I turned the shower on full and hot and slipped under as soon as I rid my body of clothes. I planned just to stand under the torrent of water and let my worries disappear down the drain. I hoped they would anyway. The hot water pounded my muscles, and the heat sunk deep down into my bones. But it wasn’t enough to take away my worries. Soon, the whispering voices returned with a vengeance.
“She’s here.”
“He’ll know.”
The first two were repeated over and over, and it unnerved me a little, but the third phrase that popped up now and frightened me the most.
“The queen has returned.”
I didn’t want to grow an ego complex or let it get to me, but they had to be referring to me, right? There was no other explanation. There was no other queen they could be referring to. Unless… no. I immediately shook off the thought. My ancestor couldn’t be here. They couldn’t be talking about Eva. She was back in Dragontopia with Ash and their dragon shifter offspring.
Ugh. I had to find a way to turn off the voices. I got out of the shower and wrapped myself in a warm fluffy towel before padding to the bedroom. I dressed in a cotton nightshirt and wrapped my wet hair up in a towel on top my head before making my way to the kitchen in search of the perfect remedy to shut off the noise in my head—alcohol. I found a bottle of sauvignon blanc in the fridge and unscrewed the cap. I didn’t even bother with a glass. I drank straight from the bottle. I leaned back against the counter and leaned the cold bottle against my temple. It throbbed with the warning of a migraine. But that was due to the stress of the voices, not the effects of the wine. I glanced at the bottle. Whoa. I had guzzled half a bottle, and I hadn’t even noticed.
“She’s here!”
“He knows!”
The bottle fell from my hand and shattered on the ground by my feet. The wine and glass shards exploded outward like a bomb completely soaking me and the surrounding living room in wine and glass.
The voices were still there and now more frantic.
“What do you want?” I screamed, clutching my head.
My phone vibrated and danced on the counter. I glanced around for it, but it was on the opposite side of the counter to where I was. I went to walk around the counter into the living room but trod on a large piece of glass. It went through my foot and protruded out the top. I screamed. As I bent down to pull the glass out so I could heal it with my magic, I heard the front door to my apartment burst open and footsteps running down the hall.
“Emma!” Strong arms gathered me up and carried me to the couch. When they placed me down, I saw Darcy’s face. I kind of knew it was him, but I was delirious and half-drunk by this point. Anyone could have helped me, and I wouldn’t have cared.
“It’s going to be okay. It’s a good thing we’re both immortal.”
I felt his hand touch my foot, and I cried out. It hurt. But then it didn’t. Whatever he was doing was numbing the pain. Then I felt resistance and a tug, and my foot suddenly went warm and then cold.
“It’s okay, Emma. The glass is out. I’m going to feed you my blood to heal you, okay?”
“No,” I whispered. I was weak, so weak.
“You’ve lost a lot of blood, Emma. You’re too weak to use your magic. I need to do this. Please, Emma.”
I moaned and began seeing black stars in front of my eyes. My head spun, and so did the entire room. Before I passed out, I remember Darcy pressing his wrist to my lips and the taste of coppery warm liquid running into my mouth.
***
When I woke, I was no longer on the couch. When I sat up in my own bed, my head was no longer pounding, and I felt a lot stronger. I heard a clatter in the kitchen. I wasn’t alone. I threw off the covers and dropped my legs over the side of the bed. I glanced at my foot where the glass had penetrated me, and there was no indication it had occurred. No scar. Nothing.
My mind felt blank. I couldn’t remember what had happened after I stepped on the glass. Another crash came from the kitchen, and then I remembered. Darcy. He was here. He must have fed me his blood since I was too weak to heal myself.
I stood and checked my body to see how I was dressed. I didn’t want to walk out into the kitchen in my underwear or nude or something. I still had on my loose- fitting nightshirt, but I was braless, so I grabbed my kimono from the back of the desk chair in the corner and draped it over me, tying it at the waist before making my way to the kitchen. Once I walked through the door, Darcy looked up from his spot in front of the stove. I leaned against the doorframe and watched him move about the kitchen. My kitchen. He was cooking in my kitchen. Butterflies danced inside me, and my cheeks warmed. I then shook my head. No. I couldn’t think about him that way. I couldn’t!
“Good morning. I’ve brewed coffee, and the food will be ready in a moment. I hope you like bacon and eggs.” He smiled at me and went back to flipping the bacon in the frypan.
“Mm. It smells amazing.” My stomach growled from the smell of the bacon, and I put my hand on my belly to settle it down, not only from the hunger pains but the butterflies that just wouldn’t go away.
I didn’t know why he was here or what was going on, but right now, I didn’t care. As long as I didn’t remember what happened yesterday, all was good. I decided to enjoy the bliss while I had it.
I brushed past Darcy as I made my way to the coffee pot (it was a very small kitchen). Warmth immediately spread through me, and I had to brace myself against the counter to steady myself. Blood rushed to my cheeks again. Was I unwell? I must be. It has been a long time since he’s made me feel this way. No. Hasn’t it only been a few days since I saw him last? When he brought me back from New Zealand? Ugh. My brain wasn’t working. I needed coffee. I quickly picked up the mug in front of me and the jug and poured myself a large dose of caffeine. I brought the mug up to my nose once I had it poured and inhaled the delicious scent. Freshly brewed coffee was my favorite scent in the universe.
“You look at peace.”
“Hmm?” I looked up and found Darcy was watching me. He was leaning against the counter holding his own mug of coffee. I then noticed he was dressed more casually than I had ever seen him. He had on a light gray crew neck t-shirt, and dark blue acid washed jeans and casual Nike sneakers. His hair was floppy and longer than I remembered. It was dark brown and kind of damp like he’d just not long ago stepped out of the shower.
When he looked down at his coffee, a piece of hair fell over his right eye. He was sexy, and my heart reacted to this new revelation. I lost my breath when he met my gaze, and his lips parted. He set down his cup, not taking his gaze from me and then obliterated the space between us, sweeping me up into his arms. Our lips collided. The last and only time we had kissed was the dark and stormy night we met. The fateful night that changed my life forever. I adjusted my body against his. I jumped up and wrapped my legs around his hips and pushed my pelvis into his. I gripped the back of his neck and kissed him deeply. I didn’t want to come up for air.
We only broke apart when I felt his fangs graze my neck. I froze and pulled back an inch.
“What are we doing?” I whispered.
“I don’t know. And I don’t care, but I like it.”
“Me too,” I moaned. “I like it a lot.”