As I was spun around, I came face to face with Evan. A vampire from my past who tried to mark me before Disco had the chance. He was still dressed in emo clothing, and he’d brought a few of his companions with him.
“You don’t want to do this,” I warned as they came closer. “You’ll be fucking with the biggest vampire in the city.”
“We won’t be around to worry about that. Consider this unfinished business.”
The pendant burned white hot against my skin, and I prepared to give Evan an ass kicking he would never forget, when a familiar voice asked, “Remember me?”
Paine clutched Evan by the throat, lifting him into the air, and broke his neck with a deft flick of his wrist. I watched, unable to speak, as Paine brought Evan back down and proceeded to turn his head, round and round, until it looked like a fucking cork bottle opener.
The moment Paine dropped Evan, the remaining vampires scattered, running for their very lives. I gawked at Evan’s body, disgusted yet unable to turn away.
“Will that kill him?”
“If you sever the head, it will. I’m assuming that’s as close to severing a head as you can get. Besides”—he looked at me and tapped his temple—“I’ve seen the way he goes.”
“So that’s it?”
“For him? Yes, it is.”
Shaking my head, I forced my eyes away from the sight. “What are you doing here?”
“Ethan said he had something you needed. He asked me to deliver it.”
Damn Goose! Fucking ambush.
Extending my hand, I sighed. “Then hand it over. It’s been a long night, and I’m ready to go home.”
“Go home where?” he asked softly. “You’ve not been home in over a week.”
“How would you know that?” I asked, curious despite myself. Maybe Disco had ordered him to stake my place out night after night.
“Why don’t we go into Ruby’s and talk?”
Taking a deep breath, I got up the nerve to ask, “How much has Disco told you?”
He seemed puzzled by the question, and his reaction was so immediate, I knew it was legitimate. “Only what he’s told the rest of the family. He’s refused to speak to anyone since you left, aside from inquiring on a status update on your whereabouts. He won’t speak to me, which is something I’ve never encountered before.”
“So you don’t know anything?”
“Anything about what, Rhiannon?”
I didn’t think it was possible for your heart to cramp, but the sensation I felt was just like one. Paine didn’t know. He had no idea of what had transpired between us in the future. Somehow, I thought Disco would tell him. If anything, it would serve him right after what he’d done. Then again, maybe he’d been too afraid to tell Paine, too chicken shit to tell ripple-effect master that I’d altered more than time; I’d also altered our relationship.
We stood under the glare of the streetlight for several minutes before Paine’s soft timbre broke through my thoughts. “How’s about a cup of coffee and the envelope you came to meet me for? Asshole here”—Paine nudged Evan’s body with his boot—“can wait until his friends return to retrieve his remains and clean up the mess.”
It felt like a stupid mistake, one I couldn’t take back, but if anything it was a start. Paine had to know the truth. I’d sworn things would be different between us, and now was the time to see that promise to fruition. I wasn’t sure if it meant we would become closer friends, or if we would drift further apart. All I was certain of was that my name had been called and it was time to do my speech, front and center, in the middle of class.
“Coffee and an envelope of knowledge sound good.”
We walked together, keeping a sliver of distance between us. We stepped inside, and I chose the booth at the far end of the establishment, wanting us to have as much privacy as possible. Since it was late, that wasn’t too hard. Most of the people had taken a seat at the bar, eating hours-old apple pie with their freshly brewed coffee.