Chapter 23
Chapter
Twenty-Three
Iblinked, and the vampire Alpha raided my personal space. I was trapped between two metal bookshelves, a wall, and Torin.
His crimson eyes radiated hunger. He leaned in, nostrils flaring, and smelled the crook of my neck. “I can scent the delicious fragrance of your blood, Princess,” he said with a low growl.
I should have been afraid of him, but at this moment, all I wanted to do was yell at him, hit his chest with my fists, and kick him in the groin. He hadn’t taken the news of me sleeping with Hayden lightly, which was the Alpha’s problem. Not mine.
Maybe I was reckless, stupid, or both, but I didn’t avert my gaze—I held his and didn’t blink.
His fierce vampire face was inches from mine. My heart raced as his angry stare bore into me. Two long, sharp fangs protruding from his lips hovered awfully close to my skin.
Anger coursed through my veins. My adrenaline spiked. With a surge of energy, I used my hands to push his chest, but he was like an immovable stone.
“When you calm down, I’ll be in my office,” I said through a clenched jaw.
As I sidestepped him, I wondered if he’d let me pass by him unharmed.
Torin moved out of my way and nodded. My mouth almost fell open, but I made an effort to keep my cool and stride away from him.
As I passed Steven’s office, I peered inside the wide-open door. Hadn’t he heard all the angry growling? My boss sat behind his laptop, typing away, focused on the screen. When he noticed me, he smiled and waved me over. I strolled inside his office.
“Hi. You looked deep in thought,” I said.
Steven pointed to his screen. “We have two new rare books coming from our dealer. Take a look.”
I went behind his desk and stared at the small monitor. He had pictures of the worn-out brown books, both opened and closed, and his eyes sparkled at the images.
“I wish I could help you re-bind them, but I’m here to ask for some time off.” My voice was surprisingly calm, given the fuming vampire around here.
Steven’s head snapped my way, and I took a deep breath.
“Are you okay, Breanna? You seem off lately,” he said.
I was surprised he’d noticed. He had been so consumed by grief that he had blocked the world around him.
I wanted to do the same, but I owed it to Lisa to find her killers and put them away for good.
I still had the magic book, so I had a feeling I’d be meeting the vampire who wanted it again.
“Family emergency,” I said.
“Of course. Would two weeks suffice? You can take more time off, but I’ll need to get it approved, which shouldn’t be a problem, especially after Mr. Sterling made another large contribution to our department. The largest so far.” Steven’s smile brightened, but my insides twisted in a weird way.
Had Torin compelled Mr. Sterling to make the contribution? I shook my head. It couldn’t be. Torin only forced the man to leave the exhibit hall.
“Two weeks is fine, but I’m not sure how much more I’ll need. I’ll let you know,” I said.
The library wouldn’t keep my job safe if I didn’t return to work after two weeks, maybe three. I would lose the job I loved if I returned to the United States, to the supernatural world that didn’t want to let me be.
My jaw muscles ached from all the grinding I was doing. I didn’t want to deal with a jealous half vampire and vicious supernatural enemies. Why couldn’t I live among humans? I was one of them, and I belonged in their world.
Steven cleared his throat, pulling me out of my thoughts. “Sounds good, Breanna. Good luck with everything.”
I walked to his office door and grasped the handle. I crossed the fingers of my free hand that Steven would ask to close his door. I didn’t know in what condition Torin would appear in my office. Would he storm in and cause chaos, or would he be calm?
“Leave it open or close it, Steven?”
“Leave it open, Breanna. Thanks.”
I swallowed hard, walked out of his office, and returned to mine.
Grasping the handle of my office door, I swung the door open and left it as wide open as possible.
I took only a moment to collect my personal belongings, my favorite pens and sketchbook, and stuffed them in my bag. I touched the magic book with my fingertips, and a warm sensation traveled up to my shoulder.
I was ready to leave when Torin sauntered in. In his human form. With soft amber eyes.
I crossed my arms over my chest, my leather bag hanging over my shoulder.
“I’m sorry,” he said in a gruff voice that made my body react in unwanted ways.
I gaped at him. “What?”
Torin didn’t ever apologize. He looked over his shoulder at the empty hallway and walked toward me but stopped at my desk.
He’d left my office door open, and I sighed heavily.
“The vampire in me always pushes to come out whenever I’m around you, Anna,” he said in a low voice that I was sure Steven’s human hearing couldn’t detect.
“Yeah, I noticed, but why?”
