Jayden pointed a finger at me. “You didn’t wake me to tell me about your date so I figured Ryder slept over and now I see your ass stumble out of your room alone. Tell me you at least made out with him?”
I smiled. Oh Jayden. Always making sure my sex life was legit. Where to start? “Well, there was a steamy kiss at my door.”
He leaned forward, eyebrows raised, and I swear he even turned his ear in my direction like he didn’t want to miss a word.
“But that was after we got attacked on our date by a religious group that thinks vampires are the devil incarnate.”
The cheeky expression fell from his face. “Oh. I see. Kind of a mood killer.”
I nodded. “Yep and that’s not all.”
If Ryder was telling the sexy six, I sure as hell was telling my bestie. I knew what Sam had said about never repeating my secret in the Hive was sound advice, but I wasn’t planning on being inside these walls when I did.
Grabbing his hand, I tilted my head to indicate we needed to walk outside the apartment. Jayden looked confused for a second, but didn’t hesitate to follow my lead as I slipped on my tennis shoes and grabbed a bottle of O-negative. There was no conversation as I led Jayden to the roof jogging track. It was empty this time of day. Bright with the light of the sun, no vampires would be up here. I also found great perspective staring out over the entire city.
Taking Jayden’s hand, I led him as far from the entrance as possible, to the edge, staring down the sixty stories. My bestie was quiet, which was about as far removed from his personality as was possible. He no doubt had sensed the secrecy in my actions. Standing up on my tiptoes, I whispered into his ear.
“That guy that bit me at the club turned into a human. My blood is so tempting because it’s the cure and we might need to leave the Hive at any moment because people are after me.”
I popped back down on my flat feet and waited for his response. As our eyes locked, I could see his were wide and full of emotions. A lot of which looked like concern. He slipped his hand in mine and squeezed.
“Oliver knows?” he murmured.
I nodded. “As of last night.”
His face became serious. “Don’t you leave me here, bitch. No protecting me for my own good.” I sucked in deeply, so relieved to know that even with this new information on my magic blood, nothing had changed between Jayden and I.
I grinned, punching him lightly on the arm. “Wouldn’t dream of it, bitch.”
Needing to relieve my inner tension, I took off running, Jayden at my heels. He could have easily overtaken me—he was descended from the second house, and they had an affinity for speed—but instead kept pace with me. Running was my drug now. As my feet pounded the track, the wind in my hair, I felt like I was running from all of my problems and it gave me a temporary reprieve from the insanity that had become my life.
After showering, I dragged myself down to my boring-ass job of answering phones in the enforcer call room. Stepping through the door, I stumbled a little to see Ryder sitting in my chair, his feet up at my desk. I often had an enforcer in here with me, but never the big bad leader of the crew.
I nudged his legs out of my way. “Excuse me, big day ahead. Important job of phone answering.”
His heavy boots hit the floor. “Nope, sorry. You’re fired.”
I ground to a halt halfway into my chair. “What?”
Could he fire me? Was the Quorum involved? Maybe after last night they wanted me somewhere else. OMG please don’t let it be washing dishes or some shit.
Ryder produced a sleek black gun from behind his back and a walkie-talkie. My eyebrows shot up as he handed them to me.
“Let’s be honest, you’re not a people person, and how am I going to keep an eye on you unless I make you an enforcer trainee?”
OMFG. “What? I’m an enforcer?” I jumped up and down like a teenager as Ryder’s lips quirked into a smile.
“No. You’re a trainee, a rookie who will watch and learn and never leave the car. Got it?”
I took the gun, sliding it into my belt, and clipped on the walkie-talkie. Fuck yeah. “Got it.”
He nodded and walked away, motioning that I was to follow. I looked behind me and glanced one last time at my boring-ass desk and phone. Peace out, stupid job. Peace out.
Following Ryder into the enforcer locker room, I met the gaze of the sexy six and tried not to smirk in pride.
Kyle looked me up and down, his eyes resting on my walkie-talkie. “Well, well, what do we have here?”
Markus advanced towards me, inhaling deeply. “Smells like a rookie.”
I rolled my eyes. First unicorn, now rookie. Oh hells no. Pick a nickname and stick with it.
“Rookie with a gun, boys,” I joked, turning a full circle to show it tucked in my waist belt.
Oliver gave a half smile. “Perks of dating the boss. I didn’t get a gun for months.”