12. Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

Tan

O rangelica meowed yet another complaint in my ear as I parked the car.

"I know it's early, but we had to get here before the sun comes up."

She meowed another complaint about her beauty sleep being interrupted, but I knew she didn't really mean it. She was looking forward to seeing our friend as much as I was.

Since I wanted to do something nice for Garrick this morning, I decided to wake up early and head over to Sleepless Books, a bookshop that was open twenty-four hours a day because it was owned by a very old vampire.

Bel had introduced me to the shop itself, which was one of my favorite places in the city, and to the vampire owner, Anton Orsova, who I'd like to think was becoming a good friend. Hopefully, he'd still be awake since it was still dark outside.

The little bell over the door jingled when I pushed inside, and I smiled when I saw Anton standing behind the counter, checking out a customer.

I glanced around at the place with my grin in place as I tugged on my bracers. I was wearing them all the time like I'd promised Ailin, but sometimes they got on my nerves. I had no idea how Ailin, Seb, and a ton of Remi's siblings wore them every single day of their lives. Oh well, I supposed I'd get used to it.

Ignoring my bracers, I took in the ambiance. It was so welcoming and cozy-feeling. It really made a person want to curl up in one of the many reading nooks, and there were a lot , and read the day away.

The whole place was done up in red and gold, and for some reason, all I could think was Garrick would really like this place . I shook the thought away and continued my perusal of the place. There were comfy couches, armchairs, window seats, bean bag chairs, and giant cushions on the floor, and every place had blankets and pillows so you really could get all nice and comfortable in here.

The windows had emergency shutters that could block out sunlight in case a vampire got stuck here and didn't have enough time to make it home before the sun rose, which I thought was a nice gesture. I mean, it made sense since Anton was a vampire, but I was sure it was also a comfort for other vamps who might want to hang out and read for a while.

I didn't know about anyone else, but if I found a good book, everything else around me sort of went away and I lost track of time.

I'd never seen the shutters in action, but I'd asked Anton about them. He'd said that he had a control switch for them, and they'd only take a couple of seconds to seal up the entire place once he, or one of his employees, hit it. That was pretty cool.

Remi and I had installed a few systems like that in some vampires' homes over the years, so I knew how efficient and sunlight-proof they really were.

As soon as Anton finished, he turned to me with a smile. "Tanyl. Nice to see you, my friend."

I returned the smile. "Nice to see you too. I'm glad I caught you."

He glanced at his watch. "Only just. I'll have to head home in a few minutes." He reached across the counter to greet Orangelica. "Hey there, little miss. How's my favorite kitty doing?"

She meowed at him, and it sounded cute and sweet—not necessarily something I'd associate with my badass Bonded, but she totally had Anton wrapped around her little finger.

Obviously knowing where my thoughts went, she gave my ear a nip—not hard, and it made me laugh—then hopped from my shoulder onto the counter. She plopped down right in front of Anton, nudged his belly with her head, then started purring when he began petting her. He was smiling fondly at her, and I couldn't help but snicker. Seriously, my Bonded had all our friends wrapped around her finger. I couldn't blame them because she really was the cutest kitty ever.

I nodded, leaned my elbows on the counter, and absently petted Orangelica along with Anton. "I know. So how've you been? I haven't seen you in a few weeks." We regularly had dinner together at Remi and Bel's. Well, Anton didn't really eat the food, but he did hang out with us.

"You've been busy, I'm told. I hear you're working with Garrick?"

The way he said it made my eyebrows raise. "You know Garrick?"

He dipped his head. "Of course. We're both quite… old."

I grinned at that. "And just how old are you?"

He rolled his eyes and shook his head. He always seemed sort of proper in his mannerisms, so it made me grin even more when he did things like rolling his eyes. "Agh. You and Bel will never guess."

"One thousand?"

"Not even close."

"Am I too high or too low?"

He shook his head and lifted his gaze to the ceiling. "Nope, not how the game is played."

I snorted. "It was worth a try."

Bel had been trying to guess his age for years, and somehow, I'd gotten pulled into the game too. Whenever one of us made a guess, we texted each other so we weren't repeating guesses. It was… silly and stupid, but also fun. And Anton seemed just as amused by it.

