After I returned her to her parents’ house, she’d fallen off the wagon again. Lucas found her passed out in an alley two weeks ago, and I’d taken it upon myself to get her clean. Rita’s mum, Noreen, was a healer, and she whipped up a batch of special magical tea that I had Amanda drink three times a day. The stuff worked miracles. Gone were the dark circles under her eyes and the desperate need to be bitten. Amanda was almost ready to go home. Now I knew why Rita and her mum had so many loyal clients. Their spells and concoctions really worked.
I climbed into bed next to her, laying down and riding out the high from Ethan’s blood. I rested my head on my pillow as pleasure took over, my every pore tingling. Wow, this was insane. The feeling radiated through me, wiping all worries from my mind.
This could certainly become addictive.
Somewhere along the way, I fell asleep, dreaming of what might’ve happened if Rita hadn’t interrupted me and Ethan while we battled it out in the bathroom.
I didn’t intend to, but I slept through the night and half the next day. Ethan’s blood had completely wiped me out. Amanda came into the room as I sat up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. She was dressed as she sat next to me on the bed, looking fresh and vibrant. She was practically back to her old self. Although, it also meant she recently had her eyes re-opened to what was really going on in this city. When she was deep in her addiction, she was too out of it to fully comprehend what was going on. Plus, her memories kept being wiped by the vampires who fed from her.
“Have you been out for a walk?” I asked, noting the rosy glow to her cheeks.
“Yes, I went shopping with Noreen and Alvie, then we had lunch at a sushi restaurant.”
“Sounds fun. You look good.”
She nodded. “I feel good. I think I might go home tomorrow. See my parents. They’ve been worried about me.”
“Of course. I’m sure they’ve missed you. I’ll be sorry to see you go, but you’re all better now thanks to Rita and Noreen.”
“I can’t thank all of you enough for taking care of me. I’m never stepping foot near a vampire again so long as I can help it.”
I arched an eyebrow. “Does that include Lucas?”
Her cheeks flushed a little before she replied, “Yes, that includes him. I’m an addict. I have to cut myself off completely. It’s the only way.”
“Well, I’m glad to hear that.” I pulled her into a hug. At least one thing had gone right lately.
“Tegan!” Finn called from somewhere downstairs. “Are you awake?”
“Yes,” I replied.
“Good. We’re having a meeting in the living room in ten minutes. The vamps are on their way over.”
A rush of anxiety went through me. I wasn’t ready to see Ethan again so soon, not after the fireworks of last night. Finn appeared in the doorway, eyeing my bed head.
“Oh, you can wipe that judgemental look off your face. I needed to sleep.”
“It’s late evening. You’ve been asleep all day,” Finn commented.
“And your point is?” I shot back, feeling snappish. “What’s the meeting about?”
Finn folded his arms across his chest. “Rita mentioned what happened to you yesterday, about the riot and how you think it had something to do with Theodore. We’re having a meeting to discuss that possibility.”
“I guess hashing out some theories couldn’t hurt,” I said before glancing at Amanda. “You might want to make yourself scarce. Lucas will be coming over for the meeting.”
“Sure, I’ll stay up here,” she replied, picking up a paperback that she’d been reading.
I ran a hand through my hair to neaten it up. Finn’s wry glance informed me it was a wasted effort. I shuffled past him grumpily, grabbing a clean top, underwear, and some jeans before heading to the bathroom to take a quick shower.
Once out and dressed, I headed downstairs in search of food, suddenly ravenous. I pulled a packet of tortilla chips from the cupboard before I even noticed Ira sitting silently over by the window. He stared out into the garden, a meditative look on his face.
He glanced at me then, probably sensing my eyes on him. I gave him a nod, not bothering to make conversation because he was still doing the whole mute thing. I wondered if he lost the ability to speak as a result of the curse placed on him. Finn had been helping him a lot, taking him out and teaching him how to be a human again, but he still had a long way to go.
When I went into the living room, everyone was there except for Finn. They must’ve arrived while I was in the shower. Silence fell when I stepped into the room, all eyes on me. I feigned nonchalance, continuing to munch loudly on the tortilla chips because I suspected it would bother Ethan. Rita’s lips twitched in amusement.
There wasn’t anywhere for me to sit, so I lowered myself to the floor by the fireplace. Sensing someone’s attention, I lifted my gaze, and Ethan was eyeing me without expression. I felt my cheeks redden as memories from last night filled my head.
I should teach you a lesson.
Why did that statement fill me with anticipation rather than dread?
My gaze drifted to Delilah, who sat next to him. I had to do a double-take because she wore a translucent vest top with no bra underneath, her B-cups all on show. None of the vampires seemed to have noticed, or maybe they just didn’t care. They were so jaded someone could traipse in stark naked and they probably wouldn’t bat an eyelid.
A moment of silence passed before Finn finally joined us. He was still a little uneasy around the vamps, and I guessed his late arrival was a bit of a power play. It was going to take a lot more time for him to overcome his reservations about them, if he even could. I held in my laughter when I noticed him do an almost identical double-take to my own when he spotted Delilah’s see-through vest. This was one of the main reasons why I liked Finn so much. We picked up on the same things when we walked into a room.
I watched him struggle to keep his mouth shut. Unfortunately, his trap won out.
“A bit nippy in here, isn’t it?” he commented, doing his best to keep a straight face. Without meaning to, I let out a quiet snicker. All eyes darted to me again as I struggled to keep my giggles under control. Finn smiled widely.
“What’s so funny?” Rita asked. She wasn’t in direct view of Delilah, so she didn’t get it.
“Nothing,” I replied. “Just choked on a tortilla crumb.” I glanced at Finn. “Should I turn the heating on?”
He shook his head, suppressing a grin. “Nah, it’ll warm up soon.”
I chanced a peek at Ethan and found him looking between me and Finn questioningly.
Finn turned to Gabriel, avoiding eye contact with all of the vamps. “So, how do we start this, Gabe?”
Gabriel cleared his throat. “Well, I was hoping that Tegan could give us a more detailed account of what happened to her yesterday.” He glanced at me expectantly.
I put down my bag of chips. “In a nutshell, I was out shopping when I came to Campion Row. It was like I’d stepped into bizarro world. People were beating on each other at random like crazed animals. No rhyme or reason. Then this one man, I’m telling you he couldn’t look any more harmless, decided to attack me when I told him to stop fighting with another man. In the end, I had to do a runner to get away from the fighting. The man kept chasing me though, and when I turned around to confront him, he began rambling. He was all confused and couldn’t explain why he was after me. Something dodgy was going on.”