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I was safe at hoh, because of the council, Keaty and the myriad of protection spells placed on rand the protection of a half-god had a certain cachet to it
I unlocked the exterior door with tre hands and led us into the foyer that connectedsafety aiting us only a few feet away
Once inside, I locked and dead-bolted the door It wasn’t just Marcus’s rogue wolves I orried about Peyton was still out there planning souard down to put all my focus on the wolf problem, because if I did that, it would be the moment he’d co it as Des room There was a closet on the left-hand side of the doorway that was overwhelht for keys androom there wasn’t space for a full couch, so instead I had aloveseat and armchair, both upholstered in a sun-yellow floral print
No one really gotwith yellow The color adorned the fabric of my furniture and the paint on the kitchen walls I had a fra on the wall over the loveseat so the first thing I saw each evening when I rose was their cheery golden faces At least half of the clothing I owned had a lemon or buttery hue I was subconsciously drawn to the shade When you’ve never been allowed to see the sun, you have weird attachments to it Vampires had their lives before death, their time before, but I hadn’t been so lucky
On the wall opposite the loveseat was the fireplace To the right of the fireplace was my television, and above it my sword collection I had a medieval broadsword from the tenth century, an era when swords were made shorter and more usable instead of taller than a person and iift froot weapons
Below the broadsas a sheathed Japanese katana In an actual fight, it was by far the superior choice I’d bought it in a tourist shop in Koreatown frore as a little too happy to see it leave The folded-steel blade was also the sword I’d used in the now-infaet
To the left of the living room was the kitchen, which was currently dark, and down a sht past the hall closet was audy pink fixtures Given the size of the apartment, a tour was pretty unnecessary A slow turn would do it
"I really need to shower," I ad wasn’t the worst part ofby how heavy ether, which must have looked quite dramatic My nails had bits of olf cheek embedded under them Gross I disappeared intoroom, where Desmond remained e, there are some sweats and T-shirts in the bottoht fit you" I pointed down the dark hallway "Help yourself"
Stu into the bathroom, I didn’t bother to close the door I shucked offand turned the water on as hot as I could, then cli torrent until the water was no longer pink with blood It felt like hours and a few layers of flesh later that I finally set foot on dry land again
I couldn’t be bothered to dry my hair other than to towel off as much water as I could My curls had always been fat and loose, not tight and frizzy, so I wasn’t worried about the on the lilac silk robe, I wondered why I had ever bought such a stupid thing It clung tothe bathroo roon of Desmond My loveseat was vacant and the television remained off I didn’t see him in the kitchen, either I crossed the short distance to my bedroom and stood in the doorway
He sat on the end of y black sweats that had been left by the only s behind Several fresh cuts marred Des into pink scars They would be gone byHis head was in his hands, and when he looked up I could see the weariness and frustration in his eyes I assumed he orried about Lucas until he spoke
"I don’t knoe would have done if soain with this we business It was the second ti he was being overbearing "But you don’t even like me You can’t stand to look at , but he was shaking his head
"Lucas knew theof the pack it would be with me as his second He knee were only children Because of his certainty, his family took me and my brother in, treated us like their own sons, and raised us to understand that kind of life in a way our own parents could not"
I could think of only one response "Dominick’s your brother?" It was difficult to reconcile the idea of short, blond Do related to dark, olive-skinned Desmond Not to mention their different demeanors
He nodded and continued "The reason Lucas kneould be so important to him is that he and I share a variation of the saan to fall into place, for question I sat on the bed next to hi is… IGenevieve said at the club…?"
"About the double bond"