“Whoa, whoa, whoa, love,” he said, opening the door and letting me fall into him. “What happened here?”
I dumped all of my things on the ground and thumped down, too. “Dixon tried to eat me.”
Will’s fawn-colored brows rose. “Isn’t that quite frowned upon at UDA? The boss eating his employees?”
I breathed deeply. “Well, I guess he didn’t try to eat me, so much as he wanted to eat me. And didn’t.”
“Well, that was nice of him. Right?”
I dropped my head in my hands. “What’s happening, Will? My life is coming apart at the seams.”
Will sank down next to me and gathered me in his arms. I sucked in his sweet, toasty scent of hops and sighed. “I’m sorry. It was just a weird day”—I looked up, feeling quite pitiful—“and I should go home.”
“That’s okay. I was just making a curry, if you’d like to stay around and—”
“No. No, but thanks,” I said, pushing myself up to standing. “I really need to go home.” I used the back of my hand to push the tears from my eyes and swept a kiss on Will’s cheek; then I rushed across the hall to my own door.
ChaCha greeted me with her usual series of Alpo-scented yips, while Vlad greeted me with his usual series of brooding vampire/annoyed teenager grunts. Suddenly he appeared over his laptop. “Are you bleeding?”
I dampened a paper towel and dabbed at the half-dried blood on my thigh. “It’s nothing.”
Vlad knitted his eyebrows. “You okay?”
I opened my mouth and then closed it again, staring at Vlad. I studied the sweet, concerned look on his face, the sharp ends of his fangs pressing over his bottom lip. “I’m fine,” I said again.
I had the oven door open and was pawing through my earthquake stash of marshmallow pinwheels and Coke Zero—San Francisco is thisclose to a fault line, you know—when Nina came strutting out in a silky gown that hugged each of her marble curves. She was clipping on a gorgeous pair of Art Deco diamond drop earrings and scowling about it. Vampires can only wear clip-ons, as a piercing immediately heals itself. I found it creepily cool; Nina found it an affront to fashionistas everywhere.
“Well,” she said, arcing her arms in a flourish, “how do I look?”
I crushed the package of pinwheels to my chest. “You look beautiful. Is that why you left the office at three today?”
Nina just winked at me, and I couldn’t help but admire her for the easy way things slid off her back, for the way that she would never miss a meal or gain an inch. I would be satisfied with eternal life and no earrings if I could have her countenance that simply broadcast “piss me off and I’ll eat you.”
I shoved a whole pinwheel into my mouth and sat down at the dining table. ChaCha must have heard the rustle of the package—anything rustling must be for her, she assumed—as she came bounding up and into my lap.
“You look incredible, Nina,” I said, chocolate dribbling down my chin. “Sometimes I wish I could be like you.”
“Immortal?”
“That”—I popped open a warm Coke Zero and took a swig—“and uncomplicated.”
Nina’s eyes narrowed and the temperature in the room dropped about ten degrees. Even ChaCha started to shiver, a stripe of hair on her back standing straight up like spines.
“I didn’t mean you’re uncomplicated,” I backpedaled. “I just meant your life is so much fun. You know, your dad’s not Satan. You can go out with whomever you want, without the fate of the world hanging in the balance.” I fished out a second pinwheel. “Must be nice.”
Nina was going more and more stiff; her lips held tighter and tighter.
I wasn’t making any friends.
“And that’s my cue,” Vlad said, throwing his leather duster over his arm and beelining for the door.
She leaned over so that we were an inch apart. Both her hands lay flat on the dining table; her clip-on earrings swinging.
“Wah, wah, wah! I’m Sophie Lawson and my life is horrible because my dad abandoned me and might be the devil, and I can’t figure out if I want to be with an angel or a Guardian. Wah, wah, WAH!” Nina crossed her arms, and genuine anger roiled in her eyes. “You know, some of us are damned, Sophie. That’s a little bit of a pain in the ass, too. I love you, but I’m getting really tired of your world-is-ending pity parties. All of us have stuff to deal with. You’re looking for your soul mate between Will and Alex? Be happy you have a soul to share.”
Nina snatched her purse and keys from the peg by the door and slammed the door hard behind her. I sat at the table, openmouthed, partially pinwheeled. I felt even worse about myself, feeling a tiny warmth starting at my belly.
A beat passed and I stood up fast, rushing to the front door, throwing it open. “I’m sorry, Nina!” I called out to the empty hall. Will’s doorknob rolled and he poked his head out.