“I’m going upstairs to talk to Peter,” I said.
“I’m coming, too.”
“You can try,” I said, “if you’d like to feel the imprint of my heel on your chest for the next decade. Your choice, wolf man.”
He cocked his head, likely trying to gauge my seriousness. “You’re not joking.”
“No, I am bloody not joking.”
“I love when you get angry—all your Britishisms come back full-force.”
“I will rip off your knickers, stuff them in your mouth, and shove you into the boot of a car, you wanker,” I said sweetly. “How’s that for Britishisms? I can also cover you in Marmite and douse you in tea.”
“So hot,” he said with a wink. “I think I’ll wait downstairs, though.”
I left him behind, not knowing why my knickers were damp with arousal. I hated that man. Hated him with the force of ten thousand suns.
And yet every time I saw him or thought of him, I got all hot and turned on. Stupid body, betraying my mind and heart every time.
Up the stairs I went, then I stopped on the landing in front of Marla’s closed apartment door. Peter was still making noises in there. If he messed with Marla’s things, she would stake me twice.
“Peter?” I said through the door. “You need to come out of there right this minute. That’s Marla’s apartment and she’s not going to be happy you’ve made yourself at home.”
“Too bad. Marla’s not here right now, and I am afraid for my life, Kelly. That man downstairs, he’s a vampire killer! He’s crazy! I’m just a defenseless vampire and he wants to hurt me.”
“He doesn’t want to hurt you,” I said, trying to make my voice sound gentle, although the words came out sounding more like a threat.
“Yeah? Then why is he carrying all those stakes?”
“Er…” I didn’t have a harmless explanation for that.
Another loud thump came from the other side of the door, and Peter exclaimed, “Darn it!”
“What are you doing in there, anyway?” I asked.
“Moving furniture in front of the windows. I ran out of tinfoil.”
“Tinfoil?”
“Not everyone has a daylight bracelet, Kelly,” he said in a scathing tone.
I looked down at the embroidered bracelet on my wrist. When we’d made our escape from our sire, also known as the Collector, Marla, Aubrey, and I had taken the only three in existence, according to Aubrey, who knew everything.
“Look, just come out of Marla’s apartment and we’ll find you a better place to hide during the day,” I said.
“I don’t trust you,” Peter said. “Not if you’re in league with the vampire hunter.”
“I’m not in league with him,” I said.
Peter snorted. “I saw the way you wanted to tear his clothes off.”
“You mean tear his throat out.”
“Nope. Kelly and Stakey Man, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-”
“Oh for fuck’s sake, that’s enough.”
Peter laughed.
A yowling sound reached my ears and for a moment I thought it was Peter doing something weird, because, well, Peter. But then I realized it was the cats. Perfect. Their drama could distract me from the current shit-show of my life. I hurried to the end of the hall, where a narrow window overlooked the alley below.
“Hey, Peter,” I said, “Meowcus Anthony is going to defend his turf! But unfortunately for him, His Lordship King Snugglebumpkins is more than ready to lay waste to the entire alley for the love of Snowball.”
“What are you talking about?” Peter asked.
“Look at the cats outside,” I said.
There was a crinkling sound of tinfoil being moved. “They’re cats, Kelly.” Then he shrieked. “The sun is rising—are you trying to kill me?”
“If I was trying to kill you, you’d know it,” I said to him. “You have no finesse.”
“I’ve finessed my song,” he said. “Roses are red, violets are blue, Kelly wants to kiss the vampire hunter, this much is true.”
Peter was obnoxious, but I had to admit, he had helped Marla, Aubrey, and I a little bit with our escape from the Collector. He’d slowed down the vampires who were chasing us as we ran from the dungeon. It was probably for his own amusement rather than any actual intention to help, but still, we wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him. And with Marla out of town, it wouldn’t really hurt her if Peter crashed on her and Grayson’s sofa.
However, there were some rules for staying in Forbidden—namely, we weren’t supposed to seriously or permanently harm the residents. Taking a sip here and there was all right with the alpha, Declan, but we had to be careful about it and fly under the radar, so to speak.
Which meant Peter would need to learn the rules.
Marla didn’t like stealing blood from the local hospital, but I was nothing if not practical and I had no such qualms. It wasn’t as if I were clearing out their stores, just sneaking a few bags here and there, nothing that would be noticed.
I went across the hall and into my apartment and grabbed a few bags from my refrigerator. Then I was back at Marla’s door, where I said through it, “Thirsty, Peter? I have some nice blood here, just for you…”
The door opened a crack, and one of Peter’s beady brown eyes peered at me.
“Are you lying to me?” he asked.
I held up the blood bags and he reached out for them. The scent of sweet freesia came to me. Wait a second...Peter smelled good?
“Peter, what happened to you?” I asked.
He reached for the blood bags again, but I held them out of reach.
“Tell me,” I said, dangling the bags.
He rolled the single eye that I could see through the crack of the open door. “Fine. When you, Aubrey, and Marla escaped, the Collector sent Nate, Andy, and me out to find you. I simply...decided not to find you.
