Dark Truths by Sandra Barret

Author:Sandra Barret [Barret, Sandra]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Published: 2023-02-02T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

I sat at my kitchen table with the blinds open, watching the sunset, because yeah, I was a glutton for punishment, still. The dull all-day headache evaporated with the last of the sunlight. Along with it went any hope of blocking my thoughts from the fucked-up mess I’d just made of my relationship. The buzz of an incoming text on my phone made me jump. And hope. And hope crashed back down when I looked, and it wasn’t from Beth. It might never be from Beth again.

Come on down. Share a beer with me.

It was Brian. My human friend, for now. Until he learned better and realized he needed to hate me, too. I ignored it until the second buzz came in a minute or two later.

Come down, or I’ll come up there with my beer and sparkling personality.

Threats? Friendship threats?

I texted back. Fine.

My legs felt stiff when I unfolded myself from the chair I’d sat in the last seven hours. Even vampires have their limits when it comes to staying frozen in one spot. I stretched a kink out of my back and headed downstairs.

Brian’s apartment door hung open. “Come on in.” He snapped open a bottle of Sam Adams and passed it to me.

I took a long drink. Not that it would make me drunk, but it just felt good going down the pipes, so to speak. Brian led the way to his parlor and sank into the sofa I’d helped him carry up not too long ago. I sat on the other end.

“Want to talk about it?”

Yeah, I did, but I couldn’t. Not all of it. But some. “I scared off Beth for good, I think.” I know.

“How?”

By being a fucking bloodsucking monster. Okay, maybe that wasn’t the perfect revelation for right now. One lost human in my life was enough for one weekend. “Gabrielle showed up again.”

He swallowed a chug of his beer. “The stuck-up little French lady with the accent?”

I nodded.

“And she’s your ex-girlfriend?”

I nodded again. Way to be noncommunicative, Jade.

“So Beth found out about Gabrielle.”

“The other way around. And Gabrielle didn’t take it well.”

Brian whistled. “A fight? She seems like the kind of girl who bites when she fights.”

“More right than you know. Beth’s fine. I stopped Gabrielle in her tracks.”

“Good for you,” he said, saluting me with his beer bottle. “So why do you think Beth is mad at you?”

“Less mad, more scared.” Shit. Did I say that out loud? Mouth, how about you let brain engage first next time! Think quick on why Beth would be scared. “Gabrielle is trying to get me to do something, well, something kind of shady.”

My phone buzzed. I read the text. “Speak of the devil.” I waved my phone at Brian. “Gabrielle summons me to help her with her shit.”

“Fuck. Right. Off. You ruined everything.” I spoke my reply into the phone for Brian’s sake. He gave me a thumbs-up as he grabbed his second beer and took a long swig. Satisfied with my snarky reply, I put the phone back down and gulped my beer.

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