But God, he'd looked like bad news. If the guy on the street corner with the phone had been the perfect hero from my romance books, this guy had been the one who is clearly being set up to be the bad guy in a TV show. He was all darkness. Black hair, bold eyebrows, and scorching gray eyes that made me feel like a rabbit staring into the eyes of a wolf. He'd practically radiated danger.
And then the moment he saw my pills, he'd bolted without a word.
Of course he had.
I didn't just have baggage, I was baggage. And I couldn't blame any guy for not wanting to be anywhere near it. It wasn't self-pity, it was just common sense. There were too many perfectly normal, perfectly healthy people out there for someone to willingly get involved with someone like me.
Maisey finally pulled the door closed after the brief shock seemed to pass. She tossed her yoga mat in the corner by the door, then put her hands on her hips and gave me that dreaded big sister look.
My sister was thirty and had a hectic schedule because of her multiple gigs doing yoga classes at three studios across the city. I knew she worked her ass off to help pay for our place and my pills, and I was always grateful for that. I was also her little sister, though, so I was still contractually obliged to be a little brat from time to time.
"What?" I asked, not making eye contact.
"You're not going to explain why whoever that was just rushed out of here? Or why he was here in the first place? Or what the hell you were thinking?"
I gave her the abridged version of what had happened. Of course, I might've taken an artist's license and omitted the part where I actually included the apartment number, and I might've softened the content of my note to be less cringe-inducing. In my version of the story, I also only hit him once with the baseball bat.
Maisey was still looking at me like I'd lost my mind when I finished.
She sighed, sanitized her hands, and then went toward the shower. She stopped at the door, holding a finger out at me. "You need to be more careful, Syl. I know it's hard, but I can't lose you. And hey, I could cancel tonight and maybe we could just watch a movie together like you've been wanting. Sound good?"
"Yeah," I said, grateful she hadn't lingered on the guilt trip part for very long. "That actually sounds great."
Maisey had stepped into the bathroom but popped her head out of the door suddenly. "Oh, by the way. You realize you aren't wearing pants, right?"
Narrator: No, Sylvie had not realized she wasn't wearing pants. But she suspected the scary hottie had, and suddenly wished she would poof out of existence.
6
Riggs
I cranked up the air conditioning in my truck, then leaned forward and felt my sweaty back try to stick to the seat.
I had a thousand better things to be doing. Tens of thousands, actually. Instead, I was camped out in my car like some cop watching a stranger's apartment. And for what?
Two days ago, I'd picked up the scent of a vamp on the girl I assumed was Cassonovette's sister. I'd made all sorts of internal promises to erase her and the encounter from my mind after that. One burrito later and I found my sorry ass here, watching.
I studied everyone who so much as looked in the direction of her building. There was an old man with a bent back who spent far too long staring in the vague direction of her window. I'd gotten out of my car and given him a hard time, but the encounter ended with him whacking me in the leg with his cane. I'd called him a few choice names and gone back to my car.
With that threat handled, I was back to the tedious business of watching. Waiting.
My wolf had been practically dormant these last few months. The only way to describe the feeling was when he was happy and well, I had a sort of internal furnace of energy. I couldn't exactly communicate with him, but I could feel his emotions. But that went both ways, and lately, it mostly felt like he curled up and had entered a state of hibernation. Except during full moons, of course.
I squinted toward her window, where I'd just caught a glimpse of movement. Sylvie appeared to sit in front of her window and read books for literally hours at a time. That godforsaken skin bag of a cat would sit beside her too, watching me. She hadn't noticed me, but the little bastard Gravy Boat had. I was sure of it.
I nearly jumped out of my seat when someone knocked on my window. I looked to see Felix leaning down and motioning for me to unlock the door.
I grudgingly let him in. He filled up the other half of my car like a lady in her forties trying to squeeze into her high school prom dress.
"Since when are you working jobs again?" Felix asked. He bent his neck, making a show of looking around for some sign of what I might be trying to watch.
"It's not a job. I was out for a drive and I decided to park here."
"Mhm. Well, your random choice of parking has some of the rebels worried enough to ask me to ask you what's going on."
That got my attention. The fucking rebels were asking about me? Did they have something to do with Sylvie? "The fact that you and the others are working with them is disgusting. You realize that, right?"
Felix shrugged. "They're vamps, yeah. But it's not as simple as all vamps are bad. You wouldn't be so bitter if you could get that through your head."
"Yeah, sure. These rebels of yours are fighting the good fight. They want what we want. For now," I added gravely. "What happens when we help them take out the vamps who don't agree with them? What happens when we make them the new bosses? You don't think they'll turn on us?"
"I think the Pack trusts them. That used to be enough for you."
"Yeah," I said. "Things change though, don't they?"
Felix gave me a lingering look. "Yeah," he said finally. "They do."
A few moments of silence passed, and it seemed to be enough to get Felix to give up the argument. "So what are you doing here. Really?"
"I'm not interested in helping you be a good little bitch for the rebels. Tell them whatever you want about what I'm doing here. Or maybe they can come ask me themselves if they're so interested."
He chuckled. "They've heard stories about you. I don't think any of them are going to come within a mile of this car, Riggs."
"Then they're not completely braindead. I'll give them that."
Night had come while we talked, and I saw a pale figure slink into view. He had his hood up, but I could practically smell it from here.
Vamp.
I felt the hairs on my arms stand on end. The wolf inside me stirred, growling with anger to mirror my own.
Felix followed my eyes, grinning. "That's not one of the rebels. That's Coven."
It was, and the asshole just walked into Sylvie's building. "You can finish my dinner," I said, tossing the wrap I'd forgotten about into his lap.
I was out of the car and across the street just minutes after the vamp had gone up the stairs. I told myself it wasn't about her. It wasn't for some girl I barely knew, even if she had been the first woman to hit me in the head with a baseball bat. Twice.
I grinned a little at that. I could respect her spunk without wanting to fuck her, obviously. And that was as far as I planned to let my interest go.