Chapter 21 Diantha #2
“That is our design. A vampire’s kiss is like a drug. And some do become addicted. To the high. To the toxic power dynamic,” he continues, his voice vibrating against me. I sink lower into the mattress. “To the ritual. We are submissive, worshipping creatures. Not…how do you say? Alpha?”
I laugh and tug his curls, broken loose from his usual style, away from his eyes. “Who cares about that? I want whatever you are, exactly as you are.”
“Mmm.” His eyes grow heavier. “You think that now.”
“I think that always,” I reply. “Do you think you’re some Alpha? You call me your amore.” I click my tongue. “You got on your knees for me.”
He smirks. “That is my favorite place to be.”
I snag his cigarette from his lips and take a drag. The smoke is acrid and hot, and I cough before handing it back. “We’re meant to do this—to swap blood. Even if we choose to move on from each other in the future.”
“I agree. It is what we are meant to do—for your destiny.” He stubs out the last of his cigarette in the ashtray on his nightstand, then takes my face in his hands. His touch is pure comfort and somehow, also, electric. He pulls me to him, brings his mouth to mine.
Orfeo leaves me a mushy puddle in bed, going down to the bathroom and returning with minty fresh breath and a look of total exhaustion. He climbs under the sheets and draws me to his chest. “I’m sorry, the daylight is coming for me.”
“Of course.” I nuzzle close, inhaling his scent. Then, I kiss his forehead. “I’ll see you at dusk.”
I slip out from the carriage house into the late morning light, letting the sun warm my face for the first time in—I can’t remember how long it’s been. The sky is blue and cloudless, the air crisp. I walk the perimeter of the Collegiate Inn, which is way bigger than I anticipated.
It’s a sprawling stone mansion with verandas and parapets that wrap around the entire back of the house, the grounds dotted with fire pits and picnic tables.
I climb the stone steps that lead to a back patio and find it sparsely populated by a few middle-aged businessmen with gray hair and fancy winter jackets working on their laptops.
No one notices me as I slink inside. It takes me a few wrong turns, but eventually I wander down the right hallway and find myself in the lobby, which must have once been the house’s drawing room.
Daylight spills in through enormous picture frame windows, covering a baby grand piano and thick, ornate rugs.
On the far side of the room, the bar is set with coffee carafes and pastries.
A hand-lettered sign reads: “For Our Guests.”
I grab a chocolate croissant and fill a mug with coffee before sinking into one of the high-back chairs facing the front lawn. The first thing I do is call Evie, who answers halfway through the second ring.
“Oh my gods.” She sounds genuinely relieved. “You’re alive!”
“I’m so sorry, Ev. I am so, so sorry.”
“Did you see my texts? The black kitten hasn’t been adopted yet!” Her girlish energy is already back. It’s such a relief to hear her happy.
“I didn’t.” I laugh. “I’m just finally looking at my phone now. Last night was absolutely wild. I wanted to let you know I’m safe, but I can’t come in today—or maybe ever again?” I cringe. I should have practiced this.
“So…you quit?” I can tell she’s not sure if I’m kidding or if she should be hurt, pissed, or maybe even offended.
“I have so much I need to tell you, but…” I toss a glance over my shoulder.
There’s only one other patron in here and, thankfully, she’s reading with AirPods in.
“I can’t say too much right now, but I’m kind of in hiding.
Is there any chance you can make it up to the Collegiate Inn? I’ll send you the address.”
“Hiding? Is this because of what happened with the Italian vampire?”
“No. No, I promise—Orfeo is great. He’s perfect.” I hear how it comes out, how much I sound like my male-centered mother. Maybe I’d judged her too harshly, the same way I’m assuming Evie is judging me. “He’s not my problem,” I add quickly.
“Okay, but I swear if anything seems off when I show up there—”
“You’ll put a hex on him. And I’ll allow it.”
“Faster than you can snatch this kitten out of my arms.” And she sounds like she really means it.
Evie promises to meet me at the inn after she closes the café at three-thirty, which gives me three hours to lose my mind.
I don’t head back up to the loft to check on Orfeo, halfway out of fear of seeing him looking…
well, actually dead. In the few moments before he dipped into that deep, primordial sleep, I noticed his skin had taken on an ashen hue, his lips and eyelids becoming almost transparent.
It seemed way too private to watch him fade from himself and become so vulnerable.
I wander the grounds, avoiding anyone in a peacoat with a red-thread logo over their left breast. The last thing I need is for someone to ask me what my room number is.
Part of me wants to head into the forest, find a clearing, and see if I can access some god-like powers.
Snap some branches with my mind or levitate like Criss fucking Angel.