His phone beeped, and he sighed, turning off his alarm. "I'm afraid that's my two-minute warning. My apologies, Tan. We'll have to do dinner soon."

To anyone else, that might've sounded like an invitation for a date, but I knew it wasn't. Anton and I were only friends. I knew he had his eyes set on someone else.

I waved him off. "It's fine. Dinner would be great, though."

He picked up a bag and put it over his shoulder. "Maybe next week? Do you want to ask Remi and Bel as well?" See? Definitely not a date.

"Sure. The more the merrier." Before he could go, I said, "If you know Garrick, do you know what kind of books he likes? He has a million in his condo, so I thought it might be nice to buy him a new one." I shrugged like it wasn't a big deal, even though it kind of was. What kind of employee bought their boss a book?

Also, did I even count as his employee? It felt more like working together rather than working for him. Technically, he'd hired me, but it still felt like we were doing things together. It wasn't like he was bossing me around. And anyway, that wasn't my real job, so in the grand scheme of things, he wasn't my boss. Remi was… sort of. Although, he was more of a partner too.

Ugh. Whatever.

Anton stared at me for a few seconds before grinning. He set his bag on the counter beside my Bonded. "Watch that for a minute." Then he blurred away so fast my eyes could barely keep track of it. He was back behind the counter, holding a book toward me in less than three seconds. Damn . "He likes fantasy books, and this is a new one, so I doubt he has it yet. It's rather good, so I'm sure he'll enjoy it."

I took the book from his outstretched hand, looking at the colorful cover. "Oh wow, thank you, Anton. I thought I'd be here forever picking something out."

He smiled. "I know you won't let me give that to you." It was true. He'd tried in the past, but I always insisted on paying for the books I bought here. "So have Dain check you out. I really must be going."

"Of course. Sorry to hold you up, and thank you so much for this."

"No need to apologize, my friend. And you are most welcome. See you soon, pretty kitty." He gave Orangelica a few scratches on top of her head, then patted my shoulder as he headed for the door. "We'll text to figure out a time for dinner."

"Sounds good. Thank you!"

He was gone before the words were fully out of my mouth.

Vampire speed was something else.

When I made it to work, I was nervous to give Garrick the book. Which was so stupid. I was just… being nice.

And I was always nice. To everyone.

Giving Garrick a book didn't make him special.

But just to make it less weird, I stopped and picked up coffees, bagels, and donuts for Garrick, Roman, and me—and some for Elvira too. I sort of felt like I should've grabbed a book for Roman, but that really would've been even weirder.

I didn't know why, but it would.

For Garrick, I just… wanted to make him happy. He didn't have enough things in his life that did that. He still always carried that undertone of grief around with him, and I just… I wanted to help him heal from whatever caused it.

After I gave Elvira her coffee and food, I walked into Gar's office. He and Roman were in the sitting area in the corner where they normally were in the mornings, so I headed over there and set the food and drinks on the coffee table. I kept the book inside my bag for now. I'd give it to Gar-Bear when Roman wasn't around.

"Good morning," I said as I plopped down on the couch, and Orangelica jumped from my shoulder to my lap, curling up and demanding pets. Which, of course, I would've petted her even without the demand, so I started giving her some neck scratches that she leaned into. Who could resist a kitty when they were in your lap?

"Good morning," Garrick said, but I was too nervous to look at him.

Why am I acting like this? For fuck's sake.

"Good morning, Tan," Roman said to me while eyeing the donuts. It made me snort.

"Go ahead. I brought them for everyone. Donuts, bagels, and coffee. I think I got both of yours right." I leaned forward as much as I could to grab the coffees and pass them over to the right person.

When I passed Garrick's over, I finally looked at him and almost swallowed my own tongue. Hot damn, he was so flipping handsome. And sexy.

I didn't know why, but that grumpy face really did it for me.

As soon as I made eye contact, I felt myself start to sweat.

My Mother, I was acting like a teenager with a crush. What the hell was going on with me?

All I'd wanted to do since I left last night was come back here and hang out with Garrick. I didn't even care if he talked to me or not. I just… wanted to be near him.

I'd wanted it so badly it'd hurt.

