“Go ahead. I’m going to scout around after I bring in our bags.”
She didn’t ask, but he’d managed to grab clothing for both of them from a retail store on their way. A thieving vampire, her hero. Eh. She was too tired to care.
Kaia flopped onto the bed, closed her eyes, and woke to a dark sky, the moon a sliver when thin clouds parted. She wondered if her mom had found out about her missing lycans and vampire yet. She checked the flip phone and saw no missed calls from Macy, so probably not.
Macy had taken care of excusing her from work, pretending MEC needed her help researching a classified case. Something her father would also support. Orion, however, would be a true test of Macy’s ability to hide them. Before Kaia had fallen asleep, she’d overheard him call Mormo to say he needed more time. Then he’d cussed out Kraft, a friend, she thought, and demanded they watch over his kitten.
She still had a tough time envisioning Orion taking care of something so small and cute. Yet another contradiction concerning the large vryko. Was he kind because of the spell, or because he truly cared for a feline and a woman he thought he’d mated? Vampires were known to be cruel, calculating, and evil. But the more time she spent with Orion, the easier that was to forget.
She sat up and looked around, spotting him in a plush chair in the corner watching a small television mounted to the wall, the volume so low she couldn’t hear it.
Seeing her awake, he turned it off and joined her on the bed.
He leaned close to stroke her face, and once again, she wished at least a part of this facade were true. Such caring actions made her long for a relationship. Sadly, the only man she’d grown close to that hadn’t wanted to sex her up within five seconds of meeting her had been Sean, and her mother had ruined any hope of rekindling that.
Male magir and human men responded too readily to her pheromones, the gift (curse) of a sea nymph, so she remained shutdown when in public, to the point that most fellow magir had no idea she was anything more than a low level nymph or witch.
Not a witch, a sea witch, she thought, wondering how her mother and father could both be so powerful yet she only had a small portion of their power. Her mother was the White Sea Witch, the big bad water witch in the northwest. Her father, a grand mage, controlled several elements and had a lot of clout in MEC, working with a demon for a partner.
Kaia got scared when confronting house snips, able to avoid trouble only by pretending to be her mom.
She sighed.
“Are you okay?” Orion reached for her hand.
At that moment, her stomach rumbled. “I’m hungry.” Which meant he was probably hungry too. “A-are you?”
His sly smile had her blood pumping. Then he flashed a long white fang and laughed.
CHAPTER
NINE
“I ate earlier.” Orion winked. “Don’t worry. I left them alive. A few coeds on their way out to party on a Saturday night.”
“Where? Here?” There was that house across the lake.
“Nah, in the town we passed. I made sure you were safe and the area deserted before I hurried to town and grabbed some food for us.”
“Oh?”
He lifted her off the bed so fast her head spun. Then he carried her down the stairs and sat her at the kitchen counter. “What would you like?”
For this to be real popped into Kaia’s head before she could stop it. Fortunately, he was studying the contents of the refrigerator and didn’t see her blush. “What do you have?”
“We have a lot of stuff. I didn’t know what you like, so I got plenty of protein and some sweet and salty snacks.” He removed a carton of eggs, bacon, ham, a roasted chicken, and a carrot cake and set them all before her.
“Why carrot cake?”
“It looked tasty, and the woman frosting it said it was the freshest thing they had.”
“Oh, nice. I’ll have a piece of that.”
“No meat?” He cocked his head. “What do sea nymphs eat?” He studied her. “You know, I’ve known a lot of sea nymphs, and I’ve always noticed their joy with life, especially in living below the sea. But you seem different.” He paused. “Not as happy. Do I make you upset?”
“What? No.” Well, kind of. “I’m unhappy that a sea witch messed with you and used my face to do it. But most of my issues have nothing to do with you.”
“Oh?” He grabbed a plate and cut her a large piece of cake. Then he cut one for himself.
She watched, curious. “I don’t know a lot about vampires. Do you eat regular food?”
“We can. Most of us don’t since blood is all we need to replenish. But eating human food won’t kill us. We process it and flush it out of our systems in the normal way.”
“Oh.” How interesting. She hadn’t realized they could eat regular food. “So you eat cake?”
“I will this night. I want to know why you like it.” He took a bite, watching her.
Then his expression changed. He looked ill.
She couldn’t help laughing as he spat his mouthful into the sink and washed his mouth out with several glasses of water.
“That’s disgusting.”
“It’s actually delicious. Pretty sweet though.” She blazed through her slice and still felt hungry. Considering all the energy she’d used worrying and magicking him earlier, it made sense she’d need to power herself up again. She stood.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m going to make some bacon and eggs. You’re right. I do need the protein.”
“Sit, sweetheart. I’ll make your food.”
He called me “sweetheart.” Oh stop, he’s bespelled. “You know how to cook?” She sat and watched him move around the kitchen, surprised to see him so capable. “Orion, tell me about yourself.”
“What do you want to know?”
She shouldn’t ask such an intrusive question, especially when he had no choice but to answer. But when would she ever get a chance to question a vampire again? Never.
“Well, what was it like living in Greece?”
He paused for a moment before cracking some eggs and laying bacon down in a pan. He half-turned to watch her while he cooked. “Santorini is where I was born, in the caves below the islands, connected to the sea.” He sighed. “It was so nice there, well, except for the sun. That was a huge downer.” He chuckled.
She laughed with him. “I’ll bet. The pictures I’ve seen are incredible. The sky is so blue, the water almost turquois. And I think it’s the city of Thira where the buildings are white stone with sandy tiled roofs and narrow walkways. It’s like paradise... except for the sun.”
“Truly.”
“Do you miss it?”
He flipped the bacon. “I don’t know. I did when I first got here.”
“Would it be okay to know why you’re here?” Before he could answer, she added, “Would your patriarch be upset if you told me?”
“Varu? Nah. And if he was, he can kiss my ass.”
She blinked. “Aren’t you supposed to be respectful to your leader?”
He chuckled. “Maybe in other clans. In the Aegean, I was part of the Water Cleave Clan, and we obeyed the letter of the law. My father is still the lieutenant there, and our patriarch is still a bit of a dick. Which is to say he’s pretty typical among patriarchs. They command, snarl a lot, and bite you every now and then, but basically they build strong vrykos.”