Chapter 10: Inside Job

Amun stares daggers at me as Selena explains the plan for actually relocating the bracelet. As for hiding the runes once they’re in our hands and on my wrist, Selena tells me about her wild idea. I have to laugh as she tells me because it’s an idea that only someone rich enough to have a “gold guy” would think of.

She’s arranged a design with her jeweler, a man who is fully in her debt and can be trusted with our freedom. She’s going to commission gold casts to click into place over the runes, making them look like any other bangle I might have picked up on a weekend flea market trip.

The plan seems just a little silly but I don’t see why it won’t work. That is until Selena puts out her hand as Amun and I are leaving.

“I’ll need the bracelet,” she says, opening and closing her hand impatiently, “for my gold guy. If this is going to work, he’s got to work with the actual bracelet in hand. After that, he can make a cast for the other three, assuming they’re the same size.

Amun bristles freshly, holding my wrist with the bracelet in his. “You realize this bracelet is what’s stopping my father’s henchmen from finding her? They know some of the power has been restored. They know she’s in Manhattan. Without the bracelet, she’s a walking target.”

My heart sinks. Until this moment, despite the night in the park, I hadn’t realized that I was in that kind of trouble. Selena winks at me and rolls her eyes.

“I think you’re being a little overly cautious. New York is a big place. Plus, you’ll escort her home straight from here. I’ll get the bracelet back to you by noon tomorrow.”

“As long as I’ll get it back tomorrow, long before dark, I’m sure we’ll be fine.” I reply. “If it’s gotta be done, it’s gotta be done.”

Amun groans and pulls at the lock of curls falling over his forehead before relenting, “Get it to her early. As early as possible. I don’t want anyone on this team underestimating my father.”

I hand over my bracelet, trying not to stroke it goodbye in front of Selena. It was hard to part from it, I felt cold and naked without its constant, subtle buzz of energy. For now, that one piece of jewelry was my only connection to family lost both in my lifetime and in the past. I glanced back up at Amun for reassurance. He frowned deeply but upon seeing my expression, he put one hand on my shoulder and squeezed.

***

Back at the apartment, Amun reminds me not to leave the house. Not until the bracelet is back in my hands.

“Even during the day,” he says, holding both of my arms as if he’s afraid I’ll float off like a balloon pumped full of helium, ”my father cut down your ancestral tribe. I saw the devastation with my own eyes. It happened on a bright day in the middle of the desert. I still don’t know how they did it. Without the cloaking from your bracelet, any one of his trained henchmen could find you. They found you once. They know what you smell like. They know who you are.“

“Without the cloaking effect from your bracelet, who knows how fast they will track you down. And they will track you down without the bracelet.” He touches my sides with his hands, slipping them under my leather jacket, “This was a close call. Too close. I blame myself, I went about this all wrong. I have a lot to learn about modern etiquette. There’s always so much catching up to do.”

I hug Amun close, with my arms around his waist I look into his eyes, smiling.

“I see you trying,” I say. “We’re both learning. We’re both trying. I want you to know that I’m taking this seriously. I’ll stay put, I promise.” We kiss under the warm light of the street lamp in front of the brownstone. A warmth blooms deep in my belly and stirs my blood but the kiss is an innocent one. A goodnight kiss belonging to the first few dates of a new relationship.

This goodnight kiss thrills and surprises me. I look into Amun’s eyes and see a similar spark. It’s a comfort. There’s a lot that’s unconventional about this relationship. I’m romantically entangled with my ancestral grandmother’s boyfriend, an immortal man who sleeps during the day and subsists on blood. This is all true.

But as we stand there, under the streetlamp as the fall leaves rustle at our feet, the goodnight kiss promises that there are going to be normal moments between us. Moments to warm our hearts and build a relationship. Moments that have nothing to do with a centuries-old vow or a clan of vampires trying to extinguish the last of my bloodline.

“Hey, I know you’re a creature of the night, cursed with a feline urge to stalk. So the fact that you’re learning about boundaries? Well, that’s saying something and I appreciate it.” I let myself comb a hand through his curls and he kisses me once more, deeply this time. I tighten my grip around him and press my hips against his.

He backs off, raising his eyebrows up and down, teasing me with one look. I laugh and give him a push before trotting up the stairs and into the building. Popping my head out the door once before locking it, I deliver a last goodnight.

“Stay inside, Petra. Goodnight!” Amun stands there until I lock the door. I look out the front window once I’m in the apartment. Once he sees me at the window, he turns and walks into the night.

***

I get to bed before three, collapsing on my pillow and falling asleep without getting undressed. It feels like moments later when I wake up, uncomfortable in my jeans and bra. Getting up to change into pajamas like an adult, I stretch and fumble in the dim room for my sweatpants.

Finding them, I begin to unbutton my pants and freeze, spotting Amun watching from the dark skylight.

At least, I think I see him. A flash of curly hair and a place face is all I see before he ducks out of sight. Rage boils up from my belly to my head. I thought we had covered boundaries. He was a little old to be peeping on me when he could get a free show if he didn’t act like an absolute maniac.

I climb up on the table, ready to give him a piece of my mind. I push open the skylight, letting in the cold night air.

Before I can get my head out, a hand with long nails grabs my wrist. It only takes a moment before I'm dragged out of my home. It feels like I weigh less than a pound, the way I'm whipped through the air.

I let out one raw scream before one of the rancid-smelling hands covers my face, digging into the tender flesh below my ears. I try to fight but it’s like I’m in an iron embrace, my feet barely brushing the gritty surface of the roof.

Desperately turning my head, all I can see of my captor is a dark curl and a sleeve. The hair is so like Amun’s but I know it isn’t him. The smell coming from this creature is sour, rotten.

The body holding me is immense and immovable, not Amun’s tall and slim frame. Their hands scrape my face as they drag a thick fabric bag over it, tightening a drawstring at my neck.

I struggle to breathe but my mouth is free as the vampire hoists me over his shoulder. I scream once more against the fabric, desperation rising as I hear how muffled my cries are against the rough, stifling material.

My cry for help is cut short as we lurch forward without warning. The beast holding me slices through the night air more quickly than I could have guessed such a large being could. It only takes a moment before my head knocks back and my stomach is in my throat and I know my kidnapper has launched himself off the lip of the roof, into the anonymous night.