Reborn Yesterday - Tessa Bailey Page 0,71

full, finished collection, against all odds.

Ginny eyed her napping couch longingly, but there was no time to rest. She sped through a shower, blow drying her hair and applying lip gloss, mascara and some blush. When her usual go-to for anything fancy—that wasn’t a funeral—would have been bright and pattered, she found herself reaching for the red, lightweight chiffon number in the back of her closet. A black belt cinched the floaty material in the waist, layers of ruby red cascading to mid-thigh.

And for once, when putting on a dress, she felt exactly like herself. Not Elizabeth Taylor, Lauren Bacall or even Grace Kelly.

Just Ginny.

“I believe they call this a glow up,” Roksana murmured, coming up beside her. “Are we over our tiff?”

“It wasn’t really a tiff,” Ginny sighed.

“Ahhh. You are saving your wrath for Jonas.”

Ginny squared her shoulders. “Like I said, he can’t make big decisions that affect us both without some kind of communication. It’s not fair.” She shook her head. “My heart already trusts him, but my mind is another story. I need both on board. Both are important to me.”

“He’s used to being the prince. He makes a decree, others obey.”

“Why?”

Roksana shrugged. “He inspires loyalty. Even from me.”

“Does it have something to do with the fact that Jonas helped Elias when he was freshly Silenced?”

“I thought our tiff had ended,” sniffed the slayer.

Ginny hid a smile. “I have to get to my meeting. Could you do me a huge favor and put these dresses in garment bags? It’ll save me time when we have to leave for the expo.”

“Nyet.” She slashed a hand across her neck. “I’m not to leave you alone. The Elder might have been eliminated, but now we have the High Order to worry about, since you’ve deemed it wise to give yourself to a bloodsucker.”

“Five minutes. Please?” Ginny was already backing from the room. “I’m going to be running late as it is. And anyway, the sun doesn’t go down for another half an hour. It’s nature’s vampire repellant.”

“I’ll walk you to the office and make sure there are no intruders. Or spiders. Or sharp edges. I’m not taking any chances with your fragile humanity.”

Ginny rolled her eyes, but didn’t protest as Roksana followed her down the stairs. “Maybe I’d be better off if…” She watched closely for the slayer’s reaction. “If Jonas made me a vampire.”

She didn’t necessarily mean it. Not yet. Losing her humanity wasn’t something she could ever take so lightly. But she wanted to know if it was possible. She wanted to know what it would take. And more importantly, the consequences. Ginny was more interested in satisfying her curious nature than floating the possibility.

Roksana’s face remained stoic, but her steps faltered. “You would no longer be able to sustain him.”

A pang hit her in the throat, the memory of him pale and out of his mind with hunger rushing to the fore. “Would anything sustain him if I was Silenced?”

“There’ve been no cases like yours. Vampire mates with girl, girl becomes only source of nourishment for vampire, girl turns to vampire…I don’t know what happens after that.”

Ginny processed that, the fear of the unknown weighing in her stomach like a boulder. She stood in the middle of the lobby while Roksana checked every shadow and hiding spot, clomping across the burgundy carpet with a sense of purpose, until finally she gave Ginny the all clear.

“Do not leave this office,” Roksana said, punching the air with her finger. “I’ll be back. Right after I bag these dresses like I’m someone who earns minimum wage and says things like ‘I’ll try and get a sitter.’”

“You’re the best,” Ginny called back, already pulling out her sample books and paperwork in preparation for the meeting. She took out the laptop and opened their trusty—and often malfunctioning—database to read through the information Larissa should have entered for tonight’s meeting. There was nothing there, though. Simply the initial “C,” a phone number and the appointment time. “Guess Larissa already had one foot out the door,” Ginny murmured.

A thunderclap brought Ginny’s head up.

Was it supposed to rain? Last time she checked, the sky had been clear.

There were no windows in her small, airless office, but when the lobby darkened considerably, she rose from her seat. The lights were still on, but the windows were almost black from the sudden storm. She came around the desk and stopped in the doorway, her heart flying into her throat when thunder rolled, immediately followed by a crack