Vampire Debt - Supernatural Battle (Vampire Towers #2) - Kelly St. Clare Page 0,119
problem. If you aren’t there, don’t expect to see your friend again.”
If they could get to me, they would have by now. Instead, they were relying on me to get out. My Indebted’s defence was too good.
And now it was a near-impossible obstacle for me.
I closed my eyes, struggling to keep it together for Tommy. “What happens when I get to the front gate?”
The call disconnected.
I stared at Fred in mute horror.
“Did you get that?” I whispered.
His lips pressed together. “Enough. We don’t have much time before the rendezvous.”
Kyros’s name appeared on the screen again. If he was frantic, I was unable to focus enough to feel it through my own frenzy.
“He’ll come over,” I said softly. Or could already be on his way.
That couldn’t happen.
I glanced up at the butler. “You need to tell Rosie not to wait up. Tommy just called and said she won’t be home tonight. She’s staying overnight on the cruise with her boyfriend.”
Fred nodded, his gaze dropping to my phone. “I’ll do so immediately. Remember to switch the noise-cancelling back on.”
I did as bade when he left, thinking rapidly as I answered the phone.
“What do you want?” I snapped. “Jesus, Kyros. I’m busy.”
Silence.
“Busy doing what?” The menace in his voice shook me.
I steeled myself. “Catching up on Truth Ranges. So if you don’t mind—”
He snarled. “You’re lying. Something just happened. You’re terrified. Panicked. I’m coming over.”
I let real anger fill me, all of it aimed at the Tonyi triplets. “Don’t you dare.”
“Non-negotiable,” he said coolly, his voice echoing.
“Like all our interactions then,” I seethed. “You want to know why I’m terrified? Because three fucking psychos are after me. I have Vissimo all over my fucking property. And I made the worst decision of my life.”
I gripped my hair, pacing.
“What decision are you talking about?” he said in a low voice.
I sobbed, thinking of Tommy. What the fuck were they doing to her? “I’m not human anymore, Kyros.” My breath was harsh. “I’m not human anymore.”
“Basilia—”
Would they kill her? How would I know she was alive. Oh fuck. I couldn’t breathe. “I thought I could handle it,” I whispered. “I thought a few days would clear up my doubts, but it all just hit me. I don’t want to be a fucking monster like—”
“Like who?” Kyros said tersely.
His voice was echoing. Was he in the tower garage?
Shit.
Metal crunched on his end. Probably an innocent car. “Like who, Basilia?”
I swallowed, focusing on the moment I first heard Theodore’s name from Gina’s lips. I focused on the triplets and the disgust I felt for them. My utter loathing and abhorrence.
“Like you,” I forced out. “I’m finally doing something about it.”
A tinge of desperation wove through his fury, but otherwise, he wasn’t swallowing enough of my academy award performance.
Time to switch tactics.
Gritting my teeth, I said, “I won’t be returning to the tower or to work, Kyros. I’m leaving Bluff City. I won’t be back.”
That hit him. Hard.
I wouldn’t have otherwise known it from his calm tone though.
“You’re not leaving this city before I see you and we discuss this matter further,” he replied. “I’m in the car and on my way.”
I latched on to every speck of black rage—a lot right now—attempting to push aside my mounting panic. “I don’t want you in my house. Not after everything you’ve done.”
Hurt. Regret. Suspicion.
“So the sensory changes take more of an adjustment than we thought,” he rushed to say. “It will get better. I’ll make it better, Basilia. If that’s all this is about—which I don’t believe is the case. Hate me for coming, but I will see you.”
I needed to get to the gate. Kyros couldn’t be there! He also couldn’t ambush the triplets on the way.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
Maybe telling him was the only option. Yet Tommy’s life was on the line. I didn’t trust anyone with her—not now my grandmother was gone.
I stared at the bookshelf lining the wall, eyes lingering on Tom Hanks’s autobiography.
… Maybe I was overcomplicating this.
“I don’t want you here. I want space,” I whispered, letting my very real hopelessness creep in.
His hurt vibrated through me. “I know, my beauty. And I wish I could give you what you want, but I must give you what you need.”
I sighed down the line. “Please then. I mean what I said, I don’t want you on the estate. Laurel can bring me to the tower after I shower and change.”
He wouldn’t take it.
His voice regained its menacing edge. “Is there a reason you don’t want