They drove down the road, a sign read, 90211, Beverly Hills she gagged at the thought, “love puppies?
Are we going to have a problem?”
He spoke vial to her, “Your two undying lover boys, Phillip and Kalbreal, it became quite obvious when
neither left your side in two days, creepy if you ask me.”
She challenged him, “How could you be certain unless you were there too.”
He laughed at her remark, “Don't fool yourself, Love.” He sighed from the corner of his eye, switching
lanes, “I have had my fair share of romance and love triangles to last me ten lifetimes. Thousands of
lovers all ending with the same tragedies, betrayal, hatred or death.”
Curiosity crossed her face, “So what? you just give up?”
“I won’t put it in that context, one cannot simply give up on something inevitably out of your control.” He
smiled, keeping his eyes on the road, “but in response to your question, I have acquired myself a
distraction,” he said pointing to his bottle of brandy under his seat.
She was lost with words, she didn’t know whether to be happy or disappointed, she was hoping Nikolai
had not brought his bottle on the trip. She turned her head to the tinted window dismissing the Caster.
Sightseeing was better than where the conversation was going.
Clare didn’t pay attention when he spoke, she was wrapped up in thoughts of her own new life. In her
last few days of hell, she didn’t know what she was doing. Her mother, now not her mother, her brother,
now her cousin. Her name, first not her name now technically a shortened version of her name, her
head ached. They turned, she saw a sign which read, “Sawtelle Boulevard”
“I take it, you haven’t been to Los Angeles before?” His phone rang before she replied.
He put it on speaker, “If you called to scrutinize me, I’m not in the mood.”
A voice on the phone replied, “Where’s the girl, I saw you leave with her.”
It was Kalbreal, Clare shouted, “I have a name you know.”
“What are you doing with Nikolai? He’s a thousand years older than you, and not in the state to be
alone with you.”
Nikolai smirked, amused by Kalbreal’s transgressions, “Don’t be jealous Kal relax, she’s in great hands,
where's the trust.”
“I’m unable to track her, you put a blockage spell on her,” Kalbreal anger coming through on the phone,
“I’m calling Jullie, maybe she can talk some sense into your madness.”
Nikolai interrupted pointing out, “She's not a dog, and if you do get a hold of my dear sister, lemme
know.” He cut the call and drove a while before parking off in front of a restaurant. Clare didn’t pay
attention to the name. She did pay attention to a group of girls gossiping and flattering their eyelids at
Nikolai when he jumped out of the car, but he didn’t seem to notice, or just completely ignored them.
They both walked into the restaurant. It had a beach feel to it, bamboo tables and chairs, an open bar,
and a few outside tables and chairs where people scattered around eating hot dogs and ice cream.
Clare’s foot got poked, she had forgotten to be more careful as she was barefoot, “Shit, I’m bleeding.”
Nikolai turned around and lifted her, carrying her to the back of the restaurant, “For a legion, you're
more dangerous to yourself than anyone else.” She pursed her lips as usual when she got angry.
He just laughed, putting her down on a long red sofa and took her foot lifting it as he stood up.
Positioning it in the air for him to examine, like a rag doll, “Your feet are huge, what size are these, ten,
I’m shocked you ever felt that?”
She pulled it back, “It's an eight, and thank you very much for the concern, but I’m fine. Can I just go for
a walk now, some fresh air?”
Clare didn’t wait for a response, she got up and walked towards the front of the restaurant. Nikolai
didn’t stop her. She limped onto the road, her feet hot from the heated tar. Blood dripped out under her
foot on the road and pavement. This was not ideal, but she didn’t care.
Clare crossed the road and made her way towards the beach sand. Her stomach growled from hunger,
making it known that she hadn’t eaten enough. But, she was angrier than anything else.
Her mother who was not her mother was dead, her best friend turned out to be a LIAR, and Kalbreal’s
open affection was giving her mixed signals. She didn’t even recognize her own brother and didn’t
know who she could trust. What hurt the most, was that though she had so much to deal with, she
couldn’t stop thinking about him. The faceless man, his scent, his hands pressed against her chest,
sucking all that power from her body like a vacuum.
“William.”
And to top it off, she was stuck with Nikolai, who was purposely being mean to her. His words saying
one thing but his actions speaking another, and his constant alcohol smell wasn’t lightening the
situation.
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