Page 16

Then she nodded. “You guys weren’t here and I have no idea what you look like.”

“Good,” I muttered.

I hated that Derek saw me mess with her mind, but he didn’t seem to mind. He was staring at me with a sappy lovestruck look on his face.

I handed one of the keys to Derek and pocketed the other one.

He led the way to our motel room, which was on the second floor. It made sense why he’d requested an upper floor, because it was one of those establishments where you had to tap your room key to make the elevator operational.

Not to mention the security cameras literally everywhere. Maybe the place had once been a no-tell motel at some point in its life, but it had clearly beefed up the security and tried to revamp its image since then.

When Derek opened the door to our room and ushered us inside, he latched the door. The room was surprisingly nice. It had two queen beds, nightstands, a TV, and even a decent-sized balcony with a sliding glass door, overlooking a rather large pool. There was a small table and two chairs on the balcony as well, so that you could sit outside with a cup of coffee and watch the sun rise.

The room faced east, which meant that during the morning—provided it wasn’t a typical overcast day—the entire space was going to be flooded with sunlight.

Thankfully, there were thick blackout curtains hanging on either side of the sliding glass door.

Vampires don’t burst into flames during the day or anything, but the sun saps our strength and is extremely irritating to our senses. That’s doubly true for newly turned vampires. Older vampires can tolerate it well enough, but I would’ve been hating life if I’d been caught in direct sunlight.

I turned to Derek. “Okay. Safety accomplished. So, um, what are we doing here?”

Derek’s expression darkened, but he nodded. Then he pointed to the bed furthest from the door. “You’re probably going to want to sit down.”

Warily, I crossed the room and did exactly that. Derek sat beside me on the edge of the bed.

“Okay,” he said gravely. “I’m going to talk a lot and I need you to just listen, okay? You can ask me whatever you want when I’m done.” He paused. “I’ve never told anyone this. You’re the first person I’m going to try to be completely honest with.”

My unease crystallized into dread. My goodness, was he some kind of kingpin drug dealer? Or maybe a hacker who’d run afoul of the government or something? Given his profession, that seemed far more likely. But cyber terrorist didn’t fit him at all.

What was going on?

But still, I nodded. “I can do that.”

Derek slipped his hand into mine, his gaze glued to the floor. He took a deep breath, then let it out slowly.

“Okay, so there’s no easy way to say any of this. But I’ve been lying to you about pretty much everything since the day we met.”

CHAPTER FIVE || DEREK

Quinn listened with wide eyes the entire time I spoke, as I recounted everything. How I’d been in a relationship with Brent for months and even thought we’d had something special, right up until I’d surprised him with lunch, takeout from one of our favorite restaurants, at his family’s palatial mansion and witnessed his elder brother murdering a man—presumably one who’d wronged the family somehow—in cold blood. It happened right there in the massive backyard with a gun that had a massive silencer attached to it.

I’m sure I would’ve been next, but I turned around and bolted through the house before he saw me and run directly into Brent. He’d helped me escape and, just like that, without any warning whatsoever, I’d left everything I’d ever known behind.

And I told Quinn the hard parts, too.

My real name. The fact that I’d gotten so used to lying to everyone around me that it felt like second nature. The relief I’d felt when I’d stumbled into a bar full of vampires and discovered that I could actually have friends who were way less likely to die in the crossfire when Brent’s family finally found me. Last, I told him about the text message I’d gotten earlier that day. And what it meant for me—that I needed to run again.

“I’d ask if you’re joking, but you aren’t, are you?” Quinn asked, when I was done speaking.

“I wish I was.” I swallowed. “Look, maybe it was stupid to drag you into this. Or selfish.”

“No.” Quinn shook his head. He patted the bed beside him. Halfway through my confession, I’d gotten up and started pacing, unable to remain still. “Sit with me.”

Warily, I came and sat down beside him.

“It wasn’t stupid to run. Then or now. It’s what’s kept you alive.” Quinn took my hand. “And it wasn’t stupid or selfish that you wanted me with you.” He met my gaze and gave me a small smile. “I mean, being destined to be together means that you ought to be able to trust me.”

“I do trust you.”