Vampire Debt - Supernatural Battle (Vampire Towers #2) - Kelly St. Clare Page 0,106
surged, and I shoved Kyros aside, racing for the bathroom. I threw myself down by the toilet and emptied the contents of my stomach into the bowl, tears squeezing from my eyes.
I vomited again and again, the yellow pouch of lavender leaves flashing behind my eyelids.
They’d killed her. Why else would they have it?
A trophy room, Gina had said. The triplets kept mementos of the people they killed?
My stomach cramped as I gagged again, but nothing came up.
Fumbling, I flushed the toilet and sat back on my heeled feet. Kyros passed me a glass of water and stepped around me to run a flannel under cold water. I swilled the water in my mouth on autopilot, spitting it into the toilet.
Scooping me up, Kyros returned us to the couch and held me tight with one arm, dabbing at my forehead with the flannel.
He didn’t say anything.
The shock began to ebb, but the shaking worsened. My teeth were going to rattle right out of my head. “Grandmother kept lavender pouches in all her clothes.”
Kyros picked up the phone, looking at the picture again. “You’re sure it’s hers?”
I gleaned nothing from his tone. Through my numbness, I couldn’t feel anything.
“There’s another message.” He glanced at me.
“Read it,” I said hoarsely.
Kyros scanned the contents. “I’m sorry if the news is not what you hoped for. Gina.”
His fingers curled around the phone, and I eased it free, worried he’d crush my evidence of the triplets’ guilt.
“Basilia,” he said.
I rubbed at the phone’s surface.
“Basilia.”
The taste of bile still filled my mouth. “What?” I croaked.
“Tell me what you’re thinking.”
I dragged in a painful breath. “What is there to say? They must have visited her that night. They intended to kill her—why else would they take a trophy?”
I pressed a shaking hand against my mouth. “She must have been so afraid, Kyros.”
My grandmother killed by those monsters. My eyes filled and hot tears spilled over my cheeks.
Kyros stared at me. “You’re crying.”
“It happens,” I stammered as my shoulders shook.
“That was a stupid thing to say. I mean, I’ve never seen you cry.” He was horrified.
I wiped at my face to little avail. “I hoped so badly she’d just died naturally.” I hiccupped. “They scared her to death, Kyros. My grandmother. What do I do about that?” My stomach threatened to empty again.
“You’re in shock. We deal with that first.”
“First?” I hiccupped again, looking at him through blurring eyes.
Darkness spread through my chest, a hatred and a promise that didn’t belong to me.
“The vermin will pay for what they did,” Kyros stated calmly.
I wasn’t fooled, not with the front row seats to his emotions.
His meadow-green eyes met mine. “They’ll pay for what they did.”
23
Kyros tried to give me the week off, but when I turned the offer down, he didn’t push the issue. Perhaps he knew that sometimes distraction was the only way to keep swimming.
I was drowning in hatred. In thoughts of revenge. In horror of what ifs. Had Grandmother pleaded with them? How many times had they let their powers flare before her heart gave out? I’d been sick too many times to count in the last four days.
Those around me were worried—Tommy, Fred, Laurel, and the girls.
Talking about it was impossible—literally, but I couldn’t bear to show anyone the messages from Gina, which I’d saved to an external drive so they wouldn’t be lost.
Kyros knew the truth. And his siblings—who I’d told the same night.
“My beauty, everyone has left.”
I blinked at him, then around the empty room. “They have? Sorry. I zoned out.”
He perched on the desk by my chair and circled his thumb beneath my eyes. “You’re not sleeping.”
“No.” The nightmares wouldn’t stay away.
Kyros studied me. “I have something I need to talk with you about. Two things.”
Nothing could surprise me at this point. “Go ahead.”
“I know driving lessons are important to you. With the tightening in security, your lessons have stopped. I wondered if you’d like to resume lessons. With me.”
What?
“You’d teach me?” I repeated dumbly, straightening in my chair.
His stare was intense. “I’d like to. If you still wish to learn.”
A blush tinged my cheeks. I couldn’t keep the small smile at bay. Darting a look up, I said shyly, “I’d like that.”
I could finally get my licence!
Triumph rocketed through the vampire.
I cocked my head, trying to quell the butterflies in my stomach. “The second thing?”
“This is in no way related to my first question.”
Truth.
I was glad because it hadn’t occurred to me that Kyros was buttering me up for something.