Chapter 2
Chapter two
Kyren
For the first time in years, sleep eluded me. I’d tossed and turned ever since Tate had gotten up for the day, which had been hours ago. The sun was just about to set now, meaning I could give up the facade that I was going to get any sleep today without him.
Shoving the covers off my naked body, I threw my legs over the side of the bed and rubbed my eyes.
Tate wasn’t in the apartment. He didn’t have to tell me where he’d gone. I could tell by the feelings of anxiety and excitement flowing down our bond that he was going to see Jack and not class.
A part of me wanted to tell him not to go — to stay with me — but I knew I was just being selfish and petulant.
I wanted Jack, and yet it’s my fault that we weren’t together.
Since I couldn’t be with her, a part of me didn’t want Tate to be with her either, but I couldn’t take that happiness away from him… or her.
They deserved to be happy together, even without me.
My fingers curled into the side of the mattress, the room darkening around me as my shadows portrayed the turbulence in my heart. Images of my future filled my head. Jack and Tate laughing together. Kissing, making love, making plans for the future. All without me.
The sound of wood cracking snapped me out of my thoughts. My eyes shot to where my shadows had wrapped around the bedposts, squeezing so tightly tiny fissures had formed in the wood.
Closing my eyes, I forced myself to clear my mind. I took several breaths, more for the psychological clarity than the need to breathe, before opening my eyes once more.
The room brightened to its usual dimness, my shadows tamed for now.
Pushing myself to my feet, I stalked to the bathroom. While I showered and prepared myself for the day, I came to the conclusion that the future I’d envisioned would come to pass if I let it. The longer I kept this yawning cavern between myself and Jack, the harder it would be to close it.
While there was still a part of me that felt the need for justice against the Durands, I could no longer deny the fact that Jack was not to blame.
If the positions had been reversed, if someone had attacked, kidnapped even, Jack or Tate, I would not hesitate to retaliate.
Except their death would not be as quick as my sire’s had been.
My emotions and loyalty to Kleon were clouding my judgement just as Tate said they were.
I tossed my towel into the hamper after my shower with a groan. Tate was a sore winner and would gloat about being right, I was sure of it. But, in the end, we would all be together again, like it was before.
Walking into the bedroom, I pulled out a pair of dark green slacks and a black cashmere sweater.
It was cool enough now that walking around outside without some kind of jacket or sweater on would cause the humans to raise a brow.
However, if I wanted to get back into Jack’s good graces, it was better to do it sooner rather than later.
After dressing, I sent a text to Tate.
Me: Where are you?
After a few minutes of the text being unread, I closed my eyes and let my mind pull forth the shadow I had attached to mi lobo.
My brow furrowed at the scene before me. Humans walked along the sidewalks, shopping bags in hand. The streetlights gave the area a warm, golden glow.
Tate had taken Jack shopping. That much I knew. Except it looked just like any other shopping district, and I couldn’t quite tell where they were at.
I flicked through my phone and found the app that lets me track Tate’s location.
For a moment, I mused over the times Jack accused me of being a stalker.
If only she knew how far I’d go to keep what was mine safe.
Thankfully, the human world was not low on options for tracking ones loved once.
So paranoid about their children being snatched up that they would go to extreme lengths.
Even so far as to plant microchips in their skin.
Tate and she should be lucky I hadn’t gone that far off the deep end just yet.
I could have used the blood bond between us to track him, but it wasn’t a hundred percent accurate. It would only give me a generalization of where he was until I got close enough to feel him near. The app was faster.
Glancing down at it, I saw my werewolf was downtown. It showed him moving down the street at a leisurely pace, likely dragging Jack into every store the way he did anytime he was with me.
My lips twitched at the thought.
With more pep in my step than a long time, I made my way to the garage and climbed into my car. The engine purred, making the steering wheel vibrate beneath my hands before I was out and on the road.
Luckily, no cops decided to try their luck with me today.
I was not in the mood to be deterred from my mission or patient enough to abide by the speed limits.
It was just after eight when I pulled into a parking spot along the street.
The app showed Tate’s location to be about thirty feet away from me inside a building.
My eyes lifted to the store in question. My brow rose at the bright neon-colored sign and cartoon kittens painted on the windows.
Killing the car, I stepped out of my vehicle and started toward the store. I entertained myself with thoughts of whose idea it had been to go in it when I was stopped by a vaguely familiar woman.
