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TWENTY-SIX | SIERRA
Sierra rented a small flat down by the coast. It had to be extortionate – it had a sea view, for God’s sake – although it was a studio, and about the size of mine and Harper’s living room. It had the closed in, cosy feel of an academic space, like a towering library or study nook, as it was crammed with books and other odds and ends that looked old and worn. I decided that I liked it.
“Sorry it’s such a mess,” she said, flapping her arms wildly as she shoved clothes around, kicking shoes under the bed and launching jackets across the back of the sofa. “I knew you were coming, but I guess I’m so used to living in it that until I saw you stood in here I didn’t realise just how bad it was.”
I grinned, and shook my head at her. “No, no, it’s fine. Harper and I are the same. Especially after he’s been at work, or I’ve been on a hunt – I just want to ge
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The diner was crowded, full of locals who were full of gossip. I had to push my way through to get to the staff room at the back of the building, and I immediately regretted coming in through the front. It was early afternoon, which wasn’t usually a busy time for Ella’s, and, though it was bright and sunny outside, creeping through the wet leaf mulch and around the bins out the back felt less dignified than entering through the front doors, with the flickering neon sign overhead.“They say he jumped,” one old man was saying to another."I heard that he was pushed," the other man retorted.“Ben, his name was,” said a middle-aged woman, before taking a tiny sip of her coffee. She looked up at me as I passed, and I smiled at her politely.Mae was behind the counter, and, despite the crowd, she was leaning against the bar and chatting idly to an older couple, who had l
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“Cyrus is here?”My bones locked into place, and I froze. I wasn’t prepared to see him, not yet, and I’d wanted a few hours of freedom from my thoughts. I wanted to dip in and out of idle conversation with the locals, focusing on taking orders and making coffee, not taking out vampires and making enemies.“Oh, is that his name?” Mae smiled. “Yeah, he’s out there somewhere amongst the old-timers. Come on, let’s get us both a hot coffee and we’ll work the room. I think dinner will be the busiest time, so if you want to talk to Cyrus you’ll have to take your break before or after the rush.”I nodded. “That’s fine. I can ask him to leave?”“Don’t worry about that. He’s a paying customer, and he’s not been stingy on the tips so far, either. It just seems like he has something to say that&rsquo
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I yanked myself backwards, stumbling in my sudden effort to avoid any and all contact with Cyrus’s lips. The damage was done – they’d touched – but a brush couldn’t be called a kiss, and my momentarily lapse in sense and reason could be forgiven, perhaps, if it was only a brush of lips, and not a kiss.“Callie,” he murmured, his tone laced with concern. I winced.“I’m sorry, Cyrus.” I took an uneasy step backwards. “I can’t do this.”“But you want to.” His voice had warped, the concern twisting into smugness. There was a tiny smile playing about his lips, too, even as his eyes softened with sadness. “I’m sorry for pushing you. I shouldn’t have.”“This isn’t your fault,” I sighed. His smile dropped.“I thought you would have let the blame lie wi
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