Passa Piano

Chapter Two

At this point the librarian had given up; she could shush, scold and shoo until she was blue in the face. Chet remained seated on a desktop, one leg bent and the other dangling over the edge. He pressed the spine of a book to his chin, racking his brain on today's human laws. If he hadn't already heard from some kind of authority figure, he wasn't going to; therefore, the chance of the frigid woman ratting on him was unlikely.

Unaware of the presence of the egocentric blood sucker mere metres away, Nikka was thoroughly immersed in a text. She hadn't spent time reading up on vampires before and was starting to understand why. Filth, rubbish, and the occasional account of sightings. She belatedly reminisced and regretted not prying further into Beatrice's knowledge of her own kind, having been kept in the dark as a child as to not become a liability. Urban legends and fiction were all she could go off of, including her own sparse knowledge. With an exasperated sigh, she roughly shoved the book back where she found it. The thought had only occurred to her after six books as to why she was searching for information so diligently. On the seventh, most recently discarded text, she fervently justified her actions as a means of reconnaissance on the enemy, for protection, for potential weaknesses. Yet, despite her affirmations, she felt frustrated and kept smoothening the frown lines that appeared on her forehead.

The sharp tinge in his nose could have been a good indicator that he was occupying someone's thoughts. However, the reality was he had followed her. Just as the unpleasant ache persisted so did his curiosity about his botched midnight snack. He left his poised position, the book he'd pretended to read was closed, the spine rhythmically tapping to his palm. Chet made his way down one aisle from the woman. Clearing a couple of books from his side to reach in, he caught sight of the cover of her returned book. He shoved the neatly placed book out and off the shelf, satisfaction coming from hearing the book fall loudly on the floor.

"If you're going to research outlandish garbage about us, you might as well refer to a Tw*light novel," he scoffed.

She flinched, expression darkening as it flickered between surprise, her eyes widening as embarrassment painted her cheeks pink. One shelf higher to her right, onyx eyes full of mirth practically sparked as they betrayed his amusement at her small yet incredibly evident reaction.

"I would appreciate it if you minded your own damn business," she coolly retorted as she stepped towards the gap in the shelf.

There were only a few books cleared yet, despite the limited view, she could still tell that he was leaning over to be eye level with her. He canted his head to one side. His features softened as he feigned an apologetic look, followed by a snort as he rolled his eyes at her. In that split second Nikka realized she'd been incorrect; they weren't onyx or black. His eyes were a deep, magnetic, midnight blue. A blue so deep it looked black but up-close resembled ocean depths, seemingly ready to drown their next victim.

"Yeah? My nose would have appreciated not being broken. Looks like we're at a stalemate." He shrugged; eyebrow raised as he further enjoyed the woman's fight to stay in control of her facial expressions.

"Well, I didn't appreciate you tasting my neck either!"

"Like you gave me the chance."

At the thought, his nose throbbed but his inner lip felt sharp points pricking the soft flesh. Mustering a shred of self-control, he turned away only to slide his stare back to the woman's glare.

"Curiously, you didn't strike me as one of those girls," he chuckled, abandoning his position at the gap of books.

As he walked around the bend and into her aisle, Chet paused at the entrance, hands braced on the shelves on either side of him.