Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 122946 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 615(@200wpm)___ 492(@250wpm)___ 410(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122946 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 615(@200wpm)___ 492(@250wpm)___ 410(@300wpm)
“He’d just call the principle and apologize. I didn’t have the guts to do anything too bad because I’m a softy at heart. So, I was never expelled. I went to the University of Virginia. My first boyfriend was Marquis, a basketball player. He dumped me after we had sex. That made me withdraw more from people. I graduated at twenty-two with honors. My degree is in art history and studio art with a minor in anthropology. Then a week later, I began working as an intern at the Smithsonian. My boss, Mr. Pescoran then helped to get me an interview at the National Gallery. I got the job. I have been working there ever since. I rarely spoke to my father by that point, and I was just grateful he had paid my tuition. Around that time, he died after contracting a severe case of dengue fever in Brazil. I was grateful he didn’t ever meet me as a vampire. That has been my life up until now.”
Letting all of that out felt liberating in a way, but the look on Theseus’s face didn’t really make me feel much better. He watched me carefully.
“What?”
“You skipped the part where you turned into a vampire,” he said.
“You know that—”
“I know you were found by Lucy. How did you get there? Why were you there? Did you go to the forest often?” he questioned, and I paused to think back to that day.
But I could only remember the day before and waking up the day after. “Okay, I’m missing one day, but still, I remember the day before and the day after—”
“But you have no idea what brought you to the forest?” he asked.
Sighing, my head began to pound, so I rubbed it.
He reached over and put his palm on my cheek. “It is not my intention to distress you. I am merely seeking to understand what is happening to you…to us. But, I believe I maybe have been arrogant in thinking I could solve this alone.”
I leaned into his touch. “I’m trying to help, too.”
“It’s not enough. What I mean is, we are not enough,” he whispered. “There are too many distractions and peering vampires here, besides my authority only goes so far. In Ankeiros, not only will we not have to worry about others, but my family will be there. They will help us. My father, especially. On top of that, we have the largest collection of books, painting, and scrolls, both known and unknown to mortals and vampires alike. We will have time and freedom to uncover the truth and see if anyone else has such a gift.”
Such a long-winded way for him to simply say, “You want me to go to your home in Europe.”
He lifted my bloody fingers and kissed them. “I want us to go home.”
Chapter 18
I’d always loved hot showers, but it seemed now that I was a vampire, they were more like a form of therapy. As the water rained on me, weighing down my hair, heating my skin, washing the blood from my body, the steam rose. I felt calm. My mind was almost empty, and I enjoyed that feeling. In that emptiness, I couldn’t reflect on the past few days or worry about the coming days. I was just in the moment, in the shower, and everything else could wait. I could have stayed inside for a few more hours, but when I heard the phone ring for the second time—and Theseus’s voice more annoyed and grumpier, snapping at the caller—I couldn’t hide anymore.
Turning off the water, I stepped out onto the tiled floors, where my bloodied gown sat in a pool by the door. I didn’t bother drying my hair. I just threw it into a high puff, before pulling on my brand-new bra and underwear set and a turtleneck, black sweater dress. My socks were silk so when I put my foot into the knee-high boots, it wiggled a little more freely. Other than that, everything fit fine. So, I took the damaged dress and put it in the bag I’d gotten my new clothes from before coming out.
“You didn’t need to rush,” he said gently, sitting on the edge of the bed. He’d changed into dark jeans and a white button-down shirt, not a speck of dirt or blood on him.
“Where did you clean up?” I asked, confused.
“There is a sink.” He tilted his head toward the kitchen area, making me immediately feel bad.
“I’m so sorry.” The sun was now high in the sky over the city. I must have been in there for at least two hours, maybe three.
“For what?” he asked, standing up and rubbing his eyes a bit.
“The shower. I knew I was taking my time, but…”
“It’s fine. When I was a mortal, if you’d told me there would be a day in which people took baths daily and it was as simple as turning a lever, I would have thought you were insane.” He said, blinking a few times and forcing his eyes wide.