Did I really want the thrall to be over though? Kyros would feel where I was for the rest of my life. The exact ins and outs of how the homing beacon worked were a mystery to me for now. But I’d get to the bottom of that when Kyros was lucid once more, and I could fucking murder him for being a piece-of-shit liar.
We’d shared blood.
We’d kissed and touched while under the thrall.
Yet he’d lied to my face. Not just once, but several times. Even when I’d demanded the truth using one of my questions from our dinner.
The consensus? His word meant nothing.
I felt betrayed. Really betrayed.
Which was crazy because I’d kept my distance.
… Didn’t I?
Why did it hurt so much that he’d shafted me this time?
Shower done, I tossed my moisturiser onto the counter and stared into the mirror.
My face was thin. Drawn. Gaunt.
To be expected, I supposed. Even with the recent attack aside, being trapped in this tower was draining my life force.
But if I left, he now had the ammo to hunt me down.
I just couldn’t contemplate the ramifications of that yet.
Ringing blared from the bedroom.
Snatching up the white jumpsuit, I wobbled back into the main room to find Beast.
I swiped him off the charger cable and gingerly perched on the bed.
“Hello?”
“Miss Tetley.”
I eased down onto my back. “Angelica.”
The Vissimo cleared her throat. “This comes at a bad time, but I just received your friend at the reception desk downstairs.”
Friend?
“Tommy,” Angelica supplied in the heavy silence.
I forced my lips to move. “Why? What’s she doing here?”
“She wouldn’t divulge that, I’m afraid. She’s insistent about seeing you. Very insistent.”
Nerves twisted my gut. I hardly dared to hope she’d forgiven me.
Regardless, could I handle seeing her familiar face? Three days ago, I nearly died. I just wasn’t sure I could keep things together around her.
Dammit.
“I can’t see her looking like this,” I said.
The bandages on my torso might go unnoticed. Not the bruises on my face. I’d told Tommy not to call the police, but if I saw her in this state, I wouldn’t hesitate to call—even at the risk of her hating me forever.
“She won’t leave without seeing you. Meet me in Kyros’s office, Miss Tetley. I’ll bring the make-up bag.”
The phone clicked as Angelica disconnected.
Glancing down, I eyed the bruises on my arms. Sighing, I stepped into the jumpsuit, and strode to the rack. selecting a long royal-blue cardigan that would cover my arms and all the way to my knees at the back.
I slipped into some loafers and yanked my wet hair into a tight ponytail.
A quick look in the bathroom mirror told me I’d utterly failed at putting myself together.
Tommy was going to freak out.
Angelica better be able to work pure magic with that make-up.
She was waiting downstairs.
Indebted still filled the room, and I nodded at Laurel, whose eyes shifted to the make-up bag.
“Tommy’s here,” I told her, crossing to sit in Kyros’s office chair. “She’ll kick off if she thinks I’m being beaten up by Kyros.” On that note. “Is he okay with me going down to see her? He’s not going to barge in, right?”
It was 7:00 p.m. Five hours of the third thrall remained.
“No, he’s faring much better today.”
I held still as Angelica’s hands blurred over my face. She turned my head this way and that, and within what had to be a paltry two minutes, she leaned away, inspecting her work.
“There,” she declared. “I could only do so much to mask the thinness of your face, but your complexion isn’t as pale now.”
Better than nothing. “I’m taking Laurel and a few other Vissimo down in case Kyros decides to make a guest appearance.”
Angelica cut me a glance. “Indebted?”
I refused to use that word aloud any longer. “Vissimo, yes.”
“Whatever you deem necessary, Miss Tetley.” Angelica dipped her head again.
The head dipping thing… That better not be a you’ve swapped juices with our crown prince three times hunk of bullshitery.
Squaring my shoulders, I walked to the door, glancing at a few of the Indebted. They fell into line behind me and Laurel.
“Could you take the stairs down and just hold tight behind the door on Level 44 so Tommy doesn’t know you’re there?” I asked her. “I’ll ride the elevator.”
“Roger that,” she said.
My stomach churned on the ride to the Live Right offices. My mind scrambled to scrape together a plan. Tommy was either here to make another ultimatum or here to apologise. My friend wasn’t short on self-respect, so I’d assume the former.
My reason for forcing her away hadn’t changed, however, even if I was barely keeping my head above water without her. A chunk of me was missing, but more than ever, I had to keep her out of this world. The Fyrlia royals would seek their revenge soon, and Tommy couldn’t get caught in the crossfire.
Ding!
The doors slid open and I braced myself, lifting my head to scan reception.
“Tom,” I greeted, holding onto my calm by the skin of my teeth.
She looked exhausted—much like I felt. Her oval face was leeched of colour, her hair hung limp around her face. Usually a picture of vintage style, she’d donned patchy leggings and a threadbare top to visit.
“Basil,” she replied without smiling.
The nickname didn’t feel right anymore—a requiem of past times when everything was okay.
“You’ve lost weight,” she added, not leaving her position in front of the reception desk.
If weight loss was all Tommy saw when giving me a once over, I considered that a win.
Then I frowned. “So have you.”
Exhaustion was a mild term for her state. My friend looked… devastated.
“What’s happening?” I asked, searching her expression. “Is your father alright? Are you alright?”
I had zero right to ask her personal questions, but Basi the hypocrite could still sleep at night—Basi the worrier couldn’t.
She crossed to where I lurked by the lift and took my hands in hers.
My heart leaped at the simple human touch. Had she decided to forgive me? If she’d swallowed that big of a humble pill, maybe I could salvage some of our relationship.
I took a breath. “Tom, I’m—"
“Your grandmother passed away last night,” she said quietly.