Ultimately, the biting cold drives me back inside, where I catch a familiar head of blond curls and broad, bulging shoulders disappearing around the curve of the grand staircase.
Leo. Undeniably. How many other hulking blond men are scuttling around Echidna?
I duck through the doorway. “Leo? Is that you?”
He freezes, pivoting on his heels to face me. “Diantha.” His pretty green eyes bulge. His features are so strong, so absurdly masculine, all set against his extremely pretty, mermaidish coloring. “What’re you doing here? You’re supposed to be in hiding.”
“I…I got bored. What’re you doing here?”
“Jesus.” He shakes his head. “That’s your human side.”
“I’m used to being very busy.”
He tilts his head toward the end of the hallway. “Fine, then follow me. I’m here picking up a payment for Alfo, and”—he lifts a tote bag—“I brought you some groceries.”
“Aww.” I keep pace with him while peeking inside the bag. Eggs, bread, a single apple, a jar of peanut butter, a bag of baby carrots. It’s like he googled: human girl food. “Thanks, Leo.”
His eyelid twitches. Like being pleasant inflicts physical pain. “It’s no problem.”
“So, you know the people who own this place?”
“How the hell else do you think we’ve kept the vampire living on the grounds a secret?”
Leo comes to an abrupt stop, then knocks three times on one of the doors. It takes a moment, but finally the door swings open ajar and a squirrely man with a square haircut pokes his head out.
“Leonard.” The little man’s big, wet eyes dart between us. “Hold, please.”
“Leonard,” I repeat once the door clicks shut. “Is that a family name?”
Leo rolls his eyes. “It’s Leonardo, actually.”
“Mm, of course, because you’re an Italian…?”
“Siren—uh, oceanid. And demon.” He clears his throat, eyes fixed straight ahead.
I don’t know why it’s so fun to pick at this big combination merman-demon, but Leo is such a good sport, I could probably keep going all day. Lucky for him, the door opens again and the man reappears.
“Uh, hello.” He nods at me before handing Leo a crisp white envelope. “Five thousand six hundred and forty-eight, plus a small…token of appreciation. For your patience.”
Leo doesn’t bat an eye. “Well, of course. Alfo will appreciate it.”
His unflappable, calm confidence brings zero comfort to our new friend. If anything, he looks like he might piss his pants any second. “Okay, bye-bye. Do not linger, please.”
We make our way back toward the front of the inn, to the drawing room with the bar where I told Evie to meet me.
“Listen,” Leo says, tossing a furtive look over his shoulder as we settle around a small table by the windows.
“I was going to stop by anyway to let you know that I’ve made contact with Orfeo’s brother, and we’ll be by tonight to talk through the details.
I’ve pulled Kat in, but as you know…” He presses his lips together and drops his eyes to his hands. “As you know…”
“She’s still fragile, and we need to look after her,” I say. “We’re not putting any innocent humans in danger.”
Leo’s mouth jumps into a purse. “Exactly, but she still wants to help.”
We stare at each other for a second, until I realize he’s looking at me like he wants permission. “Okay.” I nod. “I trust you.”
“Great.” He cracks a half smile, that stern jaw of his clicking into a lopsided smirk. Deeply charming, the grump is. “I wanted to also talk to you about—”
Over Leo’s shoulder, I spy Evie stepping in through the open doors, pulling her beanie off. “Hold on, my friend’s here.”
“You told someone you’re here?”
“Uh.” I cringe. “Oops?”
“Uh-oops, my ass. Diantha, you are out of your mind. You weren’t going to tell her about we’re doing, were you?”
“Not exactly what we’re doing…”
“Fucking hell.”
Evie turns left and right, scanning the room for me. She’s little more than a round pink face sticking out of the top of her ankle-length puffy jacket.
Finally, her eyes catch mine. “Diantha!”
It’s definitely not appropriate, but I jump up and race across the room, slamming into her embrace.
“Fuck, man!” Evie throws her arms around me and squeezes me with her crazy pastry chef strength. “I thought you were dead.”
“Almost kinda did die,” I whisper, squeezing her back. “It’s a long story.”
“Promise you’ll tell me?”
“Oh, one hundred percent—”
Leo clears his throat. Never mind.
I turn us toward Leo, who’s loitering beside us like he’s my keeper. “Evie, this is Leo. He’s my friend and, um, bodyguard. Leo, this is Evie. She’s my best friend and…former boss.”
They trade wary looks like haggard combat veterans.
“Bodyguard?” she drawls, tightening her arms around my waist.
“Boss?” he rebuffs, crossing his big, beefy arms over his chest. “Diantha, can I speak to you privately?”