“Is that why you carried me out of Crimson last night?”
He tips his head to the side in a wordless challenge. “It was either that or the bouncer kick you out. Trust me, you got the good end of the deal. She was gunning for you.”
“Right,” I say around a mouthful of eggs. “Well, thanks.”
Noah pulls out a white bottle out of his pocket and tosses it in my direction. It lands on the foot of the bed. “Want to tell me why you got so trashed?”
I swallow and grab the bottle, turning it over in my hand. I pop the top of the Ibuprofen and shake out a couple pills, then take a long drink of water to swallow them. “It’s been an interesting few days,” is all I say.
Just as I set the bottle on the nightstand, I see a message appear on my phone. It’s from an unknown number. Forrest is in, the text reads. Nothing else.
“You’ve got me on the edge of my seat,” Noah remarks. His eyes shift to my cell phone. “I put my number in that while you were sleeping, by the way. Saved your number to mine while I was at it. You’re welcome.”
My grip tightens on the phone. “Great. As for getting trashed, well, you already know I was kicked out of the boardinghouse.”
Noah nods. “What I don’t know is why.”
Biting my lip, I finally tell him the truth. “I sort of attacked Nina. We had a… disagreement. One that ended with a hole in the wall and blood on the floor. I left, called a cab, and came here.”
I set the lid back on the empty tray and push it away. “Anyway, after I got here, someone paid me a visit. I guess you could say I didn’t handle it very well.”
“Who knew you were here?” Noah asks, arching a dark brow.
I flop back into the mountain of pillows and stare at the ceiling. “My not-father.”
“The old man himself, huh? What did he want?”
Moving to sit cross-legged on the bed, I blow out a breath. “Alexander wants my help. You can’t tell anyone, but someone in the king’s inner circle is dealing vampire venom. He wants me to investigate. What? Why are you staring at me?”
The bounty hunter scoffs. “He wants you? Don’t glare at me like that, halfling, I’m not being an ass this time. He has an entire army at his disposal, which begs the question. Why little Charlotte Travesty?”
I lick my lips, tasting the remnants of salt from the potatoes. “Because he wants to keep it quiet, I guess. A royal investigation would be too public, and the last thing he wants is for this to become mainstream media.”
Noah snorts. “Now that I believe. Of course he doesn’t want us finding out this happened under his nose.”
“Keep your voice down. He doesn’t want increased public use of vampire venom, Noah.”
“Right. You expect me to believe he’s doing this because he cares about our wellbeing.”
“Look, I need to figure this out, and—”
“Go ahead,” Noah cuts me off with a smirk. “Ask for my help.”
“You’re insufferable.”
“Am I, though? Look how patient I’m being, especially when you consider what a busy vampire I am. So if you don’t need my help, I can just head out.” He starts to stand, but I shoot him an icy glare.
“I… need your help,” I say through my teeth.
The bounty hunter’s eyes gleam. “Now was that so hard?”
“Yes.”
Noah flicks his tongue over his bottom lip. He leans back in the chair, the sleeves of his black shirt pushed up to oh-so-conveniently reveal sculpted forearms. “Why are you asking me, anyway? Where’s the puppy? You know, the one that follows you around all the time. Surely he would’ve left the boardinghouse with you, if you’d asked.”
“Don’t talk about him like that, please.” I look away, but Noah must still see something in my expression.
“Trouble in paradise?”
Anger rises, making my chest feel tight. “Will you help me, or not?”
“Sure, I’ll help. For a price, of course.” Noah gets to his feet. “But we can talk about that later. I might have a lead on our other case—we should check it out tonight.”
“How did I go from being a princess with an entire staff to essentially working three jobs?” I grumble, reluctant to leave the warmth of the bed.
Noah chuckles on his way to the door. “Because you pissed off Alexander Travesty.”
“Yeah. Just by being born.”
At my words, something in the vampire’s face shifts. It’s so slight that I almost miss it, but I’ve made a habit of staring at Noah Forrest, and I’m beginning to know his expressions better than my own. Slowly he says, “I’ve been around a lot longer than you, Charlotte, so I can say that the creature you knew as your father has never been fair.”
I blink at him. I’m not sure what’s more surprising—the fact that he’s being kind again or that he’s older than me. “Wait,” I say suddenly. “How old are you?”
“Isn’t that rude to ask?” Noah asks, looking affronted.
“I’m pretty sure that only applies to women.”
The dark-haired vampire shakes his head. “Double standards.”
I suppress a smile, bringing my knees to my chest. “Come on, you really aren’t going to tell me?”
“Maybe another time. You need to clean yourself up and feed. I need to get my beauty sleep.” Noah grasps the handle, but pauses and turns back to me. “Until tonight, baby vampire.”
With that, he leaves the suite, and the door clicks shut behind him.
After the longest shower of my life, I change into a pair of black joggers and a plain gray T-shirt. Once I’m dressed, I grab my room key and head to the elevator. Now that my headache has faded and my stomach is no longer empty, my gums are throbbing with hunger. Before I can even think about anything else, I need to feed. Just another thing Noah was annoyingly right about.
The feeder suite is decorated with soft, calming tones and comfortable-looking seating. Everything looks properly cleaned, as well—the faint scent of lemons drifts through the air, mixed with the tangy, sweet blood being drawn behind closed doors.
I step up to the marble reception desk and smile at the human male behind it. He looks to be Henry’s age, but with none of the cruelty in his eyes. “Hello. Are any feeders available?”
He offers me a brilliant smile in return. “Of course, I would be happy to assist you. Do you have any preferences we can accommodate?”
Just like the last time I was here, I shake my head. “No, thanks. Anyone you have is fine.”
The human taps away on a keyboard, his lavender eyes flicking back and forth across the screen. He smiles again. “Ah, perfect. I have someone ready in room six. If you walk down this hall, it’s the last door on your right.”
“Great. Thank you.” I step back from the counter and start in the direction he pointed, my footsteps soundless on the plush beige carpet.
The door is closed. I knock gently and step inside a small room. As I close the door again, I smile politely at the human laying on a cushioned table. There’s an undersized pillow beneath his mop of brown curls, slightly propping him up. Soft, classical music drifts through the room. An essential oil diffuser spreads the faint scent of lavender into the space around us, as if we’re at some sort of spa.