Chapter 9

Chapter

Nine

TALULLA

D rifting to sleep doesn't come easily as I continue to think about the werewolves and, well, Flynn. I want to kill him, I do. And I also want to listen to him talk about his life and enjoy his eyes on my body. He makes me feel as if I mean something, as if my life is more than just an imposed destiny I don't aspire to achieve. How can a lifeless being make me feel so alive? He's a predator, and he thinks I'm his prey, but I am not. I can't let myself fall for someone who is destined to leave me behind.

It's hard to go on with my day when I'm nervously counting the minutes until I can go back to my dorm to get ready. Another couple of hours with Mr. Wagner, and then I'll be free to think about Flynn. It should be easy enough.

"We're going to go through a lot of papers today, Talulla."

"That's okay. I just have—"

"I hope you're free tonight ‘cause it will take us a while."

"Actually, I can't—"

"Start marking, Miss Popescu."

"Yes, sir."

I start working through the papers as fast as I can, looking at the time every five minutes. It's now almost 7:00 p.m., and I'm supposed to be meeting Flynn in a couple of minutes.

"Mr. Wagner?"

"Yes?"

"I finished marking all these, so I should—"

"Great. Start with these, then."

Another pile of papers is presented to me. Great. Now I'm going to have to text a vampire and tell him I can't make it to something I really was looking forward to. And he doesn't seem like the type who likes this kind of disappointment. But that's what I am, aren't I?

TALULLA:

Hi, fangs. I hate to do this, but I have to reschedule. I'm stuck marking papers.

FLYNN:

It's 7:15 p.m., Talulla, you should have been done hours ago.

TALULLA:

Academic life is unpredictable. I'm sorry, I really am, I was looking forward to it.

A knock on the door makes me jump out of my seat. No… It can't be him, right? There's no way.

"Office hours are done. Come back tomorrow, whoever you are," Eric yells.

Then the door opens. "I don't think so," Flynn says as he steps into the room.

"Flynn, what are—"

"Mr. Lancaster, I didn't know we had an appointment."

"We don't. I have one with Miss Popescu though. One she's very late to."

"Flynn—I mean, Mr. Lancaster, I am so sorry—" I try to say, but he interrupts me before I even have the time to apologize.

"See, when Talulla let me know she was still working, it shocked me. Her shift ended two hours ago, yet she's still here."

"Talulla knows what she signed up for when she decided to become my TA. If she wants this life, this is what she needs to learn."

"Mr. Wagner, Miss Popescu was requested to give me a private tour of the local museum. I'm sure you can understand the importance of this matter, as I am a very important investor in this institution. She is also the key to the finalization of my donation."

"She's just a grad student."

"Miss Popescu comes with me now, or the deal is off, Mr. Wagner."

"That seems a little excessive, Flynn."

"I don't think so, Eric."

"Flynn, please—" I whisper.

"And another thing. Miss Popescu is in the new documentation I sent this morning, but I am sure you haven't read it yet, so let me enlighten you. She will have free access to view and work on the Da Vinci's sketches."

"She doesn't have the qualifications yet."

"She's the only one I truly trust with them, so if she is denied anything, I will take everything back. Have I made myself clear?"

"Crystal."

"Let's go, Talulla. We're already late."

"Y‐yes."

"Talulla, we're gonna have to talk about this… situation tomorrow," Eric whispers to me, thinking Flynn can't hear him as he steps outside to wait for me. Too bad he does, and he comes rushing back in.

"Don't you dare threaten her, Mr. Wagner. I am not in the mood to clean up your remains." Then Flynn looks past him at a picture frame on the bookshelf. His head tilts a little before he looks back at Eric.

"Flynn, let him go. This is ridiculous. You're acting like a caveman." A smirk appears on his face, and then he drops Eric's shirt collar.

"Mr. Wagner, look at me," Flynn says before forcing him to look into his eyes. "You're going to forget about this little encounter. I came to pick Talulla up, and you were happy to let her go."

Eric turns to look at me. "Talulla, please, go. It's already so late."

"Good boy." Flynn finally walks toward me and leads me out of the office.

I remain silent until we reach his car. I don't know how to feel about what just happened. Eric might have overstepped, but Flynn did worse, and for some reason, I don't even have to tell him he did. His locked jaw and blank stare say enough.

"You don't have to play the protector for me, Flynn. You know I can handle myself."

"Haven't you thought that maybe I do it just because I want to?"

"You can't threaten my professors."

"This is why I made sure he wouldn't go around telling anyone what we are," he replies, turning his face to me and smiling at me. "Even if I have a slight suspicion that he already does."

"What? That's impossible. I've been so careful."

He shrugs as he opens the passenger door for me. "Maybe he knew from before."

"No, there's no way."

"Well, what I do know is that it might have looked like I compelled him, but I didn't, and he went along with it."

"But why wouldn't he say anything to me?"

"Maybe he just doesn't care."