My face slackened. My insides, my soul. Everything I was dropped onto the floor.
Blood pounded in my ears.
“W-What did you just say?”
“Your grandmother has moved on, Basil. She passed last night from a heart attack.”
I stared at Tommy, inhales shallow and fast. “No, she’s not.”
I covered my ears, spinning away only to stare at the grey of the elevator doors. I whirled in a circle like a cornered animal.
Trapped.
Tommy spoke low and fast. “She rang for Fred, but the ambulance came too late to resuscitate her. He said she went quickly. He’s been trying to get in touch with you, but—”
“No, she’s not!” I screamed at her, my throat ripping.
My friend backed up, watching me warily.
I paced, clutching my face. I paced as though that would unwind the last two minutes of my life.
When it didn’t, I sank into a crouch, cradling my stomach as I pressed my face to my knees.
Oh my god. This wasn’t real.
Tommy rested a hand on my back. “She’s gone, lovely. I’m so fucking sorry. I know she was all you had.”
All I had? The words rang in my ears.
All I had.
My grandmoth
er was all I had, and now she was gone.
Dead.
Cold.
Empty.
Tommy stroked my hair but stopped as I lifted my head.
“Was she in pain?” I asked hoarsely.
“No, lovely. Not in pain. Your grandmother told Fred that she loved you with everything she had. Agatha said that watching you grow into the strong young woman you are today was her life’s honour.”
A strong young woman? If only she could see me now.
“I wasn’t with her.” Part of my heart crumbled away with the confession.
Tommy didn’t have a reassurance for that.
My chest tightened anew. Hand pressing against my chest as though that could keep the splitting agony inside, I said hollowly, “I need to call Fred.”
There must be things to do. What was I meant to do?
“He’s expecting your call. He needs to go over funeral details with you.”
I flinched.
Funeral details.
In the ground.
Not my warm grandmother who could silence a room will a tongue-lashing remark or a quelling arch of the brow. That person didn’t belong in the ground covered with dirt.
I stared at my hands. “I spoke to her one month ago.”
I’d seen her car four days ago. Heard her words via Fred. Seen her hand as she flipped vampires off.
Tommy drew a letter from her cloth bag. “I wanted to come here and break the news myself.”
I hugged my rail-thin body. “Thank you. I appreciate it. I’ve wanted to reach out to you…”
She picked up where I left off. “…To tell me how you got the bruise on your cheek? To tell me why you appear to have dropped five kilos you didn’t have to lose?”
“No, not that,” I replied, closing my eyes. “To tell you I’ll always love you no matter what.”
“I called the police, you know—after last time. I was transferred from department to department for an hour. They hung up. I tried twice more with the same result. The call went as expected right up until I mentioned Kyros Sky. The third time, I went in face-to-face. I wrote a statement. They read it and asked me to leave.”
Fuck. She’d called the police? Thank fuck nothing came of it. I had no idea if the police had alerted Kyros, but I assumed so.
And Tommy hadn’t been compelled.
Not yet anyway.
“After that, I went to your grandmother,” she said quietly.
I sucked in a breath.
She squared her shoulders. “She told me that if I wasn’t willing to grow with you, I best stay out of your way.”
Um, what? My grandmother loved Tommy. That made zero sense. “I’m sure she didn’t mean it that way…”
Lifting a shoulder, Tommy held out the envelope. “Perhaps. I’ll see you at the funeral to support you there. If you need to talk about your grandmother, I’m just a call away. That’s because of the past we shared. But if you can’t tell me the truth about what’s going on, I’ll take that as confirmation we are growing in different directions. And I’ll stay out of your way. I can’t do a half friendship; not with you, Basil. You mean too much to me.”
I accepted her words without feeling a thing, my heart unable to sink further into the ground today.
“What’s this?” I said thickly, taking the letter from her.
“From Fred.”
I hesitated. From Fred? That could be a lot of things. “What if it’s a letter from my grandmother?”
What if these were her last words? What if they were condemning or disappointed?
Tommy held out her hand, and I passed the letter over without second thought.
She broke the seal and drew out a thick letter.
After scanning the contents, Tommy held the letter out for my inspection. “It’s safe to read.”
My eyes blurred over the first line, but comprehension took longer. When it caught up, my mouth dried to bone.
No.
“Congratulations are in order,” said Tommy quietly.
I didn’t want her congratulations. I didn’t want this at all.
Last Will and Testament
Of
Mrs Agatha Le Spyre
Grandmother left everything to me. Everything.
… I’d just become one of the richest women in the world.
Basil’s story continues in Vampire Debt.
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Vampire Debt
Basil’s story continues in Vampire Debt!
While You Wait
COMPLETE SERIES
~ Dragon Shifter Romance ~
Start Book One Here
Books By Kelly St. Clare
Supernatural Battle
Vampire Towers (Paranormal urban romance)
Blood Trial
Vampire Debt
Death Game
The Darkest Drae (Dragon shifter romance)
with Raye Wagner
Blood Oath
Shadow Wings
Black Crown
The Tainted Accords (Royal fantasy romance):
Fantasy of Frost
Fantasy of Flight
Fantasy of Fire
Fantasy of Freedom
Novellas:
Sin
Olandon
Rhone
Shard
Pirates of Felicity (Pirate fantasy romance):
Immortal Plunder
Stolen Princess
Pillars of Six
Dynami’s Wrath
Veritas
Eternal Gambit
Mortal Trinity
The After Trilogy (Dystopian romance):
The Retreat
The Return
The Reprisal
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Blood Trial: Supernatural Battle (Vampire Towers Book 1) Page 41