Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 65643 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 328(@200wpm)___ 263(@250wpm)___ 219(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65643 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 328(@200wpm)___ 263(@250wpm)___ 219(@300wpm)
“It was nothing; it was stupid!” she cried over the music, pointing at the zombie. Her eyes were still wide, but she was giggling. After that, we stayed closer together for a few songs. We still got startled when one of them lurched up out of nowhere, but it was fun, like being on a rollercoaster that was balanced at the top of the peak.
When a beautiful man with golden brown skin and green eyes wearing a loincloth tapped Danielle on the shoulder, my heart sank. Even in the crazy, flashing light, I saw how her face lit up. Soon they were dancing together, and I made my way off the floor to find water and a place to sit down for a few minutes that wouldn’t get me accosted by zombies.
And maybe I wanted to look around for Garrett, too.
19
GARRETT
In a party the size of Julian’s Halloween Extravaganza, I should have never run into Destiny. Instead, I spotted her the moment I walked in. She was standing with her back to me, but I was getting the uncomfortable feeling that I would know her anywhere. She was wearing the velvet bodysuit she’d worn the day I ran into her at the mansion, but now a tail was swishing from it. Her hair was teased up and cascading down her back, nearly to the base of the tail, and I could see the tips of cat ears poking out.
It was about as original as my costume. I was dressed as the vampire Julian worried I’d be. Naturally, I hadn’t been able to get away with just sticking a pair of plastic fangs in my mouth. No, I had adhesive ones glued to my canines that the skeleton swore wouldn’t fuck up my teeth. I was also wearing a luxurious black cape that the skeleton said had been made for the 1931 Dracula movie but never used. My hair was slicked back with pomade, and I had a plastic squeeze bag filled with some sort of red cocktail designed to look like blood.
Dominic laughed his ass off when he saw me, then drank half the cocktail.
“It’s good,” he said, wiping the red staining liquid from his mouth. “Try it.”
“No,” I decided. This had gone far enough. I was going to make sure Julian acknowledged my efforts, then I was going to remind Destiny that these events were great for networking, not just dancing with her friends, and then I was going the hell home. Back to my canyon. I’d have to shampoo this shit out of my hair before I could jump in my heated pool, but that’s where I would be eventually.
But then I saw Destiny making her way off the dance floor. She looked flushed and spooked in the pulsating light. A zombie shambled by with a tray of drinks, pausing to look her up and down. His black tongue came out of his mouth and swiped his rotting lips.
Destiny shook her head at him, and he shambled on.
I gave him a death look as I passed him, then caught up with her.
“I don’t think that zombie liked you for your brains,” I said bluntly by way of greeting.
Destiny startled at the sound of my voice. She’d just gotten a glass of water from the bartender, and the liquid swished over the rim and onto her hand. She shot me an annoyed glance as she shook off the droplets. “They never do.”
She looked me up and down, and her lips twitched. “I didn’t expect you to dress up.”
“Julian’s orders.” I looked her up and down in return, even though I’d watched her on the dance floor long enough to know everything about her costume. “You make a cute cat.”
Destiny’s eyes widened a fraction in surprise. She took another sip of her water. “Is that your professional opinion as my crisis manager?”
“Yeah,” I said gravely. “I don’t know if you know this but looks are important in this town.”
She fought a grin. “I had no idea. Thank you for telling me.”
As always, our banter tilted on the knife edge between amusement and irritation. Absent-mindedly, I drank from the blood bag while I pondered which way I wanted us to tip. Destiny’s mouth twitched again. “What on earth is that?”
“I don’t know for sure, but it tastes like vodka and fruit punch,” I said, unable to stop my lip from curling as the aftertaste hit. This blood bag cocktail confirmed it. I needed to go home. “Anyway, I just came to make sure you stayed out of trouble.” I looked her over and felt an uncomfortably familiar punch of lust. “Mission accomplished,” I said abruptly, and turned on my shiny black loafer.
“Hey,” she fell into step with me. “Was it something I said?”
No, it was something she did, which was exist. It didn’t even matter that she was wearing a skintight bodysuit that would nearly be as soft as her real skin. If Destiny had come to Julian’s party wearing a sheet over her head the way I had threatened, I still would have recognized her and wanted to touch her.