75: Damn, I Am A Bad Liar

I rest my head on my palm as I lean over the counter at Mystic. Sleep didn’t come easy last night. Usually when that happens terrible foreboding dreams fill the space, but last night remained blank.

Except for one thing. Gabriel. It fills my chest with anxiousness. The fact that I’m still hung up on that vampire is frustrating.

“Drink this.” Monty places one of her tea cups in front of me. “It’ll perk you right up.”

I eyeball the liquid. It’s an opaque dirty brown and who knows what was brewed to make it. She hovers over me with her arms crossed, waiting for me to drink it. I reluctantly take the cup, bring it to my lips and slowly pour its contents into my mouth.

Luke warm, earthy, bitter...gross. I only manage to take a few sips, but before the cup can touch back down on the counter she orders me to drink it all. Thankfully, there’s not much in there, but it’s difficult to swallow. I place the empty cup down with a heavy hand. “Happy?”

“Very.” She flashes me a smirk before she disappears into the shop.

I on the other hand intend to stay right here the rest of the day, but an hour or so after Monty’s tea, I become uncharacteristically energized. So, I too dash around the shop cleaning, stocking and starting inventory.

It’s there in the back of the shop, knee deep counting crystals that a feeling of eyes creeps up my back. It doesn’t take much to realize who it is. “The sun barely goes down and the vampires come out.” I mutter.

“I wanted to apologize for last night.” His voice is just as smooth as always. Just as full of the vampire charm.

My eyes stay on the floor as I turn around. “I can see you don’t like being told no, do you?” I expect him to be incredibly close, but he’s given plenty of distance between us. I spot his feet several paces away.

His laugh, however, I can feel it on my skin. “Usually people don’t tell me no.” He replies.

My eyes snap up to his face, to meet his eyes, to spot a familiar smirk on his lips. I wasn’t expecting the world to fade away as I stare at him, but seeing him, there’s this eerie familiarity that eats at me. But I can’t seem to place it yet again.

“Well, I’m one of those rare people that have an ounce of common sense, I guess.” I huff as I make my way up to the front of the shop, Gabriel right behind me.
“That came out wrong. Very asshole like.”

“Ya think.” I mutter through a wave of bitterness. Typical vampire behavior. ‘No one usually says no to me’, I mock him in my head and false superiority. Is it because he’s incredibly attractive or has supernatural charm that no one rejects him or is it because he doesn’t let them say no.

“It’s just-I mean-I usually don’t give up until I’ve gotten a fair chance.” He argues his case and I can hear the frustration as he stutters through his words.

A crisp coolness inches closer to me from his outstretched fingers, but I outstep him. The counter is two steps away, a divider I so desperately need right now, because that feeling of familiarity is one of comfort, connection. It’s bearable when there's a physical barrier between us, but the more I see him, the more my fingers twitch to run through his hair, the more I fantasize about our lips touching. When there’s nothing but empty space between us, I so desperately want to close it.

He takes the final two steps to the counter before me using his vampire speed, blocking my way, forcing me to face him head on without a barrier. It’s as if he senses my struggle and is preying on my weakness. “Let me prove it. One cha-”

The bell on the door chimes, stiffening my spine. Both of our heads whip to the entrance. Gabriel, curious of the customer that interrupted him. Me, to see who saved me from doing something that I shouldn’t.

A sigh of relief pushes through my clenched teeth. Caleb. He struts up to us, eyes on Gabriel. I catch his fists clench together as they usually do when he’s in the company of a vampire. Two denizens that can’t stand each other.

It’s Gabriel’s soft whisper that draws my eye. “One chance. That’s all I need.” He says before he takes off to the door.

Caleb watches Gabriel leave and then those eyes land on me. He squares his shoulders to me and leans in close. “A vampire, Hazel?”

“A customer.” I correct him.

“And what’s with this ‘one chance’ he was blabbing about?” He caught that, huh.

“I don’t know...some vampire business, I assume.”

“You’re an awful liar. I’ve told you that before, right?” He has a playful smirk on his face, but I know he’s upset with me.

“What do you mean liar?” My voice gets all high pitched. Damn I am a bad liar. “I don’t question the customers or get involved in vampire business. We all know how that goes when we get too involved in other demizen business.” Well, Monty knows too well since she’s always giving terrible advice to people.

Caleb lets out a deep rumbling laugh. “I know you too well to know that you’re hiding something.” His hand comes up to graze my cheek. He’s stepped so close I can feel his breath on me.

I can’t remember if we’re supposed to be mad at each other or not. It’s been on again off again too long and sometimes too quickly to keep track of it all. But there’s no denying the unsteady pitter patter of my heart with him this close.

“When isn’t she hiding something.” Monty chimes as she rounds the corner. “Hi, Caleb.”

Caleb immediately straightens up and puts some space between us. “Hey Monty.”

Her eyes ping pong between us, half cocked smile to her lips. She knows she interrupted something. Her silence speaks loud and clear, it screams to be included. Juicy details are what Monty lives on.

“Caleb, you’re here.” Gretchen chimes as she comes prancing down the hall from her office, large box in hand, “here is the pack’s order. I threw a little something extra in there, so I hope Marcus appreciates it.” Gretchen heaves the box into Caleb’s arms.

“I’ll let him know.” He mumbles through tightly pinched lips. After she walks away, I watch him fumble with the box. He debates about questioning me further, but he eyeballs a lingering Monty. “Ladies.” He tips his head to us before taking a couple of steps backwards and finally turning to leave.

If I thought I was out of the woods when Caleb left, I would be greatly disappointed. Monty’s eyes still linger on me. She lets the silence between us linger longer than necessary before she finally says what’s on her mind. “I see you found the King or he found you.”

“What?” I nearly laugh in her face. “Caleb? The King? Maybe a knight or the jester, but not a king.” I ramble.

“No. The other one. The vampire.” She shuffles her deck. Where the hell did those come from? “I’m surprised you didn’t recognize him.”

“I was too busy staring-”

“At yourself on the very same card. Kneeling before him.” She flips the very card over onto the counter.

I try not to look at it, but my eyes deceive me. I catch a glance of the blonde man with dark roots, edgy yet shaggy cut, sitting on a throne. It’s a spitting image of Gabriel. How did I not see that?

Could that be the annoying familiarity I feel? Just my brain trying to press through the fog that clouds my better judgement. “Are you suggesting that I’m going to bow down to him?” The thought shudders through me. “Because it sure didn’t look like I was his loving queen by his side.”

“The cards are just a depiction and don’t hold literal meaning. You don’t know-”

“I get it.” I say defeated.

“The cards don’t lie and you can’t fight the future. It has a way of always coming true. One way or another.”

“Oh, great.” I reply with a sarcastic edge. Guilt instantly swallows me up.

After that fun little chat going back to counting crystals seems daunting. There’s no way I’ll be able to keep track of useless numbers with my mind racing, worrying about The King and The Evolution.