Page 43 of Midnight Whispers
“Yes. Does my age bother you?”
“It doesn’t. I just can’t wait to hear all your stories. You must have so many, and history has always been something I loved learning about! Now I know someone who was there!” The excitement radiating off her is simply intoxicating.
“And we have nothing but time.”
“I need to get up and get ready.” She buries her face into the palm of her hands.
“Should I go?”
“I don’t want you to, but I really do need to get ready, and I don’t think that will be happening if you are in my bed without a shirt.”
“I must go home to speak with my maker anyways. I will see you again this evening, my love.” I kiss her gently on the tip of her nose, already anticipating the hollowness in my chest I will feel in her absence.
It’s with reluctance that I leave, practically forcing myself out of the door of her cottage. Before leaving the grounds, I do a perimeter check. When I’m given no reason to watch her longer, ignoring my instincts to stay, I head in the direction of the manor. Reminding myself the entire way home that we will be reunited later. There’s something pulling me back to her cottage, my gut wrenches in warning the further I get away from her.
19
Once he leaves,I go into the bathroom to shower. I let the water wash over me as I stand there feeling like I still have so many questions. Despite what he did answer, my mind feels like it’s spinning with all the information I learned from Finn. After I finish in the shower, I get ready for the day, getting dressed and brushing my hair before throwing it into a ponytail. It should bother me, right? That the man I’m quickly falling for is a vampire?
My dad always told me about his own beliefs that supernatural beings existed, he always used to joke about Flora being descended from witches because of her natural desires for healing. As she got older, she fell in love with the medicinal purposes of herbs and drifted toward the various abilities crystals hold.
We talked about vampires, werewolves, mermaids, and so much more. Dad always said, “The lore had to have come from somewhere, right?”
Turns out, he was onto something the whole time.
I check the time on my phone to make sure I’m not running late, and a text from Flora catches my attention.
I’m at hot yoga! Should be back before you need to leave for work. Can’t wait for all the dirty details .
I turn off the bathroom light and go back into my bedroom. My eyes are immediately pulled to the dark stain of blood, my blood, on my sheets. Flora cannot see the proof of what happened last night, or she’d ask too many questions, and I don’t want to blatantly lie to my best friend. My stomach drops and heat rises in my core as I remember the feeling of Finn’s teeth sinking deep into my thigh. I lean across the mattress and pull the corners of the sheets off the bed and the cases of each of my pillows, bundling them all together.
There’s enough time before I need to leave for me to make some tea, so I toss the sheets in the laundry room and fill up the kettle. My phone vibrates against the counter, the name Sophi scrolls across the top of the screen.
“Hey, Soph.”
“Hi boss.” She’s so congested that it sounds like her nose is completely plugged up.
“Oh no. You don’t sound too good.”
“I caught a bug or something, I don’t know but, I’m not going to be able to go to my shift tomorrow.”
“Absolutely. You take care of yourself!”
“I’m so sorry, Lil. I know you just gave me that promotion and here I am calling out already.”
“Oh my gosh, Sophi! You didn’t ask the nasty germs to invade your body. Your health is top priority. I’ll see about getting your shift handled.”
“You really are the best,” she sighs in relief.
“Drink some tea, lots of water, and eat some soup.”
“Thank you.”
We hang up the call and I place my phone on the counter next to my mug. The timing is perfect because the kettle begins to whistle at the same time. After the burner is off, I pour water over the bag and let it seep. While I wait for the responses about covering Sophi’s shift, I go into the laundry room, start the sheets, and decide that next week I’m going to have to buckle down and get serious about setting up interviews. My stomach sinks when I see the blood stain again. It’s hard for my mind to not replay the events of last night, or this morning, when I look at it. There’s still so much unknown air around Finn, but I find myself getting more and more excited to learn more.
After the sheets are loaded and the washer is all set, I tidy up the rest of my room. There’s still more or less thirty minutes left before I need to leave for the shop, so I’m not too rushed for time. I collect the dirty clothes, both from my room and the bathroom, and put them in the laundry room. Making sure to make a mental note to start a load when I get home becausenothingoverwhelms me more than an excessive amount of dirty laundry.
When I go back into my room, my eyes glide in the direction of my bookshelf, specifically to the location of my newest addition to myDraculacollection. I pick it up, admiring the beauty of its pristine condition. My chest aches with thoughts of my dad and how much he would have loved to be able to hold a first edition. My phone pings with a notification, so I set the book back in its temporary spot and go into the kitchen. I begin a mental checklist of all the things I need to get done, addingrearrange bookcasesonto it.