by L.H. Cosway
“Tegan!” Finn called from somewhere downstairs. “Are you awake?”
“Yes,” I replied.
“Good. We’re having a meeting in the living room in ten minutes. The vamps are on their way over.”
A rush of anxiety went through me. I wasn’t ready to see Ethan again so soon, not after the fireworks of last night. Finn appeared in the doorway, eyeing my bed head.
“Oh, you can wipe that judgemental look off your face. I needed to sleep.”
“It’s late evening. You’ve been asleep all day,” Finn commented.
“And your point is?” I shot back, feeling snappish. “What’s the meeting about?”
Finn folded his arms across his chest. “Rita mentioned what happened to you yesterday, about the riot and how you think it had something to do with Theodore. We’re having a meeting to discuss that possibility.”
“I guess hashing out some theories couldn’t hurt,” I said before glancing at Amanda. “You might want to make yourself scarce. Lucas will be coming over for the meeting.”
“Sure, I’ll stay up here,” she replied, picking up a paperback that she’d been reading.
I ran a hand through my hair to neaten it up. Finn’s wry glance informed me it was a wasted effort. I shuffled past him grumpily, grabbing a clean top, underwear, and some jeans before heading to the bathroom to take a quick shower.
Once out and dressed, I headed downstairs in search of food, suddenly ravenous. I pulled a packet of tortilla chips from the cupboard before I even noticed Ira sitting silently over by the window. He stared out into the garden, a meditative look on his face.
He glanced at me then, probably sensing my eyes on him. I gave him a nod, not bothering to make conversation because he was still doing the whole mute thing. I wondered if he lost the ability to speak as a result of the curse placed on him. Finn had been helping him a lot, taking him out and teaching him how to be a human again, but he still had a long way to go.
When I went into the living room, everyone was there except for Finn. They must’ve arrived while I was in the shower. Silence fell when I stepped into the room, all eyes on me. I feigned nonchalance, continuing to munch loudly on the tortilla chips because I suspected it would bother Ethan. Rita’s lips twitched in amusement.
There wasn’t anywhere for me to sit, so I lowered myself to the floor by the fireplace. Sensing someone’s attention, I lifted my gaze, and Ethan was eyeing me without expression. I felt my cheeks redden as memories from last night filled my head.
I should teach you a lesson.
Why did that statement fill me with anticipation rather than dread?
My gaze drifted to Delilah, who sat next to him. I had to do a double-take because she wore a translucent vest top with no bra underneath, her B-cups all on show. None of the vampires seemed to have noticed, or maybe they just didn’t care. They were so jaded someone could traipse in stark naked and they probably wouldn’t bat an eyelid.
A moment of silence passed before Finn finally joined us. He was still a little uneasy around the vamps, and I guessed his late arrival was a bit of a power play. It was going to take a lot more time for him to overcome his reservations about them, if he even could. I held in my laughter when I noticed him do an almost identical double-take to my own when he spotted Delilah’s see-through vest. This was one of the main reasons why I liked Finn so much. We picked up on the same things when we walked into a room.
I watched him struggle to keep his mouth shut. Unfortunately, his trap won out.
“A bit nippy in here, isn’t it?” he commented, doing his best to keep a straight face. Without meaning to, I let out a quiet snicker. All eyes darted to me again as I struggled to keep my giggles under control. Finn smiled widely.
“What’s so funny?” Rita asked. She wasn’t in direct view of Delilah, so she didn’t get it.
“Nothing,” I replied. “Just choked on a tortilla crumb.” I glanced at Finn. “Should I turn the heating on?”
He shook his head, suppressing a grin. “Nah, it’ll warm up soon.”
I chanced a peek at Ethan and found him looking between me and Finn questioningly.
Finn turned to Gabriel, avoiding eye contact with all of the vamps. “So, how do we start this, Gabe?”
Gabriel cleared his throat. “Well, I was hoping that Tegan could give us a more detailed account of what happened to her yesterday.” He glanced at me expectantly.
I put down my bag of chips. “In a nutshell, I was out shopping when I came to Campion Row. It was like I’d stepped into bizarro world. People were beating on each other at random like crazed animals. No rhyme or reason. Then this one man, I’m telling you he couldn’t look any more harmless, decided to attack me when I told him to stop fighting with another man. In the end, I had to do a runner to get away from the fighting. The man kept chasing me though, and when I turned around to confront him, he began rambling. He was all confused and couldn’t explain why he was after me. Something dodgy was going on.”
“Wait a second, some man attacked you?” Finn asked, looking angrily at Rita. “You never told me that part.”
Rita shrugged. “Ethan gave her some of his blood to heal her injuries. She’s fine now.”
Finn looked cuttingly at Ethan for an explanation. “You gave her blood?” he accused.
“Our blood heals human injuries, slayer. I thought you of all people would know that,” Ethan answered, his voice low. I sensed he didn’t enjoy being questioned by Finn.
“What happened wasn’t normal. The city just randomly turned into a war zone. Has anybody seen anything on the news?” I glanced about the room, but no one had any answers.
I shook my head, grabbed the remote control from the coffee table, and switched on the television. I flicked through to the news stations, where there was a story about an upcoming referendum before the news reader mentioned yesterday’s fighting.
“There are reports of a violent disturbance that occurred in the city centre on Tuesday. Several department stores were broken into and looted, and a number of people were critically injured. It is thought that the disturbance was gang-related. The police are currently investigating the matter.”
“What a load of BS,” Rita said, folding her arms.
“I don’t know,” Delilah murmured. “Perhaps it was just some human gang war. These sorts of things are a regular occurrence nowadays.”
Rita gave her a sharp look, then turned to me. “Tegan, did the man who beat you up look like a member of a gang?”
“Not unless it’s suddenly become stylish for gang members to wear brown leather dress shoes and wool peacoats,” I answered. “Oh, and not unless middle-class dads are now partaking in gang membership.”
Rita turned back to Delilah. “You see?” she said right before she bucked forward. Rita fell to the floor, her entire body shaking like she was having a seizure.
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Meet the Author
Greetings! ‘Tis a pleasure to make your acquaintance. My name is L.H. Cosway and I wrote the book you just read. I hail from Dublin, Ireland, where I live with my husband and two tiny dictators of the canine variety. My favourite things in life include daydreaming about fictional characters, eating in fancy restaurants, looking at dresses online that I’ll never buy, having entire conversations with my dogs, listening to podcasts and of course, reading books. I happen to believe that imperfect people are the most interesting kind. They tell the best stories.
Here is my website where you can find various and sundry information about me and my books: www.lhcoswayauthor.com
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Books by L.H. Cosway
Contemporary Romance
Painted Faces
Killer Queen
The Nature of Cruelty
Still Life with Strings
Showmance
Fauxmance
Happy-Go-Lucky
Beyond the Sea
The Cracks Duet
A Crack in Everything (#1)
How the Light Gets In (#2)
The Hearts Series
Six of Hearts (#1)
Hearts of Fire (#2)
King of Hearts (#3)
Hearts of Blue (#4)
Thief of Hearts (#5)
Cross My Heart (5.75)
Hearts on Air (#6)
The Running on Air Series
Air Kiss (#0.5)
Off the Air (#1)
Something in the Air (#2)
The Rugby Series with Penny Reid
The Hooker & the Hermit (#1)
The Player & the Pixie (#2)
The Cad & the Co-ed (#3)
The Varlet & the Voyeur (#4)
The Blood Magic Series
Nightfall (#1)
Moonglow (#2)
Witching Hour (#3)
Sunlight (#4)
