Chapter 100

Tessa’s POV

“How long have you been there for?” Joseph asked, eyeing me carefully.

“Long enough to hear about a cookout tomorrow,” I said, a faint smile playing on my lips. “Are we going?”

“No.”

He began to walk toward the stairs, and I could tell he wasn’t planning on saying anything else on the subject.

I stood to my feet quickly, following him up the stairs.

“No?” I asked disappointment in my tone. “Why not?”

“It’s too soon to throw you in the mix of things,” he answered. “The others are wary of your presence, and I don’t want to put you in danger.”

“I should probably break the ice at some point,” I told him once we got back to the bedroom. “That’s the whole purpose of me being here, right? To see if I can do it.”

He turned to face me, seriousness on his face.

“We should take it slow,” he said.

“I don’t want to hide here for two weeks. I want to go out and see things. I’m going to be encountering others at some point. I’d rather it be sooner than later,” I told him, folding my arms across my chest.

He sighed.

“We’ll talk more about it tomorrow,” he yawned. “I’m exhausted. We should get some sleep.”

I stared at him for a moment longer. I turned away and grabbed my pajamas.

“I’m just going to use the bathroom,” I murmured as I went into the bathroom.

I stared myself over in the mirror with a frown. It’s been a while since I really cared for my appearance, but I looked washed out and exhausted. I guess that’s what happens when I’ve been awake for almost 24 hours.

It was probably a good thing that I didn’t meet many others today.

I changed into my pajamas and brushed my teeth before throwing my hair into a messy bun and joining Joseph in his room. His shirt was off and when I got closer, I realized he was wearing nothing but boxers.

My face must have been a thousand different shades of red because he gave me a sly grin and motioned for me to lie down.

“Come on, beautiful. We need to sleep,” he said, opening his arms for me.

A smile of my own tugged at my lips as I did what he said. I slid onto the bed and allowed his arms to blanket around me, pulling me against his chest.

He smelled so good that it was intoxicating. I wondered if this was how my blood made him feel. I wasn’t a vampire though, so it must have been even more difficult for him. No wonder he didn’t want me around the others for too long.

I didn’t have much more thought power left in me. As soon as I was snuggled against him, I felt a long and overdue sleep take me over.

It didn’t take long for me to be out like a lamp.

…

“Tess, time to wake up,” I hear a warm and comforting voice against my ear.

I stirred in my sleep, not ready to wake up ye.

“It’s 7 pm. We have to get to breakfast this morning,” the voice said again.

It didn’t take long to realize that voice was Joseph, and he was waking me up to have breakfast at the Vamp House. That’s when breakfast started.

I opened my eyes and peered up at him. The room was dimmed and through the window, I saw that it was nighttime.

Did I sleep all day?

I sat up, groggily, remembering where I was.

I looked at Joseph and saw that he was still shirtless, but he wore a pair of jeans. His hair was also wet and he had a towel wrapped around the back of his neck. His torso had beads of water that were tripping down his incredible body.

He must have taken a shower before waking me.

“We are going to the Vamp House?” I asked, furrowing my brows together.

I remember him saying that he didn’t want me to meet everyone all at once, so why would he take me to a house where everyone would be gathering for breakfast?

But Joseph nodded once, uncertainty lingering in his eyes.

“Yes,” he answered. “I thought about what you said, and you are right. I need to rip the band-aid off and introduce you to everyone. But you aren’t to leave my side.”

A wave of excitement and panic coursed through me at the same time.

“Do you think it’s wise?” I asked, hating that my voice was sounding weak and nervous.

“Everyone has already smelled and sensed you here anyway. They aren’t stupid enough to go against my orders and attack you,” Joseph explained, standing up from the bed, and reaching his hand out for me to take.

“Come on. I don’t want to be too late getting down there,” he told me. “it’s easier if we walk. There aren’t many cars here if you haven’t noticed. Barely any parking in the mountains.”

I had noticed that there weren’t many cars. There were a few cars nearby where Joseph parked and a few cars at the main gate. But for the most part, the rest of the village had no cars. A lot of walkways though.

Everything was fairly close together, so I could see why there wouldn’t be many cars.

I sat up in bed and gave him a faint smile.

“Okay. Let me just get dressed,” I said as I yawned and slid out of bed.

I went over to the drawer that Joseph had cleared out for me and grabbed a tank top and a pair of yoga pants. I considered this to be my lazy outfit for the morning.

I grabbed a sports bra and underwear as well before making my way into the bathroom. I turned on the shower, waiting for the steam to fill the bathroom. I breathed it in, allowing it to calm my nerves. I didn’t have a lot of time to shower, but I wanted that clean just showered feeling before meeting anybody.

I allowed the shower to rinse the anxieties off my body. I closed my eyes as the water soaked my hair and stained my features.

After a few minutes, I washed my hair and body and then stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around my body. I stared in the mirror, wiping it with the palm of my hand because it got completely fogged up.

I looked a little better than I did last night, thank God.

The color had returned to my face and I no longer had dark bags under my eyes. That sleep certainly helped.

I quickly dressed and put my hair in a ponytail before leaving the bathroom to find a waiting Joseph in his bedroom. He was now wearing a shirt and his hair was almost completely dry.

“Ready?” He asked.

I nodded, giving him a confident smile, hoping my nerves weren’t showing in them.

He reached his hand out for me to take, and I took it without hesitation.

We went downstairs and then outside. The light breeze and warm air filled my lungs and I felt more alive than ever. The string of lights that hung over us were more beautiful than ever and yet they didn’t take away from the gorgeous stars that danced in the night sky.

I couldn’t help the smile on my lips. It was so quiet and peaceful. The only sounds heard were those of nightlife creatures. Crickets, and owls, and I even heard the howling of some wolves far away. I knew they were nowhere near this village, but I couldn’t help but wonder if they were regular wolves or werewolves.

If vampires existed, I assumed werewolves did too.

But that was a question for another time.

As we passed the fountain in the center of the neighborhood, Joseph bowed to the goddess Nyx out of respect and then continued walking without missing a beat.

This time, I noticed right away that we weren’t the only ones outside. There were a couple of others lurking around, waiting, and watching me. I felt their dark eyes on me as soon as we left Joseph’s house and began walking toward the forest path.

As we neared the forest, I paused only for a moment when I saw a vampire, tall with bright features and long grey hair, walking in the same direction as us. His eyes were on me, and they were dark, sending a chill down my spine. His face was showing indifference, and his mouth was pressed together in a hard line.

He wasn’t alone.

There was someone else trailing behind him. A young girl, no older than me, walked behind him. She had blonde hair that was so long that it reached her butt. She was thin, but not too thin and I was concerned for her. She wore barely anything though, only a bikini like she was about to go swimming.

It would have been a strange sight if she didn’t have a nice figure. The bikini worked for her.

As they passed, her gaze lifted, and she met my eyes. I saw the blue sparkling in her eyes and instead of giving me an indifferent look, she gave me a curious one.

I froze when our eyes met.

She didn’t have the same aura as the others. Hers was a lot lighter and the look she gave me was also different.

I’m not sure how I knew it right away, but I realized she wasn’t a vampire at all.

She was a human.