Sydney nodded. “I agree.”
“What?” Penelope asked in shock. “How would we even do that?”
“I’ll draw him out,” Reyna said.
“No,” Beckham said at once.
Reyna continued as if she hadn’t heard him. It was so simple. So very simple. “I think it’s time we test that blood theory you have, Becks.”
His eyes narrowed. “Absolutely not.”
“If Harrington can sense me, he’ll come to me. I’ll lure him out into the open. You finish the job.”
“There are a million things wrong with that scenario.”
“Where would we do it?” Sydney asked.
Beckham snarled at her. “You can’t be considering this.”
“I consider every option. Reyna is willing. She made the suggestion. I’d be a fool not to consider it.”
“She’d be bait.”
“Yes,” Reyna said. “I’ll be bait. We just need to find a time when Harrington will be out in public. Somewhere not as guarded as Visage or wherever the hell that monster lives.”
“No,” Beckham repeated.
“You will not change my mind,” she told him with all the fires of a thousand suns.
“I’m throwing a New Year’s Eve masquerade party for all the elite,” Penelope said. “Harrington was invited.”
“That’s only five days away,” Gabe interjected. “Not much time.”
“Then he’ll never see it coming,” Reyna said.
“We could have access to the event?” Sydney asked Penelope, who nodded.
Beckham flew out of his chair. “Have you all lost your mind? We are not sending Reyna out against Harrington.”
“I’m going, Becks,” she told him. “And I need you there to finish it off.”
“If Harrington is out of the way, then you have a play for president of Visage,” Sydney said. “Imagine what we could do, the changes we could implement, with you at the helm.”
“You’re sure?” he asked Reyna.
“Yes. Do this with me.”
“I don’t want to risk you.”
“Some risks are worth everything.”
Her eyes said what she didn’t have to. You were. You were worth everything.
“No,” Beckham said again.
“I believe I am in charge of this operation, Mr. Anderson,” Sydney said formally. “I think it’s the start of a plan. We need to flesh it out, but if Reyna is willing, I think it’s the best chance we have.”
“Sleep on it,” Beckham said.
“I won’t change my mind,” she said defiantly.
He bared his teeth in frustration. “We’ll talk about this later.”
“Fine.”
“It’s been a long night for everyone. Get some rest and meet back here at fifteen hundred hours,” Sydney said as a dismissal.
With the decision all but made, Reyna felt a sharp sense of relief flood her system. She was doing something. Sacrificing anything to stop these farms from being implemented…to find a way to get Brian back.
Beckham herded her toward the exit. Her exhaustion was winning out. She stumbled through her steps. Her eyes were drooping. The adrenaline was wearing off and she had nothing left to give.
They were in the hallway when Beckham growled, “You can hardly walk.”
“It’s been a long night.”
“Should I carry you?”
“I’m okay,” she lied.
She was far from okay. Even further from fine. Catatonic was the correct word.
“Beckham!” Penelope called behind them.
They both stopped and turned around to face her. Reyna braced her hand against the wall to stay steady. She really didn’t want to deal with Penelope right now. Not after the night she’d had.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
“Reyna needs to rest.”
“Okay…so she’ll rest. But where are you going?”
His patience was clearly on a razor-thin edge when he responded, “I am going with her.”
It felt like a line was drawn in the sand. A line that had been drawn over and over again. But never in this way. Never this forcefully. Never in front of Reyna.
Penelope crossed her arms. “I can’t keep doing this.”
“Then don’t.”
“I’m the one who has always been there for you. I’m the one who changed your life. I’m the one who brought you to Elle,” Penelope said. She tilted her chin up. “It’s me. It’s always been me.”
“You’re really doing this now?” he asked.
“When else am I supposed to do it? I’m Penelope Sky. I’m the mayor. I’m educated and rich and gorgeous, Beckham. When are you going to get a clue that there is nothing better than what is right in front of your face? This charade has to end. You and I, we’re perfect together. We should be together,” she said, her voice raising an octave. “The mayor and a senior vice president of Visage together, working to make this a better future. That’s us! Everyone can see it but you. I deserve you.”
Reyna’s eyebrows rose at the entitled tone of the conversation. “I…uh…maybe I should…” She hitched her thumb over her shoulder and started to back away from the conversation. She didn’t need to hear this. Beckham could handle the situation.
“Oh no!” Penelope snapped, “By all means, stick around. It’s not like what I’m saying should come as any shock to you. I thought it was already obvious that I was better than you in every way.”
“Penelope,” Beckham said, his voice cast low and disapproving.
“What? We all know it’s true. I don’t accept that this ends any other way for me. There is no way that you fuck me, drink from me for over a year, and then leave me for some warehouse rat. I always get what I want and what I want is you.”
“No, you want what you cannot have. I have already told you time and time again that this is not what I want. We are not together,” Beckham said, putting himself between Penelope and Reyna. “I didn’t want to have this conversation in front of Reyna, but you’re leaving me no choice here.”
