The Darkness Calls (The Transfigured Ones 1)

She looked relieved and said, “Oh. I’ll text next time. I just didn’t want to interrupt you. I don’t want to be a bother when you’re working.”

“I adjusted my schedule specifically so I could spend time with you, love. You’re not a bother,” he said, leaning over to press a kiss on the top of her head.

“So, how was work, dear,” she asked, teasingly.

He worked at the knot of his tie and joked, “It was a hard day at the office.”

“Actually,” he continued, “It was kind of a rough day. I interviewed a few more people from the nightclub about the drug dealing. I’m pretty sure at least one of them knew more than they were telling me.”

Lilly frowned and asked, “What makes you so certain?”

“I’ve got a lot of life experience, love. We give off a lot of signals when we’re not being truthful.”

“That’s gotta be both comforting and annoying to be able to read people like that,” she remarked, closing her textbook and shifting her notebooks from the couch.

He frowned and asked, “Annoying?”

“Yeah. When you can look at someone and know that they’re just flat-out lying to you, but they don’t think you’re smart enough to realize it.”

At the knock on the door, he grimaced apologetically and said, “Sorry. Late lunch.”

Talan answered the door, collected his meal, and then moved back toward the couch. He grimaced as he took a sip of the synthetic blood. After he swallowed he said, “I never really thought about it like that.”

She looked confused for a moment until it dawned on her that he was picking up the threads of their earlier conversation. “Yeah. It’s kind of insulting.”

He frowned and said, “It is. I’m going to be annoyed from now on. Thanks.”

“Sorry,” she said. “That wasn’t my intention.”

“I know,” he said, taking another sip. With small statements like that, she was constantly changing his perception of the world.

She cocked her head and studied him for a moment before she asked, “Why do you drink that stuff? Clearly you hate it. You can afford to spring for the real. That’s the synthetic stuff, right?”

“Yeah,” he grumbled. “It is. I’m a conservationist at heart. If everyone who had the money drank only real human blood, then we’d run out. I drink this crap to help keep the balance.”

“Makes sense,” she said. After a moment she hesitated to add, “There weren’t a lot of Transfigured in the Midwest. I’m probably going to ask you a ton of dumb questions. I apologize in advance.”

“I like that you want to know me,” he answered. It was true. The fact that she was curious about how his life worked pleased him. It demonstrated that she was willing to accept all of him.

As he took the last swig, he said, “And speaking of wanting to know me, Lachlan invited us out tonight. I got the impression he wanted to do some sort of triple date with another couple.”

Lilly grinned and asked, “What? Is he in high school?”

“It feels like it sometimes,” he said. “I leave it up to you.”

“Sure,” she said. “He seemed nice enough.”

“I’ll try to steer us to somewhere with questionable Scotch on the menu,” Talan promised, grinning.

“Awesome,” she said, leaning forward to press her lips against his.

That was but one of the many things he enjoyed about Lilly. She was always up for just about anything. They had gone ice skating, to the movies, to the jazz club. Each place had been remarkably different from the other, but she seemed to belong there effortlessly.

Chapter Thirteen

Lilly was surprised when he led her to the front of the hotel and into a waiting limo. She had expected that they’d take his car and meet everyone there.

She was surprised to see the same driver who took her home slide out of the front seat. He said, “Mr. McKenna. Ma’am.”