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.It would have been missed by a human, but my vamp eyes noticed the ounce of tension crinkling the corners of his eyes more tightly.“To get in contact with Romanov.” Didn’t these people communicate?Both men promptly stood up.“We must be going now,” Laurence stated, adjusting his button-up shirt.“Yes.It was a pleasure, Alexa.Here’s your new Blackberry.We’ll be in contact with a start date.”I hesitantly took the phone, only then realizing mine must have been fried in the cellar.I shoved the device in my pocket.“I didn’t agree.I don’t think the terms are fair.My friends shouldn’t be punished because of their association with me.”Felipe met me eye for eye.“I believe the American term is ‘guilty by association.’”“It’s ‘innocent until proven guilty’ for me.”“We’ll be in touch, Alexa,” Laurence said.They hadn’t conceded but hadn’t forced me, either.I knew it was the news of Romanov that was distracting them.The moment they shut the front door, I turned towards Aunt Claire, dumbfounded.I focused on her the moment I saw tears rimming her eyes.“What’s wrong?”She tried to laugh it off.“Oh, it’s nothing.Just that, while we have our daily tiffs, this was the first time that we’ve actually fought and gone our separate ways.”“I know it’s been awhile since you’ve been in a relationship, but that sort of thing is bound to happen at some point.” I put my arm around her, pulling her into my side.With her heels on, she was a good four inches taller than my petite frame, but fit perfectly beside me nonetheless.“Thanks, honey.I’m sure it’ll blow over.At the very least he’ll come back for the sex.”“Oh, God! T.M.I.!” I leapt away from her.She chuckled.“Oh, please, honey.From the sounds of what I walked into, it’d be the same for Kellan.”Heat burned my cheeks.There was nothing worse than being caught by your parent.“Uh, speaking of, I’m going to call and check on him.Mel turns at midnight tonight, so I plan to make her final human day a good one.”“Okay.I’ll stop by her place later this evening.”“You can come with if you want.”“Oh, no.I’ll be fine here.I need to finish cleaning this room anyway.” She gestured to the formal living room.A moment of silence passed between us.I knew we were both thinking about her, but neither one of us was brave enough to speak it aloud.“Um, Aunt Claire, I know you’ve always liked this house, so I wanted to ask you if you wanted to have it.”Her head popped up, her gaze aimed directly at me.“What?”I looked around.“I have a lot of good memories here, but I can’t help but feel uneasy being here sometimes.You try to keep the bad memories at bay, but it doesn’t always work, especially with everything of hers still around.”“What if we did a complete makeover? We could turn this place into the dream home you and Kellan want.”I shook my head.“It wouldn’t be the same; plus, you can’t erase the things that haunt me.Every time I’d open the master bedroom door, regardless of the way it looked, I’d always remember that day…” My throat began to constrict as serum rose.“The day I found her.” My voice was barely above a whisper.I closed my eyes, concentrating on blocking out the flashes threatening my current thoughts.“If that’s the case, honey, then I don’t want to live here, either.I want you to feel welcome wherever I live, and clearly you’re uncomfortable.”“I feel bad selling the house, though.Mom loved this house.She was so excited the day we moved in.I remember her eyes lighting up as she gave me a tour and told me everything that she had planned.”“Okay.So maybe we keep it in the family, but rent it out until we’re ready to come back.No use letting it sit here uncared-for in the meantime, especially since that wait could be infinite.”“That sounds good.” I turned to head towards the stairs but stopped short.“I know you haven’t been working lately, but I’d feel most comfortable buying a new house with you.Would you mind helping me?”“Of course not, honey.I’d love to! I’ve been thinking about dusting off my license here anyway, so this is perfect timing.The only stipulation is that you’ll have to pay cash because of your age.No bank or mortgage company will approve a loan for anyone under the age of eighteen with unverifiable income.”“That’s fine.I don’t want to spend a lot.I was thinking a condo would probably be best since I don’t know how often I’ll be home to mow the yard.”“I think that’s smart.” She smiled approvingly.“You’re growing up so fast.” Her voice softened.“I knew this day would come, but I never imagined it’d be me walking you through it all.And in truth, half the time I don’t feel like I do enough for you.If you ever need anything, honey, you know you can call me day or night, regardless of where I am, right?”I nodded.“I know.I just don’t like to bother you when there isn’t anything you could do to change it.”“I’ll always try, though.”“You would’ve made a good mother, Aunt Claire, but I’m not a typical child.My life, even for a vampeen, is very irregular.I think you’re doing the best you can… when I let you.”“Sharon always said the same thing about you.She’d call me and tell me what new things you were doing regularly, but she’d always say that there was something irregular about you.You were so independent from an early age, and the things you’d say blew her away.She said about the only thing you let her do for you was cook, which is why she made sure to do it as often as she could.”I felt the tug on my heart as warmth spread through my chest.“Thanks, Aunt Claire.”She nodded.“I’ll start pulling some listings this afternoon.I’ll print them out and bring them to you at Mel’s later.”“Thanks.” I hugged her.I’d forgotten what it felt like to be a kid; I’d forgotten how good it felt to be taken care of.She gave me tiny glimpses of that from time to time, which I was grateful for.Chapter 8Anxiety coursed through me as I knocked on Mel’s front door.Kellan had agreed to meet me here after he went hunting with his dad.He said he needed to take the edge off.I tried not to think about how he’d go about it.It was no secret that Kellan didn’t pull away, that he drained his victims.I knew I was a co-conspirator by turning a blind eye to it, but you can’t change people; you can only hope to inspire them to change [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]