Page 71 of Born Reckless

"Goodnight, you are a mess," Elena says as she shakes her head. "Your dress…"

"Sorry about that," I say as I brush my hands down the front of it. "I'd offer to pay you back for it, but I'm pretty sure it would take me a year to work it off."

"Idiot," Elena says as she shakes her head. "I don't care about the money. But that dress was magic on you."

The others have a quick laugh at her ridiculousness.

"What's being done about security?" Sebastian asks as he steps outside and slips his hands into his pockets. “Juliet can’t just walk back home like nothing has happened.”

"Roman has his entire team searching the city. They don't think he's left yet," Sigrid says.

"Patrick has taken Mason back to the tower," Elena says as she folds her arms over her chest. "They've called in every security employee we have. No one without a badge is getting in the building. We placed four guards on the penthouse level. No one's getting to you, Juliet."

The thought makes me squirm. All this fuss over me.

And then it hits me. My entire life, there wasn't one single person that I felt I could rely on. There was never anyone who had my back.

But tonight, seven people went entirely out of their way, putting their own personal safety at risk, to save me.

My throat tightens.

I'm not human anymore. I might want to drink blood now. I lost my mortal life. But I gained the friendship of these people. They went to all this trouble, for me.

"Thanks," I say, my voice coming out hoarse. "Can we go back to the tower now? I feel kind of disgusting."

Elena smiles and nods. She reaches out for my hand and takes it. "Let's go home."

Home. I can't say that the penthouse has ever felt like home. A lot of good has happened there. But I knew the place wasn't mine.

But I'm not going to correct her.

I glance over my shoulder at Sebastian one last time. I'm not sure what to say, but I offer him a slight smile and he gives me one of his own in return.

Things are going to be different now.

We all file out the door, and when we reach the sidewalk, I give Sigrid and Warren a hug.

"Thank you," I say softly to each of them. "I can't tell you how much I appreciate what you've done tonight."

They both brush it off. Like it is no big deal. Then they bid us good night and we go our separate ways.

We climb into Elena's waiting car and just a few minutes later, we arrive at Godfrey tower.

"Things are going to change now, aren't they?" Elena asks as we walk to the elevators.

"Yeah, they are," I say softly.

She doesn't have to ask more. Elena doesn't always have to know every single detail. It's one of the things that I love about her. She takes me as I am, mess and all. So, we ride the elevator to the top floor in silence. She loops her arm through mine and leans her head on my shoulder.

When the elevator doors open on the penthouse level, I immediately see the four guards. They are all extremely tough and dangerous looking.

"Anything?" Elena asks as we step out.

One of the guards shakes his head. "There has been no activity since we arrived. Mason is not happy that we’re not letting him out of his penthouse. No one in the rest of the building has seen anything."

Elena nods and thanks the man. Together, we walk to Mason's front door.

My eyes meet his the second I walk through. He is sitting on the couch in the living room and the moment he hears it open, his eyes rise. There's panic there. Absolute terror. His hair is wild and insane as if he has been pulling at it for the past few hours.