Come to me peasants, come to me.
I knew my roomie wouldn’t have left yet; the smell of bacon was the first giveaway. The second was that the clock on the wall said it was 6 a.m. Damn, that meant Ryder and I had been asleep for half the day and all night. I was starting to get a little too comfortable with that enforcer. There was a time a year ago when I could never have imagined trusting a dude enough to actually fall asleep with him. And look at me now.
Ryder was different. He made me feel safe, and that was a rare find.
“You hollered, bitch? You think I’m your dog now or something?” Jayden popped his fine ass in through my door, bounding across and slamming himself onto the end of my bed.
“Do I snore?”
His eyes widened, the silver ring barely visible—which was the way with most ash, except for Ryder and me.
“Of all the strange, freakish questions I hear from you, that’s what you’re spouting today? I expected: hey dude, did you know that Ryder shame-walked his ass out of my bed this morning. Or hey, dude, let’s work out some sort of sock-on-the-door system so that I don’t accidentally walk in on you and Ryder. Although…”
I punched him, right in the arm, which was way too muscled for knuckle comfort.
“Nothing happened. He was injured and we just slept together. As in sleep. As in no getting it on, no need for a sock on the door.”
Jayden actually looked disappointed. “I was just messing with you, girl. Oliver told me everything, and after I almost cried—which I totally didn’t because I’m badass—I waited up to make sure you were all okay. You must have missed me when you wheeled him in the room.”
So he’d been behind that closed door. It was nice to know he was nearby if I’d needed any help. Leaning across the bed, I threw my arms around him, pulling him in for a hug. I might have lost a lot by becoming an ash: Tessa, my life with my mom, college—oh, and my humanity—no biggie. But I had gained so much also. I was trying more and more to count my blessings.
As we pulled back, Jayden’s dark eyes twinkled. “Oh, and, Charlie, you totes snore, girlfriend. But it’s cute little kitten snores compared to Oliver. Sometimes I literally have to stuff his mouth full to shut him up.”
I cracked up then. Jayden was everything. Seriously, there was no way to feel all depressed with him around.
“I’m keeping you forever,” I told him.
He grinned. “Yep, you’re stuck with me, girlfriend.”
After our BAFF moment, I decided to shower and get decent looking. I squealed like a pig as a few pieces of glass fell out of my ponytail and my shower water was tinged with blood. Probably Ryder’s.
Not that long ago I used to wash glitter out of my hair after clubbing with Tessa. Damn, life had changed. I missed that chick.
After I was ready, I threw on my walkie and weapon and decided to find the other enforcers. I needed to talk about what the hell happened yesterday. Power-walking from my room, I slammed to a stop in the living room. Lucas was just casually sitting on my couch, wearing all white as usual, with a bottle of blood in his hand.
“Hey, Lucas,” I said, recovering quickly. This was another obvious “how times have changed” moment. Vamp on my couch, no problem. Blood for breakfast? Sign me up. I was turning into a regular old champion at all of this effed-up shit in my life.
“Charlie…” He nodded to me. Something in his voice gave me pause. He seemed extra stiff … mad even.
I found myself stepping closer, eyebrows raising as I tried to figure out what was wrong. “What’s up?” I finally asked, having no real clue.
Lucas took in a deep breath before letting it out slowly. “You haven’t been honest with me, have you?”
It’s amazing how quickly you can go from calm to full-on panic attack—heart racing, shallow breaths, weak legs. Shit. Did Lucas know I was the cure? Did I trust him? If he tried to take me, could I make it past him and to my boys?
“What do you mean?” I tried my best not to sound nervous, but dammit my voice shook.
Lucas tapped the couch and I reluctantly went to sit next to him. My gut said I could trust him. I always had this women’s intuition thing; it had never let me down before.
Lucas’s eyes pulsed silver for a moment as he inhaled my scent, but he had the grace to shake it off and continue: “Your father, the Original of the fourth house, is alive.”
I released the breath I had been holding. Okay, that. Well, I wasn’t keen on giving up the knowledge that he was still alive, but it was better than him knowing I was the cure. That shit needed to stay on lockdown.