“No choice?” Penelope laughed in a short burst. “You had every choice. You could have picked me! I’m a hell of a lot better than someone like her. Christ, look at me, Beckham. I am the most sought-after woman in this city. I could have anyone I want, but I want you. You and me against the world.”
“Penelope, it was never you. You know it was never you. And you and I were over long before Reyna entered my life. So, don’t try to pin it on her,” he said, holding up his hand to forestall her protest. “We were a dalliance. We had fun. But I never gave you the impression that this was going to be long term.”
“You never gave me the impression?” she nearly shouted. Her eyes widened, round as saucers. Her eyebrows lifted incredulously. Her mouth dropped open. “Are you fucking kidding me? I just…I can’t believe you’re even saying this. We were supposed to be together and now you’re painting me as the crazy and delusional one for believing the lies you told me. A fucking dalliance, Beckham?” She shook her head. “I have nothing to say to that absurd notion.”
“I’m not painting you as anything. I’ve been saying all this from the start. We’re not together.”
“Sure. Whatever. Go fuck yourself,” she spat. Then she turned on her heel and strode away from them, down the hallway.
“Jesus,” Reyna whispered. “Maybe we should go after her.”
Beckham shook his head. “Just let her go. She needs to blow off steam. I think reality finally sunk in, and she has to come to terms with it. I’ll talk to her after she’s cooled down again.”
Reyna collapsed into bed as soon as she entered her room. Beckham followed behind her, carefully stripping her out of her clothes and then tucking her into bed. Her eyes fluttered shut as soon as she hit the pillow.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered deliriously.
“Why are you apologizing?”
“For Penelope.”
“She needs no apology.”
“Still sorry.”
Beckham kissed her temple. “Don’t worry about Penelope.”
“Okay.” Reyna sighed. “Will you do me a favor?”
“Perhaps.”
“Hold me?”
He crawled into bed, his movements as lithe and predatory as a panther. His hands moved around her body. Her back pressed into his chest. They fit together perfectly. As one.
“Another favor?” she mumbled.
“Hmm?” he breathed into her ear.
“Stay through the morning?”
“It is morning.”
“Stay all night.”
“For you.”
She sighed deep in her throat and then let the tension finally leave her body.
Reyna awoke with an arm around her waist, and a body pressed against her back. She rolled over to find Beckham perfectly asleep behind her. A statue carved out of stone. Adonis in the flesh.
She had always wondered if vampires slept. She had never seen Beckham do it. Of course, he had a bed in his room back at the penthouse, but beds could be used for multiple things. She was well aware.
Her fingers traced the contours of his face. Allowing herself to forget for that moment the horrors of yesterday and the new nightmares she would face when she left this room.
“Keep doing that and we’re never leaving this bed.”
Reyna smiled. “Is that supposed to get me to stop?”
His eyes slowly opened, revealing the dark depths. He reached out and captured her hand in his. Then he brought it to his lips and kissed her.
“How are you?”
She shrugged. “You’re here.”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t know you slept.”
“Sometimes,” he admitted. “We don’t need to as much. Just like eating. It rejuvenates us. Though we can go much longer without.”
“It’s not fair that you look exactly the same when you wake up, and I look like a bomb went off,” she said.
He tugged her closer. “Does it matter what you look like when you still have a sharp mind, quick wit, and fragile human heart when you wake up?”
“And here I thought my heart was hardening.”
“I dread that day. Your struggle, emotion, and humanity are your best qualities. It makes you who you are.”
“It also makes all of this so hard,” she whispered. She hated admitting how she felt. That she knew she would have to face the day once they left this bed.
“Be glad that you feel at all. For so long I did not.” He frowned. “You asked me once what changed me. Why I decided not to continue as I had for so long. I didn’t give you the whole truth.”
Reyna frowned. “What do you mean?”
“The camera came second. The truth is that I know what you’re going through, because I lost a sister.”
“You had a sister?” she whispered.
He nodded once. His eyes were very far away. “Bronwyn and I were very close. When I was changed, I changed her as well. Brought her into this world.” He paused with a sigh. “Made her my second.”
Reyna covered her mouth. Oh, God.
“Yes. She was murdered in a turf war. I mourn her death every year. She was my only real family. On the fifteenth anniversary of her death, I went to the home that we grew up in. I sat there and watched a new family in the property. A young brother and sister playing together, and I remembered that innocence. I wanted to find that again.” His eyes bored into her. She hardly breathed. “I started taking pictures soon after that, searching for it. I joined Elle hoping this rebellion would reveal it. But it wasn’t until you arrived that I knew you were everything I’d been seeking. You were then and you are now.
“I love you,” Beckham told her. “I have loved you since the first time I saw you, since you defiantly bared your neck to me while you trembled, and as you fought for the oppressed every way you could, and every moment you see me for who I am. I love you. I will always love you.”
“I love you too,” she released on a breath and then she kissed him. Because no other words could do justice to the way her heart expanded.