Chapter Hundred-and-Six

𝐀𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐚

Marcos and Cameron quickly carry Nathaniel back indoors and into his bedroom, leaving me standing outside awkwardly without knowing what to do.

The woman who had answered the door with him watches them until they disappear into his room before her eyes eventually fall on me.

Raw instinct almost makes me take a step backward because everything about her screams danger, and the part of me that has been briefly exposed to that part of the world recognizes the glaring red signs.

“Do you need me to give you permission to come in? Are you a vampire or something?” She says, tucking something into the back of her jeans. I try not to think too much about what that might be. “Or perhaps, are you mute?”

“What? No—I—” Shaking my head to clear the mental debris, I walk into the apartment, shivering and rubbing my arms. “It’s so cold in here.”

“So, you’re not a vampire or mute, that’s good to know.” She smiles, backing the door. The very image she exudes is that of a predator that has