Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Harlowe
The morning inched by in minutes that seemed to stretch longer with each accumulated hour.
The book I’d brought served as a decent distraction for the first hour or so until Landon stepped into the living room.
All at once, those butterflies filled my stomach and made it near-impossible to remember how to breathe.
His blatant panic at being stuck here with me for the next day or two was a real hit to the self-esteem.
“Yes, just what every woman wants: an attractive man that can’t stand the idea of being anywhere near her,” I muttered. “The cherry on top is that he’s been your crush since you could realize what exactly those were. Just freaking perfect.”
I turned the page, trying to settle back into the viking history book.
Tessa had gotten it for my birthday the previous month, and it was shaping up to be one of my favorites on the subject.
Unfortunately, it was impossible to focus on the words anymore.
All I could manage to see when I stared at the pages was the look of utter horror on Landon’s face.
With a sigh, I finally admitted defeat and dropped the book onto the end table.
The healing wounds on my neck itched something fierce.
I clasped my hands behind my back to keep from messing with the newly formed scabs.
I had no interest in bleeding anymore on this holiday trip if I could help it.
My phone lit up with a notification where it sat in silent sentinel beside my abandoned book.
A whole new wave of nerves hit my chest and stole my breath. Racing up the stairs, I called Tessa, knowing she was better at answering than Rhiannon.
She answered on the second ring. Her hair was pulled back, and she was in an oversized sweater.
“Did you get it?” she asked without preamble.
“I haven’t opened it.”
She sucked in a breath, and then she was moving, too, the background blurring with her vampiric speed. There was noise on the call, and then Rhiannon’s voice cut through.
“Did she get it?”
Tessa nodded and urged her over. She was dressed similarly to Tessa, an oversized sweater and flared leggings. Her hair is pulled back again, a messy pile on the top of her head.
“Oh my gosh!” Rhiannon said. “What did it say?”
“She hasn’t opened it,” Tessa explained.
I closed the door to the large bedroom even knowing I was the only one here. With careless hands, I propped my phone against the nightstand’s lamp and then dug through my bag until I could grab my laptop. My hands shook, and my breathing was way too shallow. God, I was going to throw up.
Maybe this internship really was what I was missing. It certainly seemed like it based on my sudden, overwhelming anxiety over the result sitting in my email at the moment.
“Breathe, Harlowe,” Tessa said, quiet but firm. “Whatever it says, it’s what the universe wants of you right now. You are strong and capable. You are destined for whichever choice the panel made.”
“Yes, exactly,” Rhiannon added. “The moon guides everyone, knowing or unknowing. This will be good news.”
I took a steadying breath and closed my eyes, focusing my own affirmations. I double checked that my best friends could see my screen, and then I opened the email.
It took a long, silent minute for me to absorb what it said. Rhiannon squealed first, and then I shrieked. My laptop fell out of my lap as I leaped to my feet and grabbed my phone. Both of them were laughing and hugging each other.
“You’re going to France!” Rhiannon said excitedly, a grin brightening her face. Tessa’s mirrored hers.
“I’m going to France,” I echoed. My own smile felt like it might split my face, all of the nerves falling away from me in a sudden rush. Not even Landon’s freak out was enough to dampen the moment. “I’m going to freaking France.”
Icoasted through the morning, the happy warmth of excitement of getting the internship bolstering me even as the snow continued to come in large, sweeping sheets.
It was almost enough to ignore the small part of me that noticed Landon hadn’t returned from wherever he had gone.
Tessa, Rhiannon, and I chatted for over an hour, coming up with the best ways to tell my parents.
With their promise that they would grab the supplies for the present we came up with, I settled in for a simple lunch in prep for starting all of the paperwork.
And, god, was there a lot of paperwork. By the middle of the afternoon, I was buried in the bureaucracy of it all.
Travel plans and visas. Housing and banking.
There was a required French language course I hadn’t completed during undergrad that took me nearly a half hour to just sort out when and where it would be possible to complete while there.
And then there was all the information and permissions I needed to gather as a dhampir.
Agreement from the nearest vampire clan.
Acknowledgement from the local coven. Signing all of the secrecy laws and local ethic codes.
By the time the front door opened, my eyes vaguely ached and a headache pulsed just behind my temples.
My stomach churned with hunger. The bites itched and almost burned, the anti-itch cream I’d put on after the call with the girls having faded.
I looked up from my laptop, shocked to find the sun setting, the snow seemingly endless.
