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  I stood up. “We’re done here.”

  Ivan climbed to his feet slowly. “Is there anything else I can do?”

  I just barely held back my scoff. Ivan Van der Waal looked like he’d have trouble helping a butterfly out of its cocoon. “No. We’ve got it covered.”

  He nodded and walked out of the room ahead of me. I motioned to the guard in the hall that I was done and went searching for Nicholas.

  I found him in the conference room adjacent to the control headquarters, his back to me and his phone to his ear.

  “I don’t care how it gets done, I just want it done!” He hung up and tossed his cell onto the table next to him. “That was a conference call with a few board members,” he said to me as he turned around. “I’m having you reinstated, effective immediately.”

  The relief at having my job back was overshadowed by the fear it would only steal more time from Charlotte. The desire to race back to her was almost overwhelming. How was I supposed to go back to work full-time?

  “I can’t start until Monday. I’ve got to finish this orientation thing,” I said, grasping for excuses.

  Nicholas sighed, but nodded. “I get it. We can do without you for a little while longer.”

  A little while to him felt like seconds to me. Time had ceased to make sense in my head. Some moments sped by at the speed of light, while others seemed to last years. This one in particular was dragging. I’d done what he’d asked me to do, and I just wanted to get back to Charlotte.

  “Is there anything else you need from me?” I asked as I took a step backward.

  Nicholas was staring at the ground, hands on his hips. “I have a bad feeling about this, Hausle.”

  I stopped trying to run out the door and focused on what he was saying. “About the power outage?”

  He nodded slowly. “I think it’s more than that.” He was quiet for a moment before speaking again. “Did you get anything out of the ones you interviewed?”

  “Not really. Most of them can account for their whereabouts in the hour leading up to the outage, and one wasn’t even a fucking guard.”

  Nicholas looked up with a frown. “Who are you talking about?”

  “Ivan Van-something. I don’t know who sent me a fucking blood bank worker, but that was a waste of my time.”

  Nicholas rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “I’m not sure. Things are a mess here. I don’t think I’ll be making it back to the city before dawn tonight.”

  Dread leaked into my system as I anticipated his next words.

  “Are you sure you can’t stay? I could really use you here.”

  I winced. “Nicholas, I can’t leave Charlotte at the orientation alone. It was bad enough I’ve already missed most of tonight’s class.”

  He sighed and nodded. “You’re right. You need to go. I’ll see you on Monday at Parliament.”

  The relief was instant as I started backing away from him again. “I’ll have my phone on me.”

  He waved me away. “Go on. We can handle this for another night without you.”

  I didn’t need him to tell me twice. Not even bothering to shout bye over my shoulder, I raced through the prison, impatiently waiting at every roadblock I encountered. By the time I made it back to my SUV, I had my phone in hand, already typing out a message to Charlotte.

  Me: I’m on my way back now. Sorry it took so long.

  I waited for a response as I started my truck and navigated my way out of the parking lot. By the time I made it to the highway, I was already doing well above the speed limit.

  There was an anxiousness deep in my gut that I was wrestling with. A need to get back to her as soon as I could.

  Without my permission, that bastard Jasper’s words from yesterday floated through my head.

  You shouldn’t leave that human of yours alone for so long.

  Someone else might come along and snatch her up.

  I swore right then and there if I found that asshole within six feet of her, I was ripping him apart limb by limb.

  The ride back took half the time and relief washed through me as I pulled up to the Christ Exchange warehouse. I slammed the car into park and jumped out of the vehicle as quickly as I could.

  With a glance at the time on my phone, I realized they’d probably be eating dinner soon and I could at least join her for that. Hopefully, she’d forgive me for missing more of the day than I’d anticipated.

  I stepped into the warehouse and immediately caught her peach scent. Following my nose, I traveled down several hallways until I came to what looked like a recreational room. It was full of pool tables and shuffleboards, but that’s not what I was focused on.

  In the middle of the room, beside a pool table with a game that looked to be in progress, I found Charlotte, her back to me. My feet itched to cross the distance between us, but I stopped short before I could take another step.

  In front of her, his dark eyes fixed on her face, was that son of a bitch Jasper. My feet moved without my consent before I was stopped in my tracks again by the words coming out of his mouth.

  “It seems like you’ve really thought out this vampire thing.”

  Charlotte shrugged. “Yeah, I have. Now I’m just ready to get it done and over with.”

  Jasper nodded, his gaze darting to me, quicker than she’d be able to see. A smile stretched across his face and I knew it was for my benefit, not hers. “Alexander must be a lucky man that you want him to make you a vampire so badly.”

  She scoffed. “Try telling him that,” she muttered.

  My jaw clenched as I just barely stopped myself from saying something. It felt like I was frozen there, the scene playing out like a movie instead of real life.

  “You know, if he’s not up for it, I’d have no problem changing you.”

  She paused, her whole body still. “Really?” she asked quietly.

  Jasper smiled again, all his teeth visible. “Of course. I’m sure we’d be able to work something out that benefited both of us.”

  Say no.

  Say no.

  Just fucking say no.

