Raven Mask (Camren) Book 2

Chapter 22

There weren't any lights on when I woke. Lauren didn't have a clock in her room, so it was impossible to tell what time it was. I crawled out on my side of the bed and flicked the switch just inside the bathroom door. My jeans were where I'd left them on the marble countertop, my cell phone still in the back pocket. I pressed the button on the side to illuminate the screen. It was twenty minutes till four. Lauren was still awake, somewhere.

My stomach rumbled, letting me know why I'd woken. I was hungry. I put the jeans back on the counter and snatched a dark green robe from the hook on the wall. Lauren had enough robes to dress a small army. If it had been my apartment I would've walked to the kitchen wearing nothing but my undies and a T-shirt. As it was, others lived here, and I didn't know quite a few of them. Walking around half-naked in front of strangers just isn't my thing.

I headed for the main room beyond the labyrinth of hallways, doing a little better at finding my way without getting lost. Every one of the many hallways in this place looked nearly identical to me. I followed a map in my head—forward, left, forward, right. Lights burned along the stone walls, making my shadow dance as I walked by. A spill of bright light at the end of the last hallway told me I'd made it to the main room all by myself. Point for me.

I heard voices speaking softly and stopped, eavesdropping.

"Her power is intriguing," Vanessa said.

"It is not her power that intrigues me," Lauren replied almost idly.

One of them rose from her seat. "Her beauty, then?" Vanessa's voice came from farther in the room.

Lauren laughed lightly. "It is her," she said with emphasis. "Need there be any more reason than that? You are drawn to her for your own reasons. Must I explain my reasons to you? Perhaps you should be searching the depths of your own feelings instead of trying to penetrate mine, Vanessa. Why are you drawn to Camila?"

I leaned against the wall, listening, trying not to make any noise. Which was hard to do, since vampires hear as well as any lycanthrope. I didn't want to participate in the conversation, but I was curious as to what they were saying about me.

After a long moment of silence Vanessa responded. "I do not know." Her tone was thoughtful. "She is a complex and passionate creature, unlike the women that fall at my feet begging for a nightly embrace."

I didn't know how I felt about being called a
creature.

"Camila would not throw herself at anyone's feet." Lauren sounded mildly amused. "Unless it is what she desired."

"I have noticed. She's quite capable of taking care of herself, isn't she?"

"Yes. Dare I say." Lauren put a little faux-awe in her tone, "that you have gained a certain amount of respect for the woman you once deemed my pet?"

Vanessa laughed then. "I was wrong. Has Dinah told you her news?" She changed the subject so abruptly they almost lost me.

"That Camila has claimed her as one of her wolves?"

"Yes."

"Dinah informed me some hours ago."

"I think your wolf is blossoming."

"I believe you are correct."

"She has the mark of an alpha," Vanessa said. "Is she aware of such?"

"Yes."

"And?"

Lauren didn't respond and I wondered if she shrugged.

Austin Mahone had told me the white streak in my hair was the mark of an alpha because it was the same color as my fur. Of course, he'd told me that before I'd littered his chest with silver bullets. But Austin hadn't been the first to say that.