Chapter 1
Slowing at the gates to the cemetery, Lyla sighed. Life wasn't getting better, but with each passing day, she found it was a fraction easier. The suffering would always remain, no matter how many days had gone by. Lyla wished that things were different, but nothing would change the past.
The flowers she'd clutched were limp. There was little she could do about it. There wasn't a florist within a kilometer of this place which Lyla thought was ridiculous. It was bad enough that she had to walk out of her way just to get to one, then trek back.
She wouldn't complain, though. In life and in death, Lyla did everything that she could to brighten her daughter's day.
Walking up the path, Lyla hummed softly, enjoying the warmth of the sun. The belief that vampires couldn't walk in the sun was only a half-truth. They didn't like to be in the sun but could be out at dawn and dusk when the sun lowered. At full height, it was far too bright for them. Lyla liked that her time with Eloise would be vampire-free.
Eloise's grave was under a large tree that shaded the area for some distance. Lyla picked this spot so that she could sit and talk to her daughter for a long time. There were other places, but they didn't seem right or good enough. The rose garden was too close to the car park. The memorial garden was getting full and subsequently had many visitors.
Lyla didn't want people looking at her or listening to what she told Eloise. It was a private discussion between her and her daughter.
Lyla stopped when she saw the white rose on the freshly turned dirt. It had been the same every day since the funeral. Lyla thought that it was her ex-husband, but when she questioned him, Isaac said that it wasn't him. He couldn't visit Eloise, not yet. In time, he would but not while it was so new.
Someone was leaving the roses. Just one white rose laying on the dark brown dirt. As she'd done several times this week, Lyla picked up the rose and tossed it onto the next grave. She didn't know who it was, but she had her suspicions.
As if he knew that Lyla was thinking of him, Lennon moved around the tree and leaned on the trunk.
"I told you to leave town."
"Lyl's," Lennon chided. "You know that I'm not going to walk away."
"Then you will be dead."
Lennon sighed softly, already hearing about that particular issue. The boss man called him in, demanding information. It wasn't the only thing that the boss man had to say, but Lennon was grateful that he walked away alive and unhurt.
He firmly believed that the end of his night would be in the furnace. It was still in his future. The threat lingered, and it would not go away, not until certain things happened. Lennon didn't like the requests; he didn't want to be a part of this nightmare.
"Yeah, I heard about someone killing the vampires in this city. Boss man's not happy."
Lyla stood, glaring at Lennon.
"Do you think I care?"
"Not for a minute."
She didn't want to, but it was hard not to. Lennon would always stand out to her. No matter how hard she tried, her eyes would always linger too easily over him. It was warmer today.
He was down to the band shirt that was tight against his torso. The dark blue jeans sat low on his hips, showing a sliver of the body that she'd adored. She hated that he had a suave coolness to him, leaning against the tree with one leg crossed over the others, the aviators hanging from the neckline of his shirt.
"Why are you here?"
"Boss man had me dragged into his office last night."
Lyla raised an eyebrow, intrigued and wondering why Lennon wasn't covered in bruises. She honestly thought that boss man would order his sycophantic little rat that always stood beside his chair to give Lennon a good working over.
"Took him long enough."
"I was laying low, clearly not low enough. Anyway, he's pissed, as we expected. There's a bounty on our heads, all of us."
"Is this where you beg me to front to your boss man and beg him to let you go?"
Lennon scoffed, rolling his eyes.
"Trust me, you don't want to do that. He knows that you're a hybrid, Lyl's. He's demanded that you take your daughter's place."
"I'm not a play toy for him or anyone."
"Yeah, I told him that you'd say that. The problem is that he thinks you're the one taking out the vampires. Our bounties are nothing compared to yours. Every single vampire in this city wants to take you down and get the reward from the boss man. Adley's even heard whispers of the legion taking an interest, and they never bother with vampire bounties."
Lyla stepped forward, sliding her hand up the firm chest, wishing for another moment while hating herself for thinking of him as anything more than the enemy.
"Come on, Lennon, you know the truth. You know that I am the one that's taking out the vampires. I warned you to leave. Last chance, tell Adley and Ris to get out while they can and then follow them out of town. I can't promise that you'll survive the night if you don't."
She stepped back, offering a sultry smile. As always, Lennon stared.
"Damn it, Lyl's. You're not allowed to be so smokin' hot and wanting to kill me. That's not fair."
Lyla playfully pouted as she looked over her shoulder, making Lennon's pain worse. He smiled, unable to do anything different. She'd be the death of him, but he couldn't help himself.
Moving around the tree, Lennon watched as she walked away. With one arm leaning on the trunk, he stared at her.
She was a sublime vixen, and he would not walk away from her, not when there was a chance that he could break through the wall she'd put around herself.
"Until tonight," he murmured and turned to the other path out of the cemetery.
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