His face grows serious. “That doesn’t sound silly, Lenore. That sounds like the right thing to do. Most vampires go to school, over and over again, in as many different areas of expertise that they can.”
“But, you see, I have this internship in August, on a dig in Egypt…”
“And so we’ll go. Together.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course. If it’s important to you, it’s important to me. Besides, it’s been a century since I’ve been to Egypt.”
I think about that for a bit. “Do you travel by private plane?” I ask.
He gives me a smug look. “The one thing my money is really good for.”
“I don’t know,” I muse, staring at the orange sun as it starts to disappear under the horizon. “I think this place is more than good. In fact, I insist we use this at least once a month.”
“Oh really?”
“We live in a vampire frat house, Solon.”
“What did you just say?” he growls sharply, and then starts to tickle my sides.
I squeal, trying to get out of the way, but he holds me down, and Odin gets up, licking my arms, trying to figure out what’s happening. “Not fair that I’m still ticklish,” I cry out.
“Your senses are permanently heightened,” he says, gripping me hard and pulling me back into him. “We’re the most ticklish creatures on the planet.”
“Good to know,” I tell him, shooting him a wicked grin.
I relax against him again, Odin sitting dutifully beside us, as the sun sinks and sinks. There’s the green flash and then it’s gone, leaving the sky a beautiful shade of orange, red and pink. We’re in a living painting.
It makes my heart pinch, fear rising up from under me. So much beauty makes me worry that it might be taken away again.
“What next?” I whisper to him, my words almost lost to the pounding waves, thinking about Elle, about Matt, about what other darkness lurks around the corner. “What happens the next time I can’t control myself and I fuck up?”
“We take it as it comes,” he tells me.
“You say it so simply.”
“Because it is simple,” he says, rubbing his thumb over my shoulder. “We will never escape who we are, moonshine. The best we can do is to just do the best we can. That’s all.”
That’s all.
“And your father?” I ask, swallowing hard. “I killed Yanik. That won’t go over well.”
He presses his lips together, looking grim. “We take that as it comes too.”
We go back to watching the waves.
Darkness descending.
A waning moon ascending.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“Welcome home,” Yvonne says to me, coming over and enveloping me in a strong hug.
I drop my luggage in the hall, and let her hug me, spying Wolf over her shoulder, leaning against the doorway to the kitchen. I give him a quick smile, grateful to be here.
“Mom,” Amethyst chastises her. “Give her room to breathe.”
“It’s okay, I can hold my breath for a long time,” I manage to say as Yvonne pulls away, holding me by the shoulders as she looks at me. “It’s nice to see you too, Yvonne.”
She pats me on the back and passes me along to her daughter, while Yvonne turns to Solon behind me and affectionately coos, “Mr. Stavig.”
“Hey,” Amethyst says, giving me a quick embrace. “How was Shelter Cove? You know I’ve always wanted to go up there, but someone says it’s his private escape away from people like me.”
She’s giving mock daggers at Solon now, who has his arm around Yvonne, the housekeeper so tiny underneath Solon’s hold.
“We all need a break sometimes,” Solon says, coming over to Amethyst, appraising her with a sly grin on his face. “Isn’t there a reason why you disappear to Palm Springs every month with your latest boy toy?”
Amethyst’s violet eyes go wide, and my gaze goes right to Wolf. As I expected, he’s practically bristling like his namesake.
“Boy toys?” Amethyst repeats, giving Solon a dirty look. “You’re mistaking me for an employee who actually gets time off.”
While the two of them are sparring, I go over to Wolf and give him a quick hug. I haven’t seen him since I was tied to the chair in the barn.
“Hey,” I say, staring up at him. “Thanks for coming to get me, golden boy.”
He tears his eyes away from Amethyst and smiles down at me, putting his arm around me and giving me a tight squeeze. “You know I wouldn’t let Solon do that alone. When one of us is at risk, all of us are.”
“So you’re pretty much The Three Musketeers,” I tell him.
He rolls his eyes. “Don’t even say the words,” he says under his breath. “Ezra brings it up all the time. That, or we’re the guys from The Hangover.”
“Where is Ezra, by the way?” I say, looking around. “I wanted to thank him too.”
I mean, we never really hit it off, considering Ezra kidnapped me, elbowed me in the face, and then was all weird and predatory with me. But still, I trust Solon, and so I think I have to trust there’s a reason Ezra is around. After all, they wouldn’t have found me without him.