Chapter 45
Chapter Forty-Five
The sound of my phone blaring pulls me from my sleep, the phone vibrating on the bedside table. Feeling extremely sluggish, I reach over, my hand coming in contact with a warm chest belonging to Blaine.
Latham groans, pulling a pillow over his head, and I sit up, leaning over Blaine and Xavier to snatch my phone. I quickly answer it before sliding off the bed when I notice it is Addie.
Yawning, I walk into the kitchen. "Hello?"
"Ah, finally. I have rung a few times," her cheery voice says.
"Sorry," I mumble, flicking the kettle on and rubbing my eyes.
I pull the phone from my ear and check the time. It is midday.
What the hell? I slept nearly the entire day away.
"I know you're on leave, but is there any chance you could come in? The tech team has been working all night, but one of the servers crashed, and we have lost everything," Addie says.
I try to make sense of her words. Why am I so tired? Tech team, work. Come in. My brain feels so foggy.
"Yep, give me half an hour, and I will be in," I tell her, forgetting the coffee and retrieving my keys from the fruit bowl.
"Ah, thank god. I'm so sorry. I know Latham has wanted to taint you or some mumbo-jumbo, but we need your help," Addie says as I slip out of their apartment and unlock the door to mine.
"Yeah, they did last night," I mumble without thinking.
Shit, was that supposed to be secret? My brain is mush without caffeine, and I feel I would need a lot of it today.
"Great. I overheard him talking about it to Cyrus the other week. He told me they were going to explain about me?"
I swallow, remembering again whom I am talking to. Addie is my only friend besides Jack, and she is a vampire. My bosses are vampires. I shake that thought away.
"Yes, they, um… did."
"Little weird, huh? All good. We can catch up for lunch later," she says.
I chuckle. I could use some girl time.
"Yes, as long as I don't become the lunch."
"I promise not to bite," she laughs, and it is so refreshing talking to someone other than my demons.
"I'll see you soon," I tell her before hanging up.
I quickly get dressed in a high-waisted pencil skirt and a white blouse. It actually feels good getting dressed up for work. Sliding my stockings up my legs, I pause. Xavier's handprint is etched into my thigh, a ghostly gray color outline tracing where his hand had tainted my skin.
I brush my fingertips over it, and a breathy moan leaves my lips as a strange sensation rushes up my thigh between my legs.
What the heck?
Opening the top of my blouse, I look at Blaine's taint on my skin and touch it. The same thing. It must be an after-effect of them tainting me.
Tugging my stockings up, I pause again when I notice a strange mark on the inside of my thigh.
There is a faint outline under Xavier's taint.
I thought that was supposed to be gone. Shaking my head, I tug them up, regretting not putting them on first before straightening my skirt and flattening it.
Grabbing my perfume, I spray some on before putting my hair up in a clip.
I don't have time to straighten it, so it would have to do.
Opening the door, I walk back to their apartment.
I need caffeine, but it would have to wait.
I leave a note, seeing that they are still asleep.
They are usually early risers, too. Blaine has his head on Latham's shoulder while Xavier is spooning Blaine.
I take a quick picture of them, chuckling as I save it as my screensaver.
I rush down the steps, and Jack is washing the windows outside the office. He calls out to me, but I don't have time to stop and chat. Instead, I give him a brief wave as I mak my way to my car.
The drive to work is pretty quick since I am not stuck in the morning hustle and bustle that would make the traffic horrendous. I park on the curb before getting out and grabbing my handbag.
Normalcy. I sigh, feeling somewhat like things are going back to normal except for the strange urge to go back to my demons and snuggle with them.
But I am more excited about working. I love working here; I love a challenge and like that it is crazy busy all the time.
I feel exhausted working, but love it all the same.
Walking through the foyer, people are rushing around everywhere, electricians and engineers busying themselves with whatever they are doing.
It makes me wonder what is going on. The elevators have signs stating to use the stairs, and they are out of order.
Kicking my heels off, I rush up the stairs to the tech floor.
Opening the doors, there is utter chaos.
* * *
It isn't until 4 PM that we finally manage to get everything up and running again.
I am able to retrieve the primary files that Cyrus and Eli desperately need.
I have just sat down behind my desk when my phone starts buzzing, and Addie walks into my office, dumping a bag of food on my table and flopping down in the chair.
She groans, looking tired as I dig out my phone.
Latham's name pops up on the screen, and I answer it.
"Where are you?" he says before I even say hi.
"At work. Addie needed me in, the servers crashed, and it has been a shit-show here," I tell him.
"Bloody men. Think we can't take care of ourselves, always wanting to know where we are, who we are with," she mutters, shaking her head and rolling her eyes.
I smile before she digs out some takeaway dishes. The smell of Chinese food makes my belly rumble loudly, reminding me I haven't eaten today.
"I left a note on the counter," I tell Latham.
I can hear Blaine and Xavier asking where I am in the background, and I sigh.
"I am with Addie, and we are about to eat. Then I will head home," I tell him.
"I'll come and get you in an hour. Stay with Addie. You shouldn't have left without one of us," Latham growls before hanging up on me.