Chains of Jericho by Vivien Dean

Author:Vivien Dean [Dean, Vivien]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Published: 2021-01-30T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

The knock at the door surprised Maya.

“Come in!” she called out from her seat at the table. She frowned when Katie entered, balancing a covered tray gracefully in one hand. “What’s that?

“Dec said you wanted coffee. He said you were planning on working late, so I tossed in some snacks, too. It didn’t look like you’d grabbed anything for dinner.”

Maya chewed at her lip as the contents of the tray were laid out amongst her research. “Where’s Dec?” While part of her was relieved she wouldn’t have to face him for a while, another was taut with regret. She hadn’t thought he’d be so evasive now. What more could there be for him to hide from at this point?

“I don’t know.” Katie started to turn away and then thought better of it. “You could show a little compassion, you know. He’s doing the best he can.”

The abruptness of the vampire’s tone made her stiffen. “What’re you talking about?”

“He told you about Stuart, right? You know everything that’s going on now?”

Flushing at the naked admonition, Maya turned back to the book she was using to cross-reference the results of the toxicology report. “I know enough.”

She gasped when the book was slammed shut in front of her, her attention reverting to a now-angry Katie leaning over the table toward her. “He thinks you’re God’s gift, even now, so the sooner you get off this high horse of yours and start appreciating what exactly he’s doing here, the better off you’re going to be.”

“I don’t think this is any of your business.”

“Dec’s family. That makes it my business.”

“I think he’d disagree.”

Silver flashed in Katie’s eyes. “Fucking him doesn’t mean you know him. You don’t know what he’s gone through to get to this point. You have no idea how much he’s given up.”

“Anything he’s done is his own fault,” Maya countered.

“And don’t you think he knows that?” Katie shoved so hard from the table that several books went flying, making Maya jump in spite of her resolve not to. “Just because he’s a vampire, doesn’t mean Dec’s stupid. In fact, he’s one of the smartest men I’ve ever known, and if you haven’t figured that out for yourself by now, then maybe you’re not as brilliant as Dec keeps claiming you are.”

The two women regarded each other, tempers frayed, nerves off-balance by the shift in their relationship. “Why do you stick by him?” Maya asked. “You’re not sick. You could go and do all the vampire stuff you want.”

“Because he promised me he’d cure Danny.” Her voice was still tight, the muscles in her face still tense, but there was a new element, an ache that testified to the truth Katie spoke, that reached into Maya’s gut and twisted. “I know you think you’ve met Danny, but you haven’t, not really. He hasn’t been himself since he got sick. And I swore to Dec that I’d do whatever he wanted if he could give Danny back to me.”

“Oh…” Her eyes widened. It hadn’t dawned on her that their relationship had been anything but platonic.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.