Page 6 of Accidental Blood Lust
“You can’t fix this, Loch, and having your normal laid-back, it’ll-all-work-out attitude isn’t gonna cut it this time.”
“I fucking know, Jare,” he snaps. “I get it. I’m a fuckup, and you don’t have to keep reminding me.”
“You’re not a fuckup.”
He glares at me. “Whatever. I’m sorry I bothered you. I’ll go now.”
The desire to hold him is strong, to offer some of the comfort we both need, but I already know the outcome. I’ll soon be reminded of what he did, and it will end in yet another argument. I could offer him another meal, even though I don’t want to, but taking care of Lochlan is second nature for me.
“Do you need to eat before you go?”
Loch shakes his head. “You’ve done enough.” He gets to his feet, glancing around my living room. “Thanks again, Jare.”
He rushes from the house so quickly I almost don’t see him go. I walk to the back door and look out, hoping for a last glimmer of him, but he’s gone. His scent lingers though, earthy and crisp, like a spring day, and I inhale deeply, soaking it in for as long as it lasts.
Dammit. I miss him. I miss him so much it hurts.
But it’s no use. We can’t continue. Not after what he did. If there was any way for him to prove to me I wasn’t important to him, that was it. I thought he loved me, and maybe he didin some way, but it wasn’t enough. Whoever said love is all you need is a damn liar.
LOCHLAN
I need help,and not the kind Jareth can give me. I need long-term help, and the only place to find that is from another vampire. The problem is I haven’t met any willing to help a newbie out. They’re a pretty cliquey crowd, as it turns out.
Sitting on a stool in yet another bar, I sniff the air, hoping to catch a scent, but I’m pretty sure this place is full of mortals. At least I’m not starving anymore. I didn’t know the sun could hurt me like that if I hadn’t eaten in a while. When I’m healthy, it’s just uncomfortable, I burn a little faster than I did when I was human, so it’s better to stick to cloudy days or nighttime. But I never thought that going out in the daylight underfed would lead tothat. How could I know when the asshole who turned me left me lying on a dirty bathroom floor in a dive bar without any damn instruction manual or advice? Sure, I lured him there with the promise of a meal, but I didn’t expect him to just bail like that. Guess I thought I’d at least get a few pointers.
“Get you a drink, handsome?”
I look up at the pretty bartender. She has spiky blue hair, equally blue eyes, and a great smile.
“Um, sure. Whatever you have on tap or special is fine. I’m not picky.”
Her smile grows. “Nursing a broken heart?”
“Something like that.”
“I’ve got just the fix.” She winks and gets to work mixing a concoction together.
The drink she slides across the bar is bright pink at the bottom, purple and fizzy on top. “This looks great. Thanks.”
“My pleasure.”
She moves on to another customer as I take a sip of the drink. It’s fruity and refreshing but I can taste every drop of alcohol in it. It’s one of those deceptively innocent drinks that often fooled me as a mortal, but nothing gets by me these days. Don’t ask me why I’m able to drink something other than blood but can’t eat a bite without getting violently ill. I’m glad for some sense of normalcy though and nursing a drink in a bar scratches that itch.
Damn, I miss the old me. I was so carefree, and I was in love. I’m still in love, but it doesn’t matter. My plan to get closer to Jareth backfired.
All because ofRoman. I perk up. Why didn’t I think of this sooner? Roman knows Jareth better than anyone. Maybe he could help me. If he and Jareth are just the good friends Jareth insists they are, then Roman would want him to be happy. Maybe he knows some vampires too. Jareth mentioned something about him having a lot of supe friends. Yes, that’s what I need to do. Find Roman.
I put some money down on the bar and hurry out, but once I’m standing on the sidewalk I realize I have no idea how to find Roman. I don’t know where he lives. Well, shit.
Then a memory returns, distant at first, but slowly morphing. The first time I overheard a conversation between Jareth and Roman. Roman appeared in the woods behind Jareth’s house, and the speed Jareth woke and ran to see him with twisted my insides.
That was the first time I saw his face too. I saw the way Roman looked at Jareth like he was the brightest star in the night sky, and Jareth… well, I saw something in his eyes too. I couldn’t understand for the life of me why they weren’t together, but I dug my claws into Jareth even deeper.
Roman said he was topside on a mission, but he was about to go back to… I close my eyes, recalling his deep, gravelly voice.
Underworld.
He lives in the damn underworld. Not like I can just swing down there and ask around. What I need is another supe who knows how to locate a wolf shifter. I know what to do. I’ll go back to the club I was at last night. There were lots of supes there. Someone has to know.
