Chapter Twenty-Four
CATE DRAGGED HER BAG out of the trunk of Miranda’s new Prius and plopped it on the ground. Shielding her eyes, she looked up at the Monstrana airport, the wide sliding doors greeting her this morning.
“Are you sure you have to go?” Miranda rounded the car and gave her a sorrowful look. “You can stay with me for a few more days. I’ve stocked up on the Ben & Jerry’s.”
“No, it’s for the best.” She yanked on the extendable luggage handle and wheeled it onto the sidewalk. “Once I get back to Nebraska, I’ll forget all about this place. Life will go back to normal.”
“You won’t forget about me, though?” Miranda’s eyes grew big and wide. She clenched her jaw, as if trying not to cry.
“Of course not, silly.” Cate batted her on her shoulder and then pulled her into a tight hug. “I could never forget you. You have to call me all the time. I want to know everything about your new life.”
Miranda nodded into Cate’s hair and sniffled. “Everything?”
“Everything.”
“What about a certain vampire prince?”
Cate stiffened and pulled away. Her lips pressed into a thin line and she shrugged. “You mean vampire king. And no, I think you can leave that part out.”
She started rolling her luggage toward the doors and Miranda followed, entering the cool space of the airport. It wasn’t nearly the size of the Eppley Airport in Omaha, but it had the same feel with kiosks for checking your bags and long roped off lines.
“What happened between you two?” Miranda asked, chasing her down a line. “Why are you avoiding the topic?”
“I’m not avoiding.” She stopped in front of the counter and plastered a smile on her face for the ticket cashier. “I’m just moving on.”
“But I don’t understand, last night you two looked about ready to walk down the aisle together. What changed?”
Exasperated, Cate placed a hand on her hip and turned to her friend. “He became a king, that’s what changed.”
“And how does that change things?” Miranda had her bossy tone on, the one that told Cate she wasn’t going to get away easily without answering her questions. It was best to give in.
“He said he couldn’t live in a fairy tale world anymore,” she huffed, handing her passport to the woman across the counter. “That what we had meant nothing compared to the needs of his country now and the whole thing was shameful. Oh, and that I should leave first thing in the morning.”
Miranda sighed and tilted her head to one side. “That’s all?”
“Yes,” she answered through gritted teeth. “And it was more than enough to tell me he didn’t really care for me. That the thought of a lifetime with me as a vampire was repulsive.”
Tears sprung to the corners of her eyes and she wiped them away. She’d made up her mind last night before everything went wrong that she would gladly give up her mortal life for Viktor. The idea of becoming a vampire had already set her at ease and she was looking forward to experiencing it all with him. But when he’d shut her out, so quickly and so thoroughly, those dreams of the future had come crashing down around her. Now, she didn’t know up from down. She needed consistency and normal. She needed to feel her feet under her again.
Miranda took her hands in hers and squeezed them. Looking into her eyes, she leaned forward and frowned. “I’m saying this as your friend, so don’t get mad, but that’s a load of cow manure.”
Cate blinked and her chin snapped up as if she’d been punched. “Excuse me?”
“It’s a load of cow manure,” Miranda repeated, dark humor twinkling in her eyes. “Anyone could see he’s crazy about you. The boy just lost his grandfather and now he’s in charge of a country. He’s freaking out. Pushing you away. But this is the time he needs you most.”
“But he said...”
“He said a lot of things he probably didn’t mean, I’m sure. Trust me, I’ve been there. People say stupid things to the people they care about when they’re hurting. But people don’t suddenly fall out of love, Cate. He’s in pain and he needs you.”
She shook her head. “But what about Charlie and my broken good guy radar?”
“Charlie was a grade-A jerk from day one,” Miranda insisted. “He stole the light from your eyes. Prince Viktor was the one to put it back. And just maybe, your good guy radar wasn’t really broken. It just needed a vampire to come along and fix it.”
Her lips parted as her brow furrowed. Understanding clicked in her eyes as Miranda smiled.
“You really think he still loves me?” she asked, her hands trembling.
“Without a doubt.”