“Because he wants to taste you.” His tone held so much disgust that my eyes widened.
But he wasn’t disgusted by me, was he? He wanted me, or at least his vampire did.
“I won’t let that monstrous side of me hurt you, Princess. That’s why I asked you to run. I needed that moment to process the news.”
“My relationships with other people have nothing to do with you,” I deadpanned.
“You’re wrong. And we’ll talk more about it later.” He tilted his head to the door and nodded. “I wasn’t angry at you, Anna. That’s why I’m sorry. I was angry with myself. I pushed you away so that you found comfort in another guy’s arms.”
A low, long growl echoed in the office. It'd be a bad idea to push Torin any farther with the office doors opened.
“We’re not talking about my private life, Torin.”
“We will but not now,” he said with so much conviction that I believed him.
I took a sharp breath. He was like the hottest fire. I was his oxygen, fueling more giant flames.
“You see, we can’t find a middle ground. We always end up arguing,” I said.
The Alpha stood there silently, watching me. I sighed and sat on my office chair, placing my hands over the bag.
“Thank you and your Beta for cleaning my office.”
There were no traces of blood on the floor, and his cleaning crew had placed scented plug-ins that released a fragrant floral aroma.
“I talked to my boss and took some time off. Maybe I can join Tammy in Milan.” Then I’d have the peace and quiet to focus on opening the magic book.
“Mmmmm…” Torin looked thoughtful, raising more suspicion in me.
“Did you compel Mr. Sterling to make a charitable contribution to our department?”
Torin’s amber eyes darkened. “Of course not. I’m not thrilled to use my compulsion, Anna,” he said in a tone that hinted I might have offended him. “I don’t like to call on the vampires’ powers or to use them.”
Many people in the kingdom disapproved when he used his vampire powers, and Torin was forbidden from shifting into his vampire on the premises.
I didn’t mean to strike a nerve. I could imagine Torin grappling with his inherent vampire instincts and his werewolf and human moral compass.
“If vampires weren’t our number one enemy, then your unique situation”—I paused because I didn’t want my words to be misunderstood by him again—“and the fact that you are the only one of your kind would be a good thing for you. Being different is something to celebrate.”
Torin’s jaw muscle twitched, and after seeming to fight it, he smiled.
“Then I hope you hear yourself and start accepting your…unique situation,” he said and chuckled.
I groaned. “My situation is different. Don’t laugh at me. I’m way too different from any supernatural creature. I’m a human.” I rubbed circles over the material of my bag. “But I have a feeling this magic book, once I open it, will tell me more about my human heritage.”
“Where’s the book?” Torin asked.
“Here.” I patted the leather.
Torin extended his glove-covered hand with holes where his talons poked through. At first, I thought he wanted to take away my book, and I clutched my bag tighter.
“C’mon,” he said. “I have a lot of apologizing to do. You were already feeling down from the break-in and Lisa’s death. I want to make it up to you with dinner.”
I looked at his large hand reaching out to me and then up at his stoic face. Something felt off, but I couldn’t identify what, but the feeling faded quickly.
My mind decided to linger on his long and firm fingers, the sight of them striking heat within my core.
Torin raised his eyebrows at me.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea, Torin.” My words came out breathy and weak.
“Please, Anna,” he said, his tone tenderer than before, and something inside me melted at the sincerity in his voice.
Most of the time, Torin was anything but gentle.
It wasn’t like him to be so insistent on feeding me dinner. Torin was never nice to me, so it rubbed me the wrong way when he was polite—as if something terrible was about to happen.
I drew in a deep breath, took his gloved hand, and stood. The heat of him seeped through every pore of my body. To say that Torin strongly affected my mind and body was an understatement. I was utterly drawn by the intoxicating mix of danger and desire.
Once we exited the library, we got in his car. He drove, and I only recognized the way to the airport when the parked airplanes appeared in the distance.
No matter how much I insisted, Torin wouldn’t tell me where we were going. At a separate tarmac, we climbed into a private plane. But I was a persistent, annoying girl—my superpower—and Torin soon gave up.
“We’re headed to Paris,” he announced.
“For dinner?” I screeched, my voice echoing inside the empty plane.
“It’s only about an hour of flight time from London and a short drive afterward.”
I shook my head. My parents also had a private airplane. It was nothing new to me or different from how I grew up.
But what confused me was Torin’s behavior. He was an Alpha who could switch from being gentle and kind one minute to deadly and dangerous the next. I didn’t know what to make of him.