38. Janie
Chapter 38
Janie
T hird time's the charm, right?
It didn’t feel like it as I pulled the dress down. Both of them kept buying me new clothes for this. “What was the point of this?” I asked as I stepped out.
“Those are more believable than anything else you have. Remember, you are selling the type of person who is like Tana.”
I glared at him. “That better not be a backhanded insult for Tana. She’s just different. Like I am. She likes to have fun.”
“No. The man is attracted to the package. That short skirt is the package,” Meical argued.
I sighed as my shoulders deflated and threw myself on the couch. Meical passed me my new boots. At least the boots would be used. “I wish I could be as confident as Tana, though. She’s so bright and bubbly. Like a light, and everyone is a firefly spinning around her.”
Meical sat on the ottoman and leaned closer to me. “You are doing a good job pretending. They have believed you until you falter. That hesitation made one of them distrust you, but they said it was probably nerves.”
I looked up from zipping my boot. “Would you like me to be a Tana?”
“How many times do I have to tell you that you are perfect for me in every way? I’ve waited lifetimes for you. You. Not Tana. Not someone else. It was and always will be you.”
I frowned. “It’s not because I’m not like other girls, right? I just?—”
Meical frowned and the shadows behind him vibrated with the shift of his mood—annoyance. “You. Only you. Everything that makes you you is perfect.”
“Would you have hated to be with a—” I stopped talking and a shadow grabbed my chin. Meical’s eyes bored into my soul.
“You are my light. Only you.”
I sighed. “I guess.”
His eyes darkened and the black spread through the entire eyeball. “I don’t believe you. I feel your doubt; I am no man.”
With a swift motion, I tore my face away from the looming shadow, determined to continue putting on the other boot. “I like the new boots, though.”
“I’d love to impale you with my cock with them on.”
A warmth filled my belly as I swallowed my nervous arousal. I glanced at the time. “We need to leave.”
“Yes, you’re right,” he grunted as I stood up. The door swung up thanks to the shadow, and I walked through it to walk to my car. The car door opened when I approached.
“Do you think this is the guy?”
“Who else could it be?” he replied as he opened his door. I slid in and shoved the keys into the ignition .
“Urien is sure that this could be the same person?”
“All signs point to yes.”
I nodded. “Of course. Can’t wait for this to be over,” I muttered as I reversed. “So sick of dates.”
“You’ll never have to do that again.”
That thought settled inside me. That sounded like a great thing. “Fine,” I replied. After a few minutes, I parked at the coffee shop. I opened the door and walked inside. In the distance, Meical shut the door. Urien was in a corner when a man grabbed my elbow. I shoved down my fear as the strange man pulled me to him.
“Hey, you’re Juliet?”
That’s my name today. “Yeah.”
He let go of me and nodded. “Yeah, sorry. I didn’t want to lose you. I like the bow in your hair. Made it easy to see you.”
Through the gritted fake smile, I nodded. “Yeah, thanks.” I pointed to the counter. “Look, I’ll get a coffee and you get us a table?”
He nodded eagerly. “Yes, yes. I can do that.”
I stepped away from him and got into line. My eyes flickered to the corner, and Urien’s entire demeanor had changed. He looked like a predator in this moment; not the goofy vampire I knew. Meical walked to him and I watched their hushed conversation. The dark corner Urien was in darkened even more. The floor underneath my feet felt weird, and I looked down. Shadows pulsed underneath me. My mouth went dry as I swallowed. What other powers did he have? I stepped away from the shadows and the floor seemed more settled. I looked up and glared at Urien and Meical. Meical sighed as he sat on the loveseat beside Urien. Urien passed him a flask and Meical sneered at it. He pushed it back to him and a dark liquid spilled out of it. Fuck. Was that blood? I quickly ordered my coffee and hurried to my date. He seemed so nervous. Other than touching me earlier, he didn’t seem as confident as the last few guys.
He looked up and beamed at me as I sat down. “Sorry. I’m nervous. I’ve been ghosted so much lately and you were a few minutes late?—”
“I was late? Oh, no! I’m sorry.” I patted my hair. “It takes a bit to look this good.”
He sighed and looked down at my body slowly. “Really is nice.”
I sipped my coffee and nodded. “Aww. Thanks.”
“I really thought I clicked with my last date from the app. But she ghosted me.”
“Oh. That sucks.”
“Yeah, her messages were left on read.”
He was kinda goofy, and I could imagine this was why he was ghosted lately. Did he always talk about his exes like this? His phone beeped, and he glanced down. “Sorry, that’s my brother. He wanted to make sure that my date showed up.”
I nodded. “That’s sweet. Are you close?”
“Yeah, he’s great. Always supportive. He hates all the bitches I date.”
Fear shot through my system. Fuck. Fuck. If he is already calling people bitches . . . I tried to play it off with a smile. “I don’t think I’m a bitch.”
He raised his hands. “Oh, of course not you. Just the ones that don’t call me back.”
I nodded. My eyes darted to Meical, who wasn’t looking happy. Was it the conversation? Or was this an innocent guy? I smiled and tried to be confident. “Hopefully not! You seem so cute! I can’t imagine why anyone would do that to you!”
“I don’t know either.”
The rest of the date went as smoothly as it could. He would occasionally say off-putting things like that, but it was fine. When that date left, I slumped into the chair and breathed a sigh of relief. Finally .
Meical stepped beside me. “Are you okay?”
“Please tell me this is the one.”
“That’s the thing: he’s not.”
I sat up in a flash. “What?”
“Yeah, Urien left early to go find answers from the vampires he knows. I don’t know what it is.”
“This blows.”
“Yeah, I know. You ready?”
“Yeah, that guy gave me a bad vibe for sure. But I guess not the right bad vibes. You know?”