Poe huffed. “It’s a bit too late. As for Megan, she let me know what she really thinks of me.”
“Think of me what you will, but Megan has always loved you, Poe.”
“Nice way of showing it.”
“She was just jealous of you.”
Poe’s head swiveled so fast that Morales actually heard her neck tendons crack a little. “Jealous!
Jealous? Gimme a break! She’s pretty and intact for crying out loud!”
“She heard about you and Kaleb. About the night he spent in your bunker.”
“Who blabbed?”
“Kaleb did,” Morales laughed without glee. Then he corrected himself. “Alright. To be fair, Claude, the biggest mouth in the west, heard Sainvire spilling his guts out to Joseph. Within ten minutes, the underground was abuzz with the news.”
Poe wiped the spittle that spewed from her mouth.
Is nothing sacred anymore?
Morales shook his head. “He could’ve laid low in Pico Rivera after the raid, Poe. He went searching for you instead. He hid out for hours near your bunker, hoping you’d show up. He was gunned down by day vamps for crying out loud. So when Kaleb finally came 292
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back to HQ a day later, Megan confronted him about it.”
She asked the million-dollar question. “Why is it so important for her to pry into other people’s business?”
“Must I spell it out for you, Poe?” Sam’s brow drew together, cursing when he tripped over an empty paint canister. “She’s in love with him. Always has been.”
Poe hyperventilated thinking about best friend etiquette. Everybody knew how wrong it was to snag a friend’s boyfriend. Crap! I’d hate me, too, if I were in Megan’s shoes.
“Well, you know, I didn’t know. Nobody told me.” She shook her head. “But, um, she can have him.
Never liked the bloodsucker anyway.” Her heart felt like it was being ground by a handheld fruit juicer. Fact was, she lusted for the vampire, but she hated him too.
“She can never have him, Poe. That’s the problem.” He expelled a breath reeking of liver and onions. “Megan is Sainvire’s great niece. She’s his brother’s granddaughter. He’d always taken care of the Sainvire family in some way even when the world was normal.”
That’s a mouthful, thought Poe. Sainvire’s brother’s granddaughter. What the hell does that mean? Goodness, the apocalypse is over. What’s a little familial intermingling in this crazy city anyhow?
But the thought of doing it with her own grandpa’s brother made her want to hurl.
“Kaleb thinks of her as family and not as a potential mate,” he continued. “But she still holds out hope.”
“Gee, wouldn’t want to touch that one.” She sighed somewhat relieved to know that Sainvire had some scruples left and that Megan’s feelings weren’t 293
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reciprocal in any way. When Morales raised an eyebrow at her audible sigh, she quickly added. “I, I’ve had a feeling for a while now that you kinda like her, too.”
At this, Morales laughed. “Poe, I like all women.
Pretty ones, most of all.” He shined his flashlight on her face and beamed, “My true weakness.” He pointed the light to the ground.
Poe looked away, flattered by the hint, but she didn’t take it as truth. She’d seen herself in the mirror, and she was scary as hell. She was missing pieces of herself, and that fact was difficult to gloss over.
“Who made her into cattle?” Poe remembered seeing the bite on Megan’s neck.
Morales scratched the stubble on his chin. “That’s a long story, Poe. I think we should pay more attention to what we’re stepping on. Avoid that opossum ahead.”
Determined to know the truth, Poe laid a hand on Morales’ forearms and looked into his face, silently conveying that she deserved to hear some truth for once. She pulled out a headlamp and adjusted it on Morales’ head. Quickly Poe put on the night vision goggles from her pack, giving her momentary vertigo.
Everything became Tron green.
“Alright,” he sighed. “A year or so after the Gray Armageddon, the cattle round-up began. Sainvire’s ideas were put into play. Trench’s roughnecks swept the Echo Park area. Megan, who was holed up in a hill house, was taken away. I met her in the same cattle truck bound for the Bonaventure Hotel that had been claimed by Trench.”
Poe slowly withdrew her hand from his well-muscled upper arm as they resumed their walk. “Why didn’t Sainvire rescue her or something?”
“He tried when he found out. Only, Megan opened her big mouth and threatened Trench by saying 294
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that she was related to Sainvire.” Morales shook his head. “Calling it a blunder is big