  Charlotte shrugged, and my heart fell with a splat to the pit of my stomach. “Okay. I’ll keep that in mind.”

  Jasper turned to me fully now, his smile predatory as Charlotte leaned over the edge of the pool table to take a shot. He wiggled his eyebrows at me and a rage more furious than anything I’d ever felt engulfed me in flames.

  I turned around and stormed away from them.

  Away from Jasper.

  Away from Charlotte.

  Away from every fucking secret wish I’d ever made that Charlotte actually wanted me more than she wanted to be a vampire.

  I was done with it all.

  Chapter 19

  Charlotte

  “Knockity-knock knock knock!”

  I looked up from my phone and frowned at the door. That kind of sounded like Alexander, but also nothing like him. But who else would be knocking on my door?

  “I know you’re in there!” he called, his words stretched out and distorted through the door. “Open up or I’ll huff and puff and blow your house down!” he called before breaking into peals of laughter.

  I crossed the room and pulled open the door to find Alexander slumped against the frame, his eyes unfocused and his lips pulled into a lazy grin.

  “There’s my girl,” he said, his words slurred.

  “Hey. Are you just getting back?”

  He shook his head slowly. “You know, that’s what I used to call you all the time. The girl.” He snorted. “It was like I didn’t want to admit you were real.” He laughed again before his face fell. “It’s probably ‘cause I already knew what you’d do to me.”

  I frowned as I crossed my arms over my chest. “What did I do to you?”

  He sighed and leaned his head against the doorframe dramatically. “You turned my fucking world upside down.”

  I didn’t know how to take that, so I left it alone. It didn’t matter though because there was
only one question on my mind.

  “Are you drunk?”

  He sort of smelled like liquor, but not really. It was like there was some other substance mixed in. It almost smelled metallic.

  Alexander laughed. “If I’m not drunk, then I need to go back to Jasper’s room and try harder.”

  “You were in Jasper’s room? How long were you there? Why didn’t you come see me?”

  His eyes darted to mine where they narrowed. He pushed his way into my room and slammed the door behind him. “Oh, I saw plenty of you.”

  “What does that mean?” I asked, still frozen near the door, just watching as he strolled around the room.

  “How did orientation go today? Did I miss much?”

  I swear, I was getting verbal whiplash. He was jumping from one topic to the next so quickly I could barely keep up. “Um. It was okay. I already knew most of what she had to say.”

  He turned to me, a sneer across his face. “So, you’ve got it all figured out, huh? Ready to just jump on the first pair of fangs you find.”

  I jerked back like he’d slapped me. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  He shook his head and turned away. “Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing.”

  “Alexander, what is going on with you right now? I haven’t seen you all day even though, apparently, you’ve been back long enough to get wasted. And now you’re in my room hurling insults and accusations at me? Who the hell do you think you’re talking to?”

  He looked back at me, his eyes wide and stark with honesty. “I think I’m talking to the one goddamn person on this fucking planet who has the power to break me.”

  My heart seized in my chest as I watched him struggle to hold eye contact with me. When he finally yanked his gaze away, I stumbled forward a step. “Alexander, what are you talking about?” I whispered.

  He pressed his lips into a thin line and shook his head. “Never mind.”

  I opened my mouth to insist he explain his cryptic words, but he blew out a deep breath and met my gaze again, the look in his eyes almost knocking me backward. My knees instantly shook as my heart thumped hard in my chest.

  He was across the room in the blink of an eye. Alexander’s hands landed on my hips as his mouth grazed my neck. “I missed you today,” he breathed against my skin.

  Despite the turmoil in my head, the second he touched me, I was a goner. It didn’t matter how many times I’d had him in the past, or even how recently. Alexander boiled my blood in the most delicious way every single time.

  “I missed you too,” I breathed as his hands dipped to cup my ass.

  “Mmm,” he murmured against my collarbone. “Let’s fuck.”

  Normally, his dirty mouth did nothing but stoke my flames, but something about what he just said didn’t sit right with me.

  I placed my hands on his chest and pushed. “Alexander, wait.”

  He moaned against my breast and pulled me tighter until his hardness was pressed against me and I had to squeeze my legs together. “You feel so fucking good. I bet you’re already wet.”

  Damn it, he wasn’t wrong.

  But still.

  “Alexander, I think we should talk.”

  “We’ve done enough talking. Now it’s time for fucking.”

  He picked me up and walked us to the bed as I tried to remind myself of all the reasons this was a bad idea. “I’m serious. Stop.”

  He froze on top of me before slowly pulling far enough away to meet my gaze. “Stop?”

  I had to catch myself before I rolled my eyes. It was like he’d never heard the word before. But to be honest, he probably hadn’t in a situation like this.

  I pushed him back and sat up. “Yeah, stop. I want to talk to you.”

  “But I want to fuck.”

  This time I did roll my eyes. “Yes. I think you’ve made your opinion abundantly clear.”

  His smile turned feral as he crept closer again, his lips landing on my neck where he always bit me. It sent a thrill of anticipation through my system. “You don’t want to talk. You want me to make you come.”

