Heroine

Ch 25 - Thief

I strummed my finger down the spines of the books as I walked somewhere on the top level of the library. I promised myself I would grab a new book as soon as I finished reading Pride and Prejudice for the 8th time.

I ran my finger over a cobweb, accidentally destroying the beautiful piece of art some poor spider made.

Yelling suddenly erupted from a room at the end of the aisle. I walked toward the source of the sound and peeked through a crack in the door. Much to my delight, a dramatic scene played before me.

A large round table was surrounded by people yelling at each other.

Elio, the Legolas wannabe, and some huge bodybuilder guy were shouting in each other's faces. Coral was ordering the Muscle Beach dude to back off. A hunter I didn't recognize was glaring at Jon, who pointed an angry finger at a girl I didn't know. A strikingly beautiful older woman in a pantsuit was trying to de-escalate the situation. A man I was pretty sure was a dragon snapped at Frankie, his eyes thinning into slits. Pete stood on the table with his hands on his ears screaming that he couldn't hear whatever some girl was trying to say.

Drake sat with his ankle on his knee, looking bored at the scene in front of him.

Adam leaned against a bookshelf eating some trail mix, looking delighted. "You going to let him talk to you like that? I thought your people didn't take any shit," he spoke to no one in particular.

More yelling erupted and Adam smiled at the chaos. He circled around the table and snagged a small book out of the back pocket of the dragon and put it in his own pocket, doing it so smoothly that I barely saw it.

Adam and I made eye contact and my heart stopped. He winked at me as he walked by the door I was peeking through, making me feel like we were in on a secret together.

He offered some trail mix to some goth girl. She looked at him like he was stupid while he took a necklace right off of her neck. She didn't notice as she continued to scream obscenities at Pete.

Adam looked at the contents of the pouch tied to the necklace and wrapped it back around her neck without her having any idea. He was invisible to the crowd of angry supernaturals. I had a feeling he caused this.

He made a full circle around the yelling group, eating his trail mix like he was browsing the produce aisle. I watched him with a big smile until he walked behind Drake, and the smile was wiped clean off my face.

Drake's dark gaze met mine. He glanced at the book in my hand and then back up into my eyes before turning back to watch everyone scream at each other with indifference.

I backed away from the door. I couldn't wait to ask Adam what the hell that was all about.

And also to teach me how to pickpocket.

—🩸—

Pink or blue?

I looked in the mirror at the two shirts I was deciding between. I needed to change out of the clothes that were soaked in worm urine and blood from today's game before heading over to the Vella's for dinner.

I decided on the blue because I thought it would bring out my eyes a bit better. I spied the crown on my shelf and remembered how it turned my eyes solid black like Drake's.

I wondered if it turned me into an actual vampire or how it worked.

Curiosity took over my fear as I did yet another stupid thing. Before I knew it, the crown was in my hands and I was putting it on top of my head. The second the crown touched the skin on my forehead, darkness sucked me into her black void.