– Keria –
“You know what’s pathetic?” she asked.
I didn’t answer. It wasn’t rude, people. Calm down. I know her conversational cadence. It was an obviously rhetorical question. What’s more, she gets slightly annoyed if I treat the rhetorical stuff like it’s literal.
Granted, sometimes I like to annoy her for fun, but this was not the time for that.
“They’ve gone to such great pains to make this place look old. They want it to look European and ancient. There are images on Google Maps that give away the truth. It’s sad how devoted they are to their own lies.”
We were lying on our stomachs on a hilltop, maybe 100 yards from the stone wall surrounding the castle. Nyx had her binoculars out.
“You know what else is pathetic?” I asked in response. I waited for her to answer.
“What?”
“How goddamn polite Araminta was while casually betraying her kind.”
Nyx chuckled under her breath. “That’s how vamps are. Besides, we both know she has an angle. She’ll be an elder in another clan within a week.”
I nodded. “Oh, I know. It’s just so fucking weird.”
Nyx looked at me. She had no business being so sultry while we were lying in mud. “They’re bloodsuckers, babe. Everything about them is weird.”
“Fair point,” I said, trying in vain to maintain composure in the face of her raw appeal. “Plus, she was popping Xanax like they were Tic Tacs. She went through half a bottle in an hour.”
“Fast metabolism,” she said.
You make mine race faster, I wanted to say. But I didn’t. We needed to focus. I needed to focus.
“Okay,” I said, all game-face and bravado. “She said Valentine is expected around eight. I hope she didn’t exaggerate their preoccupation with his arrival.”
Nyx grinned like a cat about to eat a canary. “Someone’s trying awfully hard to focus.”
“Stop it,” I said.
“It’s a good thing,” she said. “If you’re turned on, your nerves have finally settled.”
“Stop. It.” I said, trying not to literally squirm.
She rolled onto her side, exposing her cleavage. Fucking hell, a few inches of flesh have no right to be so distracting. I made a conscious effort to maintain eye contact. She was enjoying this way too much.
“We have an hour and a half to kill,” she said, her voice going low, like she was about to share a titillating secret. “Whatever will we do with the time?”
I raised both eyebrows. “You’re the one who insisted we leave so early.”
She gave me her stern look. “Because I’m the one who had to climb the tower.”
“I mean, if you wanna make this whole job about the one phallic part of it, oookay.”
She smirked. “You went there.”
I smiled in response. “I did.”
She leaned in close, one hand on my ass. “Just remember that later,” she said. Then she slapped my ass. Hard.
“Oh, I will,” I said.
Gods, she’s sexy.