Blood Trial Supernatural Battle (Vampire Towers #1) - Kelly St. Clare Page 0,108

hung up and flipped the phone in my hand. “What’s the Bluff City car park?”

Laurel had perched on the edge of my desk. “It’s what humans call the roads in the Grey during peak-hour traffic. Everyone is bumper-to-bumper, so it resembles a car park.”

Huh.

Laurel stared at the keys in her grip. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Nope,” I sang, rising to my feet. I clutched my hip, sucking in a breath. “But I do want some fucking painkillers. Ouch.”

The Indebted blurred to my side and supported my forearm. “Come on then. Bess didn’t include the time it will take you to get to the car.”

“She didn’t, did she?” I chuckled.

We both pretended not to hear it for the pitiful warble of a chuckle it was.

I looked up at the knock. It was a welcome distraction from my dark thoughts.

Tommy hadn’t gotten in touch.

That was the whole point of what I’d done though, and I had to deal with the bed I’d made. Or whatever that stupid saying was. I’d only made one bed in my life and Clint stole it after. They should make a saying about that.

“Miss Tetley,” Angelica said. “I’ve received your notes and wanted to talk with you directly about them.”

The notes asking why I hadn’t received my commission from selling two houses? “Where’s the money?”

“Before I get to that, I wanted to clear the air between us. I know you feel I betrayed you with what happened on Level 66. If it’s not too painful with your hip, could you please follow me?”

My hip was on the mend after the last two days, so I limped after Kyros’s aunt into a small concrete cupboard. Was that an old hot water cylinder?

She shut the door.

“Why are we in here?”

Angelica rapped the walls. “One metre of concrete surrounds us and a healthy wrapping of steel. If we speak quietly, our conversation will remain private.”

Was that a good or bad thing?

“Angelica, are you interfering in Kyros’s love life by dressing me in certain colours and by forcing me into his company during the thrall?”

She blinked.

That’s right, dark horse. I’m on to you.

“Yes,” the vampire admitted.

I leaned back.

Okay, I hadn’t expected that. “Why? Kyros and I don’t like each other.”

Angelica shot me a derisive look. “I love my nephew. From the moment he opened his beautiful green eyes, I’d do anything for him—not that he needs my help. But from the moment he drew breath, he has been part of this battle. In his adult life, despite the best work of the queen and myself, work had overtaken his existence. I would change that.”

I stared at her, trying not to laugh. “And you both hope I can do that? Me. The human.”

“My sister is unaware of my intentions in this matter. But yes, I do. I’ve never seen Kyros so angry as when he’s in your company.”

I squinted. “And the fact we make each other murderous with rage makes you think we’re perfect for each other?”

Angelica smiled, staying silent.

Changing gears, I said, “Do you realise how humiliated I was that night on Level 66?”

She nodded. “I saw it in your eyes. Though why I can’t fathom. Your body is a masterpiece.”

I frowned, shaking my head. “What? No. That wasn’t my point. That’s not why I was humiliated.”

“Humans place great value on physical privacy.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. There was literally no point having this conversation with a Vissimo.

“I want to convey my sincere apologies on that front,” she said, standing still, hands behind her back. Her blue eyes lit up the tight confines of the closet.

I just couldn’t be bothered fighting with her. My emotional quota was being used up by everything Tommy at the moment. “I’ve realised in the last week that I held you to a higher standard than the other Vissimo in this tower. That was my mistake.”

Her gaze flickered.

“I have since lowered my standards when it comes to you,” I said. “So I’m willing to put the matter behind us in the knowledge that I’m trapped in this fucking place for the foreseeable future.”

She lowered her eyes. “I am sorry to have disappointed your faith in me. Know that only the deepest love for my nephew spurred me to do so.”

She was barking up the wrong tree there.

I waved a hand. “The commissions.”

“Live Right owes you over thirteen thousand dollars.”

After just one week in the normal world, my mind boggled at the sum. Money was armour in this world. With none, I was