[book two]
Sophie Brooks is cursed. The spirit of a very ancient, very angry vampire dwells within her and is fighting to break free. As she and her friends struggle to re-open Redstone Academy and allow entry to all of the supernatural creatures, b...
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WHEN SOPHIE MADE it back to her apartment, she found Eli cooking dinner in the kitchen.
It was somewhat strange sight to walk into, as vampires didn't need to eat human food. But it wasn't really all that uncommon. Eli loved to cook. It was something about all the different flavors that fascinated him. Sophie just went along with it. Most of the time, his meals included some blood in them --so it wasn't like the food was completely going to waste. Besides, he was a pretty darn good cook.
She hung her keys from a hook near the front door and moved further into the room. Eli mostly ignored her, focused on the various vegetables in front of him. As silently as she could, she walked up behind him.
He didn't jump when her arms wrapped around his torso, but he did glance back over his shoulder.
"Welcome home," he greeted with a grin. He lowered his knife and turned around, his arms enveloping her. "How was your day?"
"Interesting," she responded, her face buried in his chest.
He pressed his lips against the top of her head. "Oh? What was so interesting?"
She angled her head back until her chin rested against his chest. His face was so close to hers --it was almost too much. Curiosity swam within his warm eyes and his lips were pulled back in a happy little smile. It made her heart burst with butterflies.
"I went to see my mother," she explained. She leaned back a bit further, making it a bit easier for her to talk. She told him about her visit with her mother --about how her mother wasn't too keen on the idea of Aubrey (or anybody, really) having access to the server.
He listened quietly and nodded along. When she was finished with her little story, he said, "I can understand where your mother is coming from. As much as we need information about those creatures, there isn't any guarantee that it's on the server. We honestly don't really know what all is on that server, aside from notes and documents detailing his experiments. The old man was sick. Real sick. Some of his experiments, at least the ones that I can remember, are absolutely horrendous."
"How so?" Sophie blinked at him. It wasn't that she doubted Eli, she just couldn't help but be curious. Obviously, his experiments were awful.
Eli shook his head. His hands moved to cup her face and he planted a sweet kiss on her forehead. "I love you way too much to get into those details."
She pouted.
His lips met hers in a sweet kiss. It was gentle and warm and Sophie grinned so hard that her cheeks hurt and she forgot all about those pesky details.
When his lips pulled away from hers, he moved downward, pressing a flurry of small kisses on her neck.
She giggled. Then she smelled the smoke.
Both their eyes snapped open wide and, for a moment, they stared at each other in shock. Then they whipped around to face the stove.