"How can a human not care when they find out about the existence of the supernatural?"

"You're asking a lot of questions about something I really do not want to talk about tonight."

"It makes no sense," I whisper under my breath, not giving him attention.

"You keep pondering about that. I'm gonna start driving to our date."

"What were you looking at when you were trying to compel him?"

"Hmm?"

"You looked at something."

"Ah, yeah, the picture he keeps in his office. The person beside him… Do you know who she is?"

"That's his dead wife." My tone is cold, almost detached.

He snorts. "Okay, no need to say it so morbidly."

"I didn't say it morbidly, and wait… Did you say date? This is not a date."

"Ah, there she is."

"Is this a date?"

"How about you decide what this is?"

"You call having to endure my crazy obsession with history a date?"

"Any time spent seeing you smile is quality time in my book, so I don't see why it couldn't be."

"Don't people eat on dates?"

"You have no faith in me, kid. I know how a date works, thank you very much."

"Don't call me kid. It's weird," I start saying, crinkling my nose.

"Ever watched Casablanca ?"

"Are you comparing yourself to Humphrey Bogart now?" I raise an eyebrow at him.

"I would never," he replies, a hand on his heart.

"I'm not dressed for it. Oh god, no, I need to—"

"You need to stop overanalyzing every little thing and just let me take care of it—of you."

"I was raised to overanalyze and dissect every situation in every room I walk into, Flynn. I can't just stop."

"How about a compromise?"

"Shoot."

"You continue to overanalyze and think about your professor knowing what I am and what you are and thinking your attire is not proper when I truly do not give a shit what you are wearing, but when we get to the museum, you turn off your brain and enjoy the night."

"It's just weird that he didn't ever bring it up."

"Almost there, honey bear. You better overthink quickly because, in a couple of minutes, this discussion will be over with."

"Did you just call me honey bear ?" I punch his arm. "Do not ever call me that again."

"If I get to be touched by you, I don't know if I can stop."

"You truly have a death wish."

"Maybe I do."

"You should've let me change."

"You are done overthinking for the night," he says as he parks the car. "We arrived at our destination."

"You are peculiar, you know that?"

"I am whatever you want me to be," he replies before he gets out of the car with his vampire speed and opens my door. As he offers his hand to help me out, he lowers his head so he can whisper to me, "And you look absolutely exquisite in jeans and a T-shirt."

As the corners of my lips lift up, I narrow my eyes at him. "You know I can open my own door, right?"

"You are capable of doing many things, Talulla, but doesn't it feel nice when someone wants to do things for you?"

"Not if that someone is doing it for other reasons."

He shows himself so put together, so sarcastic, but I can see in his body language how much he would love to teach me a lesson, and maybe, just maybe, I'd let him do that. Then his hand ends on the small of my back, and he makes it clear he wants to continue with his planned evening. "You have so many walls up around you. I am only trying to make it clear you don't have to have your barriers up when you're with me."

"We literally met the other day, and you're still a vampire. It's a little hard to just—"

"If you really cared about my… condition, I wouldn't be here now, would I?"

"Touché."

"Let's go. I thought you were hungry," he says as we continue to walk toward the entrance.

"We're at a museum. What kind of food—" I stop in my tracks as I notice what's waiting for me inside the museum. A round table sits right in the middle of the main exhibit, with a white tablecloth draped over it. Plates and candles are set on top… A candlelit dinner in a museum. For me. From a vampire.

"You okay over there?"

"I—" Words can't seem to come out. This is the perfect date. This vampire stranger took one look at me and was able to create the perfect date. "You did this for me?"

"It seems like it, now, does it?"

"But why?"

He tilts his head to the side in confusion at my question. "Because I wanted to."

"You could have any woman, dead or alive, and you pick the one who could kill you to do this?"

"Isn't there a saying that goes, ‘Keep your friends close and your enemies closer?'"

"Flynn."

He's face-to-face with me, his fingers pulling my chin up so he can look at me when he speaks next. "I really don't want to be your enemy, Talulla. Quite the opposite, really."

"But I'm just… me."

"Just?" He chuckles at my statement. "Your inner strength and will to pursue your dreams even if the person who should love you the most tries to crush them is so exhilarating."

"I'm just in survival mode. I've always been in survival mode."

"You use the word just a lot. I see you, Talulla. I see how tired you are of showing everyone that you have your place in this world."

"And you got all that from the last few days?"

"I'm very observant."

"Is that your way of saying you've been stalking me?"

The corners of his mouth curl up. "You like it." His piercing stare is making me burn from the inside. I've never felt so wanted by anyone in my entire existence, and then this vampire shows up out of nowhere, and I can't stop looking at him, just like he can't stop looking at me. And I am scared. I'm so scared of what he's doing to me. Because he did get one thing right, which is that I absolutely am liking the way he is around me at all times and how I feel about it. I feel alive. With a purpose. A will to continue what I'm doing.

"Okay, fine, let's do this."