Blood Trial Supernatural Battle (Vampire Towers #1) - Kelly St. Clare Page 0,79

want Tommy to feel I was in danger because she’d do something about it—with the axe she apparently had.

My friend glanced away, scanning the room.

Was she searching for cameras? Shoot. Perhaps I wasn’t as subtle as I thought.

Tommy was nearly bang on—there were ears on this conversation, but the vampires didn’t require cameras and microphones to listen in. Which is why I’d tiptoed around the mention of the estate.

“So you’re living here?” she said at long last.

“Up top, yeah. It’s about one thousand times nicer than my apartment.”

“And the clothes?”

I peered down. “Angelica’s hand-me-downs. I lost my stuff to Clint, remember?” And a vampire tore one of my two outfits off me and let his minions see me naked.

“You’re coming to live with me.”

“No, Tommy. I don’t want to put you out.” I shut my mouth as tears sparked in her eyes.

“Something’s going on,” she whispered, rubbing her forehead. “You’re in trouble, I know it. And you’re in it deep. And you won’t let me help you. Or I can’t help you for some reason I don’t understand. You’re coming with me right now, Basi. Fuck this job. You had a bad feeling about it from the start. I’ll support you until you get more work. We’ll figure it out. Just please come with me.”

A tear slipped down her cheek.

Tommy wasn’t a blubberer. She did cry. But not easily. And I’d done it to her.

I stared, at a loss of what to say. What possible reason was there to refuse her plea?

A knock startled us both.

I turned as the door opened to admit Kyros.

I knew he’d listen in on this conversation, but I hadn’t expected him to butt in.

“Get lost,” I mouthed, faced away from Tommy. I didn’t want him to meet my friend or vice versa. No way.

He pushed the door open wide, and I scanned him from head to toe before remembering I hated him.

Kyros was in his usual suit get-up—a shiny charcoal number today—but his hair was mussed and his blinks were slow. Had he’d rolled out of bed and rushed down?

“Miss Tetley,” he said, voice husky.

Definitely asleep before coming here.

“Kyros,” I greeted, widening my eyes in a blatant hint to piss off. I heard Tommy’s grunt as I spoke his name.

He ignored my hints, passing a paper to me. “Your tenancy agreement. As discussed, you’ll have a discounted rate for three months. If you choose to stay beyond that, we will renegotiate.”

With Tommy at my back, I felt safe giving full force to my withering look. I glanced over the paper. It seemed like a legit tenancy agreement—but what did I know? The estate had a legal team to handle all contracts.

The paper was snatched from my hands.

“And this is?” he asked sleepily. Mussed-up Kyros was cute. It had to stop.

Think of him slicing his teeth into your neck. The heat in my stomach unfurled.

That’s more like it.

I rushed through the introduction. “Tommy, meet Kyros, my boss. Kyros, meet Tommy, my best friend.”

He stepped closer and reached around my body, hand extended to her. Doing so necessitated him brushing against me, and Tommy would pick up on that without fail.

Kyros was playing more games.

I put space between us as she shook his hand briefly.

She handed me the agreement. “That’s a good price for renting in Grey. Your wage covers it?”

“I made sure of that,” Kyros said, frowning slightly.

Tommy hummed, studying the vampire much like I used to when I’d had no clue he could kill me in a second.

“Guess who sold a house yesterday?” I said to divert her attention.

She smiled and lifted her arm for a high five. I grinned and slapped my palm against hers.

“Miss Tetley…”

I cut a glance at Kyros, inhaling sharply at the menace on his face. He crossed to me at human speed and lifted my arm, green eyes riveted on the blue and yellow bruises there.

Tommy hovered behind him, and I could only feel relief. Because if she’d seen Kyros’s blazing eyes at that second, she would have known he was other.

“Who the fuck did that to you?” he asked. His low voice shuddered its way through my body.

If Tommy wasn’t in the room, I would have said Kyros himself did it up on Level 66.

“A man named Clint,” my friend answered.

My heart sank. “Tommy, no.”

Clint was a bottom feeder, but Kyros fed on humans. I may have felt murderous toward Clint at the start, but I didn’t want anyone hurt on my behalf. Not when the punisher had powers