Blood of Zeus (Blood of Zeus #1) - Meredith Wild Page 0,40

an unimpressed look. “Is that why your car has been in the garage all night?”

“I got a ride.”

She lifts an eyebrow and brings her glass to her lips. “You’re a bad liar, Kara. If you’re going to keep sneaking around with your professor, you might think about boning up on your bullshitting skills. Or you could just tell me the truth.”

I take a big gulp of my wine in lieu of answering her.

“Well?” she presses when I don’t give her a response.

“I think I’ll stick with omission if it’s all the same to you.”

She turns toward me, leaning her back against the railing. “I suppose it would be if I didn’t feel like it was up to me to change your mind. I’m just trying to give you some sisterly advice. We both know it’s just a matter of time.”

“Until what?”

She cocks her head. “Until they send someone for you. Then playtime is over. It’s a black cloud following me everywhere too. Trust me, I get it.”

“Then why are you on me about it?”

“Because I care about you. I don’t exactly know where they send rebellious demon girls who don’t save themselves for the right person, but I really don’t want to see you go there.”

“I’m pretty sure it’s hell. That’s where we’re all going to end up anyway.”

She chews on her lip and looks out toward the glittering lights of the city. “Yeah, but we’re not there yet. I know you hate this life and everything Mom’s trying to do, but it could be a lot worse. It could be, you know, actual hell.”

“We’re living in a delusion. None of this is real.”

She straightens and throws her arms out to the side, causing her wine to slosh onto the decking. “I’m real. You’re real. Isn’t that worth protecting?”

I’m tempted to keep arguing with her, but I can sense her growing frustration. More, I sense it comes from a better place than anyone else in my family is capable of. The bond we have, as thin as it seems sometimes, is still a bond.

“All we’re doing is inspiring people to be as vapid and self-involved as we all seem to be. That’s what it means to be a Valari. Sorry if I’m dragging my feet on my way to that party.”

“You don’t want to go to the party at all. That’s the problem. And…” She closes her eyes and exhales tensely. “Kara, I just don’t want to lose you.”

I tip some of my wine into her nearly empty glass. “You’re not going to lose me,” I say lightly, even if the dread in my chest is heavier than before.

She sighs dramatically. “Are you falling for this guy or what?”

“What do you want me to say?”

“Just tell me the truth.”

I lift my chin and search my soul for the answer. Before tonight, I could have been indecisive. Now Maximus is in my blood. A full-blown addiction. Books have always been my only addiction, but Maximus is his own story. A living, breathing mystery. The most fascinating hero I’ve ever met. And I don’t ever want the story to end. Ever.

Kell cocks her head, bringing her wine-stained lips together tightly. She’s waiting for my honest answer, even though it’s not the one she wants to hear.

“Yes,” I finally say. “I’m falling for him.”

Chapter Fourteen

Maximus

“My, my, my. It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood, indeed.”

Jesse’s comment—like so many he makes—has me debating whether to groan or chuckle. I follow the line of his gaze across the lawn below his office window to the trio of females lazing in the midafternoon sun.

“You’re a hopeless cause, Professor North.”

But the mirth beneath my mutter isn’t so easy to maintain once I open my phone. Today my social media feed is filled with nothing but shots of Kara Valari. She’s dressed in a trendy blouse and red denim pants and is beaming her way through a charity luncheon for a local animal rescue center.

Fucking great.

Because every effort I’ve made to push her out of my mind since last night, including two cold showers, a run on the Santa Monica berm, and a two-hour lunch with my best friend, have been splintered by twenty seconds of puppies, kittens, and that woman’s backside in skintight red denim.

And I thought she’d never best the Daisy Dukes from last night.

Jesus. Christ.

Last. Night.

“Yo! Earth to Maximus Kane.”

I’m grateful for the chance to snap my head up. “Huh? What?”

“Now who’s the hopeless cause?” While I’m focusing on his words, he flings out a