Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 87185 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87185 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Someone knocks at the door and I jump. Man, I need to get it together.
“Who is it?” I ask, knowing Xavier isn’t going to knock to come into his own room.
“Me,” Mabel replies.
“Come in,” I tell her and the door opens and closes behind her.
“Your heart is beating fast,” she comments. “Are you okay?”
“Just a little frazzled, but yeah. I’m fine.”
“Considering,” she adds, raising her eyebrows. “You don’t have to pretend.”
“I know. Not with you at least.”
She beams and comes over, sitting on the edge of the bed next to me. Mabel is my friend and I trust her with my life. Yet I don’t want to burden her with my trauma, not after I know what she went through and why she is the way she is.
“I like your brothers,” she tells me. “They kind of remind me of one of my sons that wasn’t turned. He got married and had three kids. And they had kids. Those kids have kids. I’ve never met them.”
“Is it weird knowing you have a family that exists out there like that?”
She shrugs. “Only if I tell myself it’s weird. We don’t have much time. I should do your hair now if you want me to do it for you.”
“For what?” I ask.
“The VC called an emergency meeting. Xavier has to go and you’re going with.”
“Oh, uh, okay.” I let out a sigh. “I’m tired.”
“I can only imagine. Actually, it’s hard to know. I haven’t felt tired in that sense for over a hundred years. We can go a while without sleep, you know. As long as we have blood.”
“Must be nice,” I chide and then wrinkle my nose. “Maybe? Maybe not.”
Mabel laughs. “I only have dreams every once in a while.” She gets up, speeding over to the closet, and returns with a robe.
“Do you know what this meeting is about?” I ask as I put the robe on first and then shimmy out of my towel.
“No, but I’m sure it has to do with everything that recently happened. It’s all off the beam!”
“Yeah,” I agree, not sure what she just said. “It really is.”
With Mabel’s help, I’m ready to go in less than an hour. My hair is down and straight today, and I’m wearing a black dress with a pink diamond necklace that costs as much as a car.
“You look stunning as always,” Xavier tells me when I join him in the living room.
“You don’t look so bad yourself,” I reply, noticing that his pink tie is the same shade as my necklace. His hand lands on my waist and his eyes meet mine. What he said earlier today echoes in my mind: he’ll stop at nothing to keep me safe and it doesn’t matter what—or who—gets in the way.
“Do you mind if I go across the street and order myself something to eat?” I ask Xavier, speaking so quietly there’s no way a human would be able to hear me. We’ve been at this meeting for nearly two hours already and if it wasn’t for the random spikes of anxiety going through me every few seconds, I would probably have a hard time keeping my eyes open. I thought everyone would be concerned with the Order or at least being blamed for so much death and destruction, but they’ve been discussing building codes and property lines this whole time.
“Of course not,” Xavier tells me, though the strain on his face lets me know he’s not happy with the idea of me leaving his side. “You need to eat.”
“Yeah. Annoying part of being human, right?”
He just gives me a look—and then his credit card. We are in Uptown at the city hall which means I don’t have to walk far to find a place to get something to eat and drink. Though it is late, so my options are mostly bars at this point. It’s kinda funny how certain businesses stay open all night now that vampires are out. But not restaurants. It makes sense, of course. Vampires don’t eat food. Their human companions do, and I wonder if more places will stay open longer once vampire-human relationships become more and more acceptable.
Just because it’s legal doesn’t mean people are okay with it.
I decide on a 1920s themed bar and take a picture before walking in so I can send it to Mabel. My clothes are a little more casual today than the last time I went from a business meeting to a bar, and my dress doesn’t seem out of place here. Finding a single seat at the bar, I ignore the group of guys next to me and order a big pretzel and a beer.
Keeping myself busy, I send Mabel the picture and then log onto her social media, liking and leaving little hearts as comments on her recent posts. I have gained a surprising amount of followers even though I haven’t posted anything. I guess it goes to show how nosey people are. Even before I personally met Xavier and the rest of his family, I would have been curious about them too.