Chapter 27 #2
“I’m merely following your lead.” He took a huge bite of his cherry roll and watched me, waiting for me to break and spill the beans.
I had no beans to spill. He had all my beans. I got up and made some coffee, not saying a word to him. I still wanted the rest of that blueberry roll, but I wasn’t going to give him the pleasure of watching me eat his food.
I’d wait until he was gone and scarf down the rest of it.
When the coffee was finished, I poured us both a cup, using the same mugs as the day before. He murmured his thanks and took a sip.
“I used the grounds you gave me. I’d be willing to pay well if your boss would offer me a supply.”
“I’ll ask.”
Silence fell between us for a while before Alric broke. “We don’t have to be enemies, Alex.”
“I’m not your enemy.” I sipped my coffee.
Alric pushed the blueberry roll toward me. “Eat. Your heart rate increases every time you look at it.”
I let out a breath. “Ass.”
His soft laugh made my stomach tighten. “Your necklace is gone. Is that why you shifted?”
I glanced at him. “Is Leo your source of all things Alex?”
He lifted a shoulder in a shrug. “You like him, yes?”
“I like him well enough, I suppose. He’s not a friend, but I don’t hate him.”
“Good friendships have started with less.”
I frowned. “I don’t see us starring in a buddy comedy any time soon. Especially since he’s your little spy.”
Alric wrapped his hands around the mug and sighed. “If Silas hadn’t come, I would have.”
“Yeah? Maybe I would have eaten your face off.”
“Or maybe I would have eaten yours.” He wiggled his eyebrows at me.
“You are the worst,” I muttered.
He flashed a grin. “I’m not the prickly one.” Alric flicked a finger at me. “Now tell me why you wanted me to come. Not that I’m not enjoying our verbal duel. It’s not often when someone deigns to ignore my position and speak to me like I’m a misbehaving underling.”
“Maybe if you didn’t act like one,” I grumbled.
Alric laughed, the sound deep and masculine. My fingers tightened around my mug. Even for a blond, he was a beautiful man. Maddening, but gorgeous.
“I know Beckett isn’t suffering from a genetic defect.”
Alric went still as a grave during winter. “Do you?” His eyes took on a bright glow. “And how, pray tell, did you come across this information?”
“My spies are not as obvious as Leo,” I said. There was no way I’d tell him about Silas’s affliction. “Why would you lie?”
He began sipping his coffee again and watched me for a moment.
“We are strangers, aren’t we? A chance meeting in a chaotic moment threw us into each other’s paths.
Silas and I made a terrible choice. Neither of us expected to see you again.
And yet, here we are. Sharing breakfast together, lying to each other with almost every breath we take.
The real question is, how do we earn each other’s trust enough to tell each other the truth? ”
I hated how logical and reasonable he sounded.
“Alright. Let’s play this your way. Why did you leave me in the alley?”
Alric’s eyes narrowed. “A truth for a truth.”
“One pass allowed.”
“Fair. I’ll start. We left you there because we are old and brutal.
We could not afford to be blamed for a witch’s death, not if we wanted to continue trying to reach a tentative peace between our people.
If word got out that we harmed a witch or left her to die, it could spark a conflict between all supernaturals.
” He waited for me to say something, but his words did not surprise me.
I was nothing to them. The thought hurt more than it should.
“Who is your father?” he asked suddenly.
I blinked in surprise. “Umm. I have no idea. Mom never told me.”
Alric studied me for a long moment before letting out a soft snort. “Shit. You’re telling the truth.”
“Why wouldn’t I?” The recent information that had surfaced during the meeting with Mom’s old coven buddies had made me question everything, and I still needed to look through the books Cat had given me.
The ritual Tiegan had sent me was still down in the basement, but I hadn’t had time to find someone to assist me with it.
Minus the strange magic I’d used when Beckett had attacked me, and the small amount of knowledge I now had about my dad, there were still more questions than answers.
There was no reason to lie to Alric because I wanted the answers more than he did.
He shrugged. “Most people lie to me, Alex. They’re far too stupid to realize I always know.”
His voice held an edge of bitterness.
“It must be difficult to have a relationship with that ability.”
Alric’s eyes widened with surprise. “I—” A self-deprecating laugh escaped him.
“Yes,” he said after a moment. “Everyone lies. All the time. It’s maddening.
Even about the smallest things. We seek acceptance in the smallest of ways every single day.
We say what we think others want to hear in the hope we will be included. ”
“Including you.”
Alric’s smile reached his eyes this time. “Yes,” he admitted. “Including me.”
“Hmm. Beckett has a virus. Where did it come from?”
Alric went still and said nothing for such a long time I thought he might refuse to answer. When he did answer, his words surprised me.
“We don’t know where it came from. Beckett has always been a problem.
” He shook his head. “Even when he was a human, he was entitled. His maker should have refused to turn him, but Beckett is pretty, and vampires like pretty things.” Alric got up and grabbed the coffee carafe, refilling both our cups as he seemed to choose his next words carefully.
“He has no charm of his own, unlike others, and he uses fear to get his way. I had to get involved multiple times to de-escalate situations with him. Eventually, as you well know, he managed to escape even my vast notice. I was looking for him when you came upon us in the alley.”
“Looked like you and Silas were hashing something out.”
Alric shook his head. “Completely separate and a coincidence we ran into each other. I have no idea why he was there, but our issues boiled over into a physical confrontation.” His lips twisted. “And then there was you.”