36. Meical
Chapter 36
Meical
U rien waited at the door. Janie ignored him as she slipped in. He walked to me and grabbed my arm to greet me like the mortals do. “You look better, in a grumpy way,” he said.
I rolled my eyes as I attuned my shadows to watch her as we chatted outside. This made it easier to make sure we weren’t together with anyone watching. “I’m fine.”
“You’re tied up tight. By the way, this isn’t the guy.”
I pursed my lips as my shadows licked at his tennis shoes. Urien was right. He was an asshole, but he wasn’t a killer. “Fuck, you’re right,” I muttered. I ground my teeth as she leaned closer to the guy with a smile.
Urien snapped his fingers in front of my face. “Dude, she’s pretending. She was adamant that she wasn’t mine when I was just calling her mon petite . It’s like deep down, she knows that she’s yours.”
“She’s afraid of commitment with a monster.”
“Well, the way you met is shitty.”
“Says the vampire who meets people via blood parties. ”
He made a kissing noise with his fingers at his mouth. “Of course. Best way to figure out if some people taste good.”
I rolled my eyes. “We can go inside now.”
“You just want to watch her more.”
“I can watch her all the time.”
“In person is much better,” Urien mumbled as he opened the door. I stepped through and she glanced over. Her face darkened as she tucked her hair behind her ear again. Janie’s laughter turned to a nervous lilt. A tendril wrapped around her ankle and her throat bobbing as she nodded to whatever he was saying.
“How likely do you think it’s the guy tomorrow?”
Urien shrugged as he stepped into the line for coffee. He flashed a small flask of blood as a hint that he would spike it. He turned to the barista and placed his order. I spun around to watch Janie. Her hand flipped over her phone as a nervous tick I had seen her do in the past. She didn’t like this at all. I knew she hated this, but she knew she had to do this. We were her co-worker’s only hope.
“How many days do we have?” I asked.
“I don’t know. We only have theories. It is possible that our assumptions about all of this are incorrect. We have a potential location, we have suspicious bodies, and missing women. What if we’re wrong?”
“In some sick way, I want to be right. I don’t want Janie unhappy that her friend is gone. She didn’t have many people in her life. I’ve watched her for so long. She was alone. Tana was the closest thing to a friend to her. She cares for her. Complete opposites. You’d like Tana.”
Urien rolled his eyes as he grabbed his coffee on the other end of the counter. He pointed to the couches that faced their table. “Over there.” I followed and sat down .
Janie leaned closer to him as she showed him a picture on her phone. What was she showing him? Would she ever share something like that with me? There were moments like this that I felt like she would never trust me and give her entire heart to me. She saved me from the dark, but how could I change her heart?
“Over the last day, I’ve tried to look up more information. What if we’re wrong?”
I raised an eyebrow. “A modest vampire? I’ve never seen such a thing.”
He rolled his eyes. “I know that there is a potential human serial killer nearby. If you’re right and I’m right, we could be close to the killer. But what if we jumped too quickly?”
“So, what? Do you think this will find her?” I asked her.
“The killer? Maybe not.”
A shadow licked at the guy’s emotions again. He really fucking liked her. I steeled my jaw and my hand formed a fist.
Urien slammed a hand on the table. “Meical! Calm down!”
I looked down and noticed every shadow cast on the table vibrating with my anger. I smirked. “Sorry. He likes her. He wants her and is probably going to ask her out again.”
“Aw, that’s cute.”
“I’m her mate!”
“Yes, we know. But if this was real, I would be like ‘you go, girl.’”
I growled quietly. “It’s not real, Urien.”
“I knoooow,” Urien said with a chuckle.
I dug my claws into my palm as a tentacle shot out from behind her and wrapped around her waist. That’s my mate. Her eyes widened, and she turned to us. Another tendril crawled up her leg. Her heart raced as nervousness, fear, and arousal coursed through her body. Janie turned back to him and kept flirting. The shadow slipped between her legs and teased her pussy. She stuttered as it pressed against her clit and sucked in a breath. Her hand gripped her mug of coffee.
“Stop teasing her. It’s not like he can smell her.”
“I know. I want her to realize that she’s mine.”
Urien shoved my shoulder, and I lost some control over the shadows. Janie’s shoulders slumped in relief as the shadow pulled away and Urien laughed. “I think she knows. Which I’ve told you before. You’re so precious.”
“We’ve put her in danger.”
“And she knows that, but she is doing this for her friend. She’s a good person. Your mate is a good one,” Urien muttered as he poured his blood flask into his coffee. “But you knew that.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah. Can we break this date up yet?”
Urien picked up his phone and started scrolling. “I guess. I’m just worried if it’s not him and it’s not the other guy she has set up for tomorrow. How will we find her friend?”
“It has to be connected. The way we built her profile would be honey to someone like that.”
“We could be wrong.” And then what happens? Does Janie try to leave me because I couldn’t find her friend?
Urien looked up. “You know as much as I know; evil will always prevail in the world.”
“I don’t want her to leave me if we can’t find her friend.”
Urien sipped his drink. “Ah. That’s why. Plus, you get to eat whatever criminal we find. How perfect,” he whispered.
I frowned as I looked back at her. She faced me and sipped her coffee. Our eyes connected as she drank. Janie smiled sweetly as a shadow crawled up her ankle again. It squeezed slightly before retreating.