CHAPTER ONE #2
“Do you have any other plans for the night?” he asked, his rumbling question knocking me out of my own head and back into reality. The car was parked, and we were just sitting there.
“Um…” I checked the time. “My brother should be getting off work in about an hour in California. If I remember right, he wanted to game tonight.”
“Ah.”
“Why?”
“We’re almost done with that one show with the southern vampires and synthetic blood.”
I fought a smile. Of course. I had gotten him addicted to television shows about vampires that weren’t us.
He used to groan and whine, but sat through them, even Dracula, who he hated.
Now, he wanted to know who the female lead ended up with in the long-running show that took over the world when I was younger.
“We’ll finish it tomorrow,” I said. “After training, yeah?”
“Sounds like a plan,” he said.
We kept sitting in the car. I was waiting for him to get out.
Apparently, he was waiting on me. I broke first, awkwardly struggling to get out of a car I had been driving for literally years.
When I looked over at him, he moved with a grace that made me stare.
No jerky movements, no strangeness. Just fluid, perfect movement, everything going the correct way in a way my body decided it didn’t feel like working anymore.
Only thirty minutes ago, I had been fine.
Then he proceeded to get the doors for me, making it all the more tense for me. Mumbled thank yous were all I had to say as I tried to get to my room and hide from him.
“Good night, Everly,” he called as I was closing the door to give myself the barrier I needed from him.
“Good night, Alexius!” I half-yelled, then heard the click of the door shutting, and I locked it.
Then let out a deep breath.
“I’ve lived here for well over a year, and I still get so…” Flustered, I got out of my going-on-the-town outfit and into something more comfortable to lounge in around the house.
“I mean, really. I need this… crush to go away. I can’t live like this. I need distractions. I need fresh air.” I pulled my hair back and went to my gaming computer, glad to see my brother was already on and loaded into the game. I threw on my headset and jumped into his voice chat.
“Hey, Declan!” I said, grinning, as I knew I surprised him.
“Oh shit! Hey Everly! I was wondering if you would be on already or not. What have you been up to?”
“I decided to go on a bit of a walk on River Street. I think you would like the energy in that part of Savannah if you ever come to visit.”
“I fucking wish, but I promised to use my summer vacation time off for something else. My girlfriend really wants me to go to her hometown and meet her entire family and party for two weeks out there. But next year, I’m coming to Georgia.”
“You better!”
I was so happy to have a relationship with Declan again.
I had fought it, but the longer I was a vampire, the more I realized and wanted him to continue to ground me.
I’d lost Mom, and I’d been through a lot.
There was no reason to throw away my brother when I didn’t have to.
He knew about vampires already, having grown up with them around, just like me.
He hadn’t wanted to work for them, which was why he survived the disaster that led to Mom’s death and my new life as a vampire.
That wasn’t giving myself enough credit, though.
I had worked really hard to keep him out of it for his own safety, and I had succeeded.
“And I’ll bring her. Lexi. Well, Alexandra, but if you call her that, she’ll deck you. She likes Lexi.”
“Um… you know, that’s not a good idea, right? I’m a vampire. Do you really want to read her into the whole thing?”
“I think a year from now, I’ll know whether she should come or not and what she can know or not know,” he countered. “But this is just something I have to deal with. I want you to know my family, if I ever have one.”
“Aw…” I made a face. The idea that my brother would settle down and get married, then give me nieces or nephews, or the fun new world term niblings, was an adorable thought.
I was never going to have children, and I had never really wanted any, but having the chance to play with my brother’s kids… that was a pleasant thought.
“Can I tell you the truth?” Declan seemed to be dancing around something now, but his phrasing left an opening I couldn’t resist.
“Have you lied yet?” I asked in return.
“No! I just haven’t been completely honest…” Declan took a deep breath. “I asked her father already if I could propose with his blessing.”
I inhaled sharply.
“And… if you are okay with it, I want Mom’s engagement ring from Dad… because I want what they had.”
Tears filled my eyes.
“Yeah, I can ship it to you securely,” I said, smiling widely and fanning my face, even though he couldn’t see the expression.
“What… what if you fly out here and meet her and give me the ring on the trip?” He asked tentatively.
And that killed the mood.
“Oh… I’m not allowed to leave Savannah right now, Declan.
That’s why I haven’t brought up trying to visit you yet and want you to come here.
It’s above my boss, too. We can’t leave.
I’d love to, but…” I was suddenly frustrated.
Damn Isaiah never got back to us. Alexius and I were treading water, losing our minds from boredom because we were cut off from everyone.
No one was reaching out; there was nothing more for me to dig through, no leads to follow because Isaiah was holding onto whatever he could have potentially discovered.
“I really wish I could!” I ran a hand through my hair, and he made a noise.
“Hey, sis. Everly. Look, my trip with her isn’t until July.
That’s when I’m popping the question. Why don’t you keep hold of the ring for now.
If you can’t swing any trip here by, say, mid-June, then go ahead and put your best on getting the ring here, and we’ll definitely come visit you next summer.
Obviously, I’m going to marry her if she says yes, and then yeah, I’ll have to bring her into the secret. I trust her enough with it.”
“And letting her know has to be before the wedding. She should have the chance to be wiped and walk away,” I said, sighing. “Do you even know who could do that in California?”
“Way back in the day, when I left home, Jacob’s nest gave me an emergency list of numbers to call if I ever needed it. No names for whoever would pick up. Just numbers. I assume I just call them in a line and explain how I got the number when I’m asked.”
“They’re probably help from different nests in your state and the region around you,” I said, nodding. It made sense. Human help often helped other human help. “But I’ll be there when you bring her in, or you two will be here, and Alexius and I will handle it.”
“Yeah. I wouldn’t bring her in without you. I’d kind of need you to get around the magic. You’re allowed to talk. I’m not.”
“Very true,” I said, nodding slowly. “Wasn’t a problem before I was a vampire… Welp.”
“Yeah. Why tell a spouse, ‘hey, my family works for vampires’? You’ll never meet the vampires, and this is absolutely unnecessary for your life with me because I don’t work for them.”
“Yeah, a bit different from, ‘hey, my sister is a vampire’,” I said, chuckling. “Well, let’s game, and tomorrow I’ll talk to my boss. That way, if anything changes, he and I will know the first place we’re going.”
“Perfect!”
Declan and I jumped into a survival horror game together, opting for a co-op experience.
“Do you still get scared of things as a vampire?”
“Yeah, jump scares and ambiance can still spook me,” I said, grinning.
I didn’t tell him it was a lot harder now than it used to be.
I was looking forward to his shrieks of terror.
Anything not to think of the gorgeous man who stalked my shadows, whose eyes haunted my daydreams, and who was probably pacing in his office at that exact moment.