I know I’m not really alone. I have Kit, we text, talk all the time, and meet for a drink once in a while, but seeing him is hard and not just because I have to fight my thirst the whole time. Lying to him face to face tears me up inside, and hiding my broken heart with fake smiles and light-hearted jokes leaves me feeling empty and hollow, but I know he wouldn’t understand. He couldn’t. Kit can never know the truth about me, and I know someday that will mean I have to let go of him for good. I try not to dwell on that though, It’ll be years before I have to cross that road, and honestly, one huge emotional mountain at a time is already more than I can handle.
Most people shy away from pain, from the raw defining moments that scarred them forever. They try to bury them, hide them in a closet, forget. But I won’t. People never seem to associate pain with clarity, but for me, they go hand in hand. The pain keeps me awake at night, overthinking, and obsessing until I cry myself to sleep, but the clarity is what gets me out of bed, reminds me of who I am. It gives me strength. I repeat the words over and over in my mind as I stand on the sidewalk, staring up at the impressive building- pain, clarity, strength. The things I’m sure will get me through tonight, well that and the double order of cheese fries I ate before I left my apartment.
I pull the lobby door open and check my phone once more before slipping it into my leggings' side pocket. The elevator bell dings, the doors slide open, and I step in. The numbers light up on the panel as it climbs closer to the penthouse I dread returning to. I was beyond annoyed when Bane sent me a text message summoning me to what he called an ‘emergency meeting’ just a few hours ago. So irritated in fact that I never bothered to respond. If playing by the vampire king’s rules keeps me and Kit safe, then fine, I’ll play, but as far as I’m concerned, communicating with Bane any more than necessary is well, unnecessary.
I take a deep breath as the doors slide open, and I step onto the tile floor that caught me by surprise the last time I was here, during the few short hours that I thought all of this would work out like some kind of vampire fairytale. You’d think my own sordid past would have erased all traces of naivety, taught me how dark life can be, and improved my judgment. Obviously not because here I am.
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I walk down the hall, stop at the door and try the handle. Great, it’s locked, why wouldn’t it be. An incredibly awkward minute passes, I weigh my options and decide that ditching the whole thing is probably not the best one, so I raise my hand to knock.
“Don’t bother. I got you,” a husky voice says from behind me, which honestly is a little bit unsettling given my vampire hearing and all.
I turn around and find myself a foot away from one of the guys I saw manning the door at Poison the first night I let my guard down with Bane. To call this guy intimidating would be one hell of an understatement, he’s basically a Jason Momoa double, only his hair is cropped at his broad shoulders. This guy looks like he would be lethal as a regular person, I can’t even imagine the strength behind those supernatural muscles.
He steps up beside me and pulls a keycard out of the pocket of his hunter green zip-up sweatshirt. I notice tattoos spanning from his pushed up sleeves to his wrists. I crane my neck, trying to make out the details, but aside from a dagger on his forearm, I come up empty.
“Forgot your key?” he asks, making me jump for the second time. He inserts a card into the reader on the wall, turns the handle, and pushes the door open wide.
“Uh, I actually think I threw it away this morning,” I say, suddenly realizing that the white plastic card I found in the hall outside my door wasn’t trash.
He presses his lips into a hard line, seemingly to avoid laughing at my stupidity as he nods his head.
“I’m Piers.”
“Piper,” I offer, slipping under his massive arm and into the penthouse's foyer. “Thanks for saving me from the humiliation of knocking.”
“No problem.” He smiles, eyes me up and down, and heads toward the main room.
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think he was hot, but no matter how much I’m trying to turn off the feelings I have for Bane, I’m just not there yet, and even if I was, would getting mixed up with another vampire really be a smart move? Probably not. My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I fish it out. Kit’s name lights up the screen.
Kit: Still good for tonight?
Me: Definitely, I need ALL the bourbon.
I type a quick reply and tuck the phone into my pocket. I’ve definitely stalled long enough and should at least make an effort to hear what this meeting is about. Turning on the heels of my running shoes, I bump into Bane. He catches my arm, tugging me toward him before I lose my balance. His proximity alone is enough to send my heart into overdrive and to steal the breath from my lungs. Apparently, my body and my mind still aren’t on the same page when it comes to him, because I could have sworn that just five-minutes ago we couldn’t stand the thought of him. With his fingers wrapped around my bare skin and his spiced cologne muddling my senses, I’m not sure I could ever get enough.
“I wasn’t sure you’d show up,” Bane says.
I’m not sure if it’s the distance I’ve been putting between us or something else, but his voice sounds softer and sweeter than I remember it. I take a deep breath, hoping it will clear my mind and give me some perspective.
“Well, here I am,” I say, forcing my legs to take a step back. His hand falls away, and I feel the clarity return to my mind almost immediately.
“Bane!” Allison’s shrill voice calls out as she steps into the foyer. “The natives are getting restless.”
I sidestep him, wanting to get away from whatever they have going on as quickly as possible, but she’s not the type to miss an opportunity to make someone uncomfortable.
“Nice athletic attire, are you heading to a yoga class after this?” she sneers.
“Actually, I ran here. You know, exercise,” I say casually, walking past her.
Her shrill giggle fills the space
“You’re so new, it’s adorable,” she says. “Vampires don’t need to work out.”
“Someone should tell that to your ass because it’s huge.” I suck air between my teeth dramatically, ignoring her offended scoff and head into the main room where I find an empty wall to lean against.
A deep rumble fills the space beside me, and I turn to see Piers clearing his throat and extending a new keycard toward me, a half-smile plastered on his bearded face.
“Try not to throw this one away,” he jokes.
“Thanks. I’ll do my best,” I reply, slipping the card into my pocket.
Piers backs away slowly before he turns and walks to the front of the room to stand beside Bane. My eyes meet his, and a familiar fluttering fills my core, making me wish I had tossed a sweatshirt over my sports bra.
It turns out Banes ‘emergency meeting’ wasn’t much of an emergency at all. It consisted mostly of him reminding his court of vampires not to overfeed on people because blood drained bodies tend to raise questions in a city with limited animal predator populations. Basically, his meeting could have been an email.
Once he finished talking, I headed straight for the exit and didn’t even wait for the elevator. I jogged down the stairs and through the lobby doors, pausing on the sidewalk to put in my earbuds and queue up my playlist.