  My heart stuttered in my chest because he was one hundred percent right. But I shook my head to try to clear it. “Alexander, no. I want to talk.”

  He cupped my mound and squeezed, and I couldn’t help the gasp that fell from my lips. “You know I could persuade you.”

  I closed my eyes tightly as I tried to keep my breaths even. “I know you could persuade me, but I don’t want you like this.”

  He froze in place before carefully pulling away. “You don’t want me?”

  It was the way he said it. Like he’d never heard of something so ridiculous. Like I had no choice but to fall at his feet because he said so.

  I pushed him away and crawled off the bed. “No. I don’t want you like this.”

  Alexander was on his feet and in my face seconds later. “Well, this is who the fuck I am. You can either take it or leave it.”

  “This isn’t who you are.”

  “Yes, it fucking is!” he screamed. “I’m a drunk, miserable asshole. Now you know who you’ve been fucking all these weeks. Now you know who you’re asking to be your fucking maker.”

  “That’s not who you are,” I said, louder this time.

  He sneered at me from across the room. “What the hell would you know?”

  And I’d had enough.

  “Fine. If that’s who you are, then get the hell out!”

  His eyes widened in surprise before the scowl was back on his face. “He was right, wasn’t he? That fucking bastard was dead right about you.”

  I could feel the anger bubbling in my system. I’d tried to keep myself calm because I knew he was drunk and not acting like himself, but my patience only went so far. If he was going to keep slinging insults, I wasn’t going to just sit there and take them.

  “What the hell are you talking about?”

  He crossed the room to the door before turning back around to me. “Nothing, Charlotte. I’m just finally seeing shit clearly.”

  “I don’t know what the fuck that means,” I said through gritted teeth.

  He scoffed. “Of fucking course you don’t. I’m leaving.”

  “No one’s stopping you!” I yelled as he slammed my door shut.

  I stood in the middle of my room, hands fisted and rage frothing in my system.

  I wanted to follow him and yell at him some more.

  I wanted to fucking break something with my bare hands.

  I wanted to drag him back and make him explain himself and apologize for being such a dick.

  But I didn’t do any of those things. Instead, I stood there, taking steady breaths and willing the anger to recede. I tried to dig deeper. To figure out what the hell went wrong. How we’d gone from the blissful beginning of our night to this giant mess we were in.

  Had something happened while he was gone? Was the situation worse than he’d thought? But then why was he taking it out on me? Was it just because I was convenient? Or was it something else? Something more?

  Those questions and a hundred others swirled around my head as I tried to just grasp onto one of them. But there were too many, and they were too loud, and I couldn’t concentrate on anything else.

  It was only a couple hours before dawn, but I knew there was no way I could fall asleep like this. Not with a fight like that hanging over my head.

  I needed to find Alexander and make him sort this out with me. Maybe I could get him some vampire coffee or something to sober up. Because it was clear something wasn’t right, and I needed to figure out what it was now.

  I left my room, not knowing where I was going to look for him, but determined to search every inch of the warehouse if I had to. As I turned to close my door, something across the hall caught my attention.

  The door that led to what was supposed to be Alexander’s room was ajar. I knew it hadn’t been like that earlier. In fact, I didn’t think it had been opened once since we got there because he’d be
en staying with me.

  I was relieved to know Alexander hadn’t gone far, and he was at least somewhere private so we could continue our conversation. I crossed the hall and pushed the door open, not bothering to knock or announce myself.

  That was a decision I instantly regretted.

  ***

  Alexander

  I heard her heartbeat before her gasp.

  Ba-bum.

  Ba-bum.

  Ba-bum.

  It pounded in my aching head, counting down the seconds I had left before I’d have to pay for what I’d done.

  For the harsh words I’d said to her.

  For the insinuations I’d made.

  But most of all, for the human I’d let into my room a couple minutes ago.

  I looked over the brunette’s shoulder to see Charlotte standing in the brightly lit doorway, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open.

  Like she was shocked.

  Like she couldn’t believe her eyes.

  Like she hadn’t expected something like this from me.

  But I’d just shattered all those illusions. Maybe this time I’d finally lose her. Maybe I was ready for that.

  I don’t know what I expected from her in that moment. There were a hundred ways she could have reacted. A thousand different consequences, and I deserved every one of them.

  But what she wound up doing surprised me.

  Charlotte opened her mouth to speak, but before anything could come out, she snapped it closed. Her eyes burned as they met mine over the human’s shoulder before she spun around and stormed out of the room.

  I pushed the human aside, ignoring her protests as I raced after Charlotte.

  “Where are you going?” I called as I followed her down the hall.

  “For a walk. Do not follow me,” she warned.

  But I ignored her.

  I’d sobered up quickly, and with my brain functioning clearly again, I knew if I let her walk away from me, I’d lose her forever.

  “Charlotte, wait up. Talk to me.”

  “Oh, I think we’re well past talking, Alexander. And I have nothing to say.”

  “I didn’t do anything.”

  “I don’t care. I don’t own you. You can do whatever you want.”

  I grabbed her arm, but she yanked it back and kept walking. “Will you just listen to me for a minute?”