I didn't understand what was going on with me, but I couldn't deny the longing I felt whenever I was near him. And the way my body ached to be near him when I wasn't.

Honestly, I was starting to get suspicious about what this meant, but I couldn't take the thoughts seriously. Not really.

I'd never be so lucky as to find my viramore. I'd known that since I was a kid.

I came from a rotten family, a cruel coven, and I knew no one who came from those evil people would be allowed to find their soulmate. I knew I wasn't as bad as they were, I knew I'd separated myself from them even at a young age, but that didn't stop me from carrying all that rotten blood inside of me.

I could pretend all I wanted, and I could accept the family love all of the Ellwoods gave me on a regular basis, but that didn't mean I wasn't a Helegolor when it came down to it.

And Helegolors didn't find their viramores. We never had, and we never would.

So I could hope and pretend and wish that was what this was. But I knew the most likely thing was just acid reflux. The timing was just a coincidence. I probably didn't notice it when I was here because I was working or busy hanging out with Garrick or whatever. At home, I was alone with nothing to distract me, so it was noticeable.

"Thank you for the coffee and food, little pretty," he said quietly, and his eyes looked soft, even if his mouth didn't.

"You're welcome," I whispered before clearing my throat and sitting back to pet my Bonded. Then I leaned forward again because I was starving. Orangelica and I had been awake for hours already.

Food, here I come.

After we each grabbed a bagel and spread cream cheese on it, I asked, "What's on the agenda today? Anything new?"

"Nope. Same old, same old. You two get to be boring in here, sitting at your desks all day, and I'll be doing some research and actually go talk to people who aren't the two of you."

"We're not boring." I rolled my eyes. "It's called work. Maybe you should try it sometime."

Roman surprised me by flipping me off, and I couldn't help but laugh. He smiled at me, then snagged a donut because the big dragon had already eaten his entire bagel.

We finished our breakfast, and Roman left, so Garrick and I went about our regular business. I pretended I didn't have a book sitting in my bag like some kind of time bomb.

Why the hell was I so nervous?

The bigger deal I made of it, the bigger deal it would become.

And it wasn't a big deal. Not really.

I bought stuff for my other friends, didn't I?

Garrick got up to use the bathroom—luckily, he had a private one, so I didn't even have to leave the office to keep watch over him. While he was in there, I quickly grabbed the book and set it on his desk, then sat back down and pretended I hadn't done anything.

When he came out, he walked over, and I knew the moment he saw it because he froze and just stared at it for several long beats. Finally, he stepped closer and gently picked the book up, turning it this way and that, examining it from every angle before he read the back, then opened the front cover.

I stared at my laptop the entire time and watched him out of the corner of my eye, not paying one bit of attention to my work. I bit my lip, worried he didn't like it since he hadn't said anything. Mother of All, maybe I shouldn't have bothered with the book at all. Fuck, I was an idiot.

Finally, he quietly asked, "Did you get this for me?"

"Uh… yep. I went to Sleepless Books this morning. Anton helped me pick it out." I finally glanced up at him when he didn't say anything. "If you don't like it, I can take it back and get you something else."

He snatched the book back toward his chest like he thought I was going to run over there and try to steal it from him. "I love it."

That made me smile a little. "You haven't even read it yet."

"I don't care. I love it because you gave it to me." He swallowed audibly, looking kind of lost. "Thank you, Tan. You… you have no idea how much this means to me."

I blinked at that. It wasn't that big of a deal. I mean, the man was loaded and could've bought any book he wanted, no problem. He was literally a king . He could have anything he wanted. "I'm glad you like it."

"I'll treasure this forever."

That was a bit much, but at least he wasn't making me feel weird about giving it to him.

I sent him a smile, and he sat in his chair and set the book down on the side of his desk, almost petting it as he did so.

Throughout the rest of the day, I noticed him touching it over and over again, as if he was making sure some burglar hadn't snuck into the office and stolen it out from under his nose.

It was kind of… sweet.

Even if it made me think that he wasn't used to having nice things done for him or something. Could this reaction have anything to do with the underlying sadness and grief I saw glimpses of all the time?

I didn't know, but I hoped one day he'd trust me enough to tell me about whatever it was that was haunting him.