Landon stopped just inside the kitchen, his entire body frozen as our gazes locked. His cheeks were flushed a dark red from the cold, and snow slowly melted off his shoulders and head.
“Get your steps in?” I asked, keeping my voice dry, trying to break the oppressive silence.
He snorted, rolled his eyes, and then crossed to the fridge.
He pulled together ingredients and turned on the stove, not saying a word as he made a small batch of spaghetti.
I couldn’t help but stare at him, the rest of the paperwork in front of me forgotten.
He wore a different sweater than yesterday, this one a deep forest green that was nearly identical to his eyes.
Instead of slacks, he wore thick sweats, the kind skaters used to keep warm when not directly on the ice rink.
He looked so damn good. It should be illegal for anyone to be that attractive after doing only God knew what in the blizzard all damn day. That slow, rolling heat flared out from my belly, and I clenched my thighs on instinct.
Without thinking, I scratched the bite marks. One of the scabs ripped open.
“Ah shit,” I muttered.
Landon turned around in an instant, his eyes catching on my hand in a matter of seconds.
He scowled, abandoning the half-finished food, and pulled the wound care bin from the cabinet, bringing the entire thing over to me.
I didn’t wait for him to help me, though, quickly pulling a pack of gauze and pressing it to the bites, hoping he’d stay that full step and a half away from me for the sake of my sanity.
My throat was dry already, and my stomach swirled with new nerves.
Luckily, it only took a few minutes of applying pressure for the bleeding to stop and my skin to scab over again. I carefully poured out two drops of Mom’s healing tonic, wanting something a bit more secure than just a scab. God knew I would manage to forget again and scratch it during the night.
The entire time, Landon didn’t utter a word.
I tried to say something again, tried to keep him from realizing how my body was responding to him just being in the room. “Hovering over me is just as bad as snarling, by the way.”
He still didn’t say anything. Finally, I risked looking at him.
He stood across from me, his hands clutching the island, his knuckles white.
His eyes were locked on the bites, his eyes slowly flicking between the bright red and jewel green.
Even as his jaw clenched, there was a small flash of his fang against his lower lip.
Understanding hit me like a freight train.
Of course vampires needed blood daily if their hosts were purely human. Had he not found a single host while gone today?
“You’re thirsty.” It was a statement, but my voice was breathy enough it came across a bit unsure.
He sucked in a breath, his eyes staying red for an entire minute before flicking back and forth again. His nails lengthened, the telltale claws sharpening and pressing into the stone surface of the counter. And still, his eyes didn’t drift from where the bites on my neck no longer bled.
“Landon?” I asked, trying to keep from making him feel defensive.
I was used to vampires and their hungers, yes, but I’d also seen what that unchecked power could do—not including dumbass cafe dude. Tessa hadn’t lost control often, but the moments I’d seen were enough to leave a permanent etching on my mind. My brother’s moments were even worse.
His chest rose, and then his eyes did, too, locking with mine. “Yes.”
“You need to feed.” Again, a statement a bit too breathy to come across as confident. My thighs clenched at the idea of his lips pressing against my throat, of his fangs sinking into my skin. I’d never let a vampire with a beard feed from me. Would it scratch me?
“Yes.” It was a guttural, primal groan.
Lightning shot straight down my spine and tightened my nipples, but I tried to breathe through it.
He wouldn’t want anything more than my blood, but I couldn’t seem to care at the moment.
I knew I only ever offered my vein if I would get pleasured, if it would lead to something carnal.
But I didn’t dare entertain that thought now.
Just knowing the feel of his bite would be enough to fantasize about for years, a memory I would hold close in the quiet, dark moments.
Without a word, I held out my wrist in invitation.
His fangs grew even longer, cutting into his bottom lip.
“Joshua will kill me.”
I rolled my eyes with a huff. “Dad doesn’t need to know what I choose to do with my own body. I’m an adult. I’m able to consent.”
I twisted my wrist in renewed offer.
He edged around the island, his movements the barely leashed power I’d seen the night before.
They were a more polished version of the vampire at the cafe.
His body was a wall of heat, only a foot away from me now.
My core pulsed with a renewed, aching interest. Somehow, I managed to keep my hand from trembling.
His hands were gentle as he cradled my wrist and lowered his head over the delicate skin just under my palm.
He paused, his lips hovering a bare inch above my skin, for a suspended, infinite moment of time.
And then he struck, the same lethal speed I’d felt Tessa use when we were in high school and I had confessed to her I wanted to know what it felt like to be a blood host.
I gasped, the pain cutting through the heat drumming inside my body.