed, but the man blocks it with his foot and forces himself inside.
I grab the basket from the side table and heave it at him, sending magazines flying. He knocks it away and comes after me.
Going straight into panic mode, I scream and run into the living room. Which way do I go? If I run out the back, there might be vampires waiting for me in the dark. And only stupid girls in horror movies run upstairs.
The intruder makes the decision for me. Before I can get very far, he catches my arm and yanks me back.
I flail and kick, wishing Noah and I had carved out some time for those self-defense lessons.
He turns me around so I’m facing away from him, holding me against his chest. He pins my arms, working so quickly and deftly I briefly wonder how many times he’s done this.
I scream again when he pries my arm up, fighting even harder when I realize he’s bringing my wrist to his mouth.
“Hold still,” he commands, his voice forced lower than sounds natural. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
As hard as I can, I smack the back of my head into his jaw.
Swearing, he releases me. I stumble forward, almost falling on my knees, quickly realizing I didn’t fight him off myself.
The man faces Noah now, and the two are engaged like martial arts fighters in a movie.
I crawl back until I hit one of the couches, horrified.
The man ducks a punch and then pulls a gun. But before he can use it, Noah knocks the weapon out of his hand, sending it flying toward me.
I scramble forward and snatch it off the floor, not having the slightest idea how to use it.
But the man in black doesn’t need to know that.
“Freeze!” I yell as I lift the weapon, my voice shaking, feeling like a child pretending she’s a cop.
The man goes still, holding up his hands and edging away from Noah.
And then he bolts out the open front door.
Noah swears and takes off after him, running as far as the porch.
“Why’d you stop?” I ask, gasping, gun still in my hand. “I’m glad you did, but I expected you to keep going.”
Noah frowns as he scans the dark night, relieving me of the gun. “He and his men ambushed me on the way to the mailbox right after Cassian left. I’m not sure how many of them are still out there.”
“They must have taken your phone. I answered the door because you texted.”
Noah feels for it in his back pocket and then swears when he finds it missing. He then nudges me back inside, closes the door, and sets the lock. “I need to warn Cassian.”
I hand him my phone. “And Sophia and Larissa.”
He nods as he pulls up Cassian in my contacts. Sharing the news with the vampire prince only takes a few minutes, and then he returns the cell. “You need to leave our circle. Now that they have my phone, they can track you.”
“How did they get past your passcode?”
“They must have been watching me.”
“How?”
“Videos, photos. I’m assuming they’ve been watching us for a while.”
“Who are they? What do they want?”
But I know what they want.
“He tried to bite me,” I say, remembering, and then I look down at my wrist and gasp.
The man didn’t try to bite me. He accomplished it…sort of. It’s more like an angry red scratch.
Noah takes my arm, rotating my wrist to see the shallow wound better.
“His fang must have caught me when he was turning away,” I say. “Is it deep enough to spread the virus?”
“It’s not bleeding,” Noah murmurs, prodding the skin around the scratch. “But…that doesn’t necessarily mean anything.”
“What are you saying?”
He drops my arm and meets my eyes. “We’ll need to get you in for a blood test.”