“Kyren, right?” The woman was a vampire, blonde with a layer of black underneath. She looked me over with such a keen interest, it told me she wanted me for more than just a quick chat.
“I’m busy,” my tone dry, leaving no room for argument.
I tried to move past the female without causing a scene. Humans were notoriously nosy, and any chance to record drama on their phones to share on their socials was quickly found and posted.
The vampire didn’t get the message and stepped into my path once more. “Gavin told me he talked to you?” She lowered her voice, her eyes sliding from side to side. “About joining our movement?”
I resisted the urge to hiss and physically remove her from my path, eager to see Jack and Tate rather than deal with ridiculously na?ve baby vampires. Instead, I let my size tower over her, my voice going cool. “I will tell you as I told that pendejo, I am not interested.”
Unfortunately, this one was not so easily dissuaded. Even as I brushed past, her voice chased after me.
“Don’t you want to kill that Durand bitch for what she did to your sire?”
I froze.
Several humans glanced our way with growing curiosity before returning to their shopping.
Damn it. I just knew we were going to end up on the internet if I didn’t get this woman away from me and fast.
Apparently, my pause gave the woman an open invitation to harass me further. Her hand touched my shoulder, trailing around my back before stopping in front of me once more, a smug smile tinging her lips.
“See? I told them you would act all high and mighty above revenge, but you’re just like the rest of us.” She leaned in slightly, so sure of herself. “In fact, we can guarantee you will be the first to taste her blood before we make an example of her to the other Durands.”
Suppressed rage pushed under my skin. It took everything in me to keep my shadows in check and not rip the woman apart right then and there on the sidewalk.
“Was your group one of the ones who attacked her recently?” I asked more to distract myself than any care about the actual answer.
The woman would die tonight regardless, simply for insulting la mia.
How much she would suffer depended on how much longer she planned to keep touching my person and how she answered my question.
Her brows furrowed, lips turned down. “No, that wasn’t us.” Then she huffed a laugh. “But thankfully they weren’t up to snuff for the little human bitch, or they’d have gone and ruined all our plans.”
Twice now. Twice she had insulted Jack.
Movement over her shoulder caught my attention, and I saw the familiar bundle of black braids with gold hoops laced through them on top of Tate’s head as he moved through the crowd leaving the store. I dropped my attention back to the woman in front of me.
“What’s your name?”
Fluttering her eyelashes, she pressed herself against my front as she purred, “Marianne.”
I took hold of one of the hands around my neck and tried my best to sound interested and not bloodthirsty. “Well, Marianne, let’s find somewhere a bit more private to discuss these plans of yours.”
Marianne must have taken the low growl in my voice as attraction and not the barely restrained violence that it was, because she giggled and let me lead her off the busy sidewalk and into the shadows of the nearby shops.
I bypassed the entrance of a quaint-looking cafe that would have been perfect for a meeting of the minds, except I had no such plans with Marianne. When she realized I was leading her into a small, dirty alley between the two buildings, she dug her heels into the ground beneath her.
If I were a younger vampire, she might have been able to overpower me, but I could smell the stink of youth on her, the bright light in her eyes that spoke of someone who had not been in this world for long.
When she realized she couldn’t physically force me to release her, she opened her mouth. “Let go. Or I’ll scream.”
I snorted.
“I mean it, human cops might not be able to hurt you, but it will cause a scene, and you know how the council feels about us drawing attention to ourselves.” She kept her voice low even as she threatened to out me.
Pausing, I let my shadows gather behind me at the entrance of the alley as I turned to face her. “And what would the council say when they hear about a group of younglings targeting the child of their leader?”
Her eyes widened. Her pulse raced underneath my fingers, telling me she’d fed recently. Marianne seemed to contemplate her options. Come with me into the alley where she didn’t know if I was going to hurt her or simply talk to her. Or make a scene and risk exposure to the vampire council.
I knew the moment she’d made her decision. Her mouth opened, and she sucked in a breath to scream.
I didn’t give her the chance. My shadows shoved down her throat as I pulled her the rest of the way into the alley with me.
Now I’d never been one to lay a finger on a woman, even if she was a supernatural creature. But these amateurs apparently needed a big neon sign drenched in blood to tell them I wasn’t interested in their little group. It didn’t help that she hadn’t just insulted Jack but had threatened her life.
I’d killed for Jack for much less already. What was one more?