Incipient A Dark Paranormal Romance - Bianca Scardoni Page 0,64
of a coward for that. Knowing I was going to have some explaining to do tomorrow, I took solace in knowing that at least I’d have tonight to figure out what I was even going to say.
I woke up the next morning alone in Trace’s bedroom. Arching my back, I stretched my arms and yawned as I slowly woke from my confused sleep state and remembered everything that had gone down last night.
Pulling the covers over my head, I groaned and then inwardly cursed myself out for letting things go so far with Trace. And if that wasn’t bad enough on its own, I then had a total meltdown and embarrassed the hell out of myself.
“Morning.”
I jumped at the sound of Trace’s voice. Trace’s jovial voice.
Definitely the tone I was expecting this morning.
Feeling a little less intimidated, I edged the covers down a little and chanced a peek at him. He was carrying a plate of what smelled like bacon and eggs and had a glass of orange juice in the other hand.
Wondering if I’d dreamt the whole thing last night, I pulled the covers down to my waist and sat up. He definitely wasn’t looking at me like I’d made out with him, got half undressed and then blue-balled him in the bathroom.
“I wasn’t sure how you like your eggs. They’re supposed to be sunny side up,” he said with an apologetic shrug of his shoulders.
I lifted my chin to peer at the dish. The eggs looked halfway to scrambled and the bacon was definitely overcooked, but that didn’t stop me from tearing up at the sight of them. I thought for sure I was going to get his cold shoulder this morning or at the very least, that he’d demand an explanation. But instead, he cooked me breakfast in bed.
“Thank you,” I said as he placed the dish in front of me on the bed and the glass on the nightstand. “This is so…sweet. You didn’t have to do this.” Especially considering how I’d ended things between us last night.
“I wanted to,” he said as his phone chimed from his pocket.
Taking a bite of my slightly well-done bacon, I watched as he pulled his phone out and read the message. Not even a second later, my own phone sounded from the nightstand.
Phones going off at the same time? That couldn’t be good.
With my eyes still glued on him for clues, I reached over and grabbed my own phone.
“They’re calling an emergency meeting at Temple tonight,” he informed, studying my face as he slid his phone back into his pocket.
Mothercrapper. That definitely didn’t sound good.
“You think they’re going to tell the others about the Horsemen?” he asked as I quickly read the same vague message on my own phone requesting the attendance of all local members.
“I…have no idea,” I answered distractedly as I wondered why William hadn’t reached out to me beforehand. If they had new information, it would’ve been nice to be given a heads up. Hopefully, this was just a general meeting to clue everyone in on what’s been going on and not some earth-shattering reveal.
“Maybe they found out who the mother-to-be is,” he suggested, sitting down on the edge of the bed.
Panic gripped my innards and squeezed them like a vice. Trace still had no clue that it was none other than Nikki who was carrying Lucifer’s child nor did he know that she was claiming that it was Trace’s baby.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his probing eyes closing in on me. “You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.”
Not wanting to make him suspicious, I forced myself to smile. “I’m fine. I’m just worried about that math exam today. I haven’t studied at all,” I lied as I set the plate aside and climbed out of bed. “We should probably get going if we don’t want to be late,” I said and grabbed a piece of bacon off the plate before stalking over to my duffle bag.
“Sure,” he said, his eyes trailing me as I pulled out my wrinkled school uniform and laid it out on the bed.
I turned to him expectantly. He may have seen me topless a couple of times this week, but that didn’t mean I was giving out free shows regularly.
Getting the message, he nodded. “I’ll wait for you downstairs.”
I watched silently as he left the room and closed the door behind himself. The moment he was gone, I pulled out my cell phone and texted the Senior Magister: