I Bite She Sucks Bloom, Penelope (howl and other poems TXT) 📖

girl I assumed was Cassonovette's sister. I'd made all sorts of internal promises to erase her and the encounter from my mind after that. One burrito later and I found my sorry ass here, watching.

I studied everyone who so much as looked in the direction of her building. There was an old man with a bent back who spent far too long staring in the vague direction of her window. I'd gotten out of my car and given him a hard time, but the encounter ended with him whacking me in the leg with his cane. I'd called him a few choice names and gone back to my car.

With that threat handled, I was back to the tedious business of watching. Waiting.

My wolf had been practically dormant these last few months. The only way to describe the feeling was when he was happy and well, I had a sort of internal furnace of energy. I couldn't exactly communicate with him, but I could feel his emotions. But that went both ways, and lately, it mostly felt like he curled up and had entered a state of hibernation. Except during full moons, of course.

I squinted toward her window, where I'd just caught a glimpse of movement. Sylvie appeared to sit in front of her window and read books for literally hours at a time. That godforsaken skin bag of a cat would sit beside her too, watching me. She hadn't noticed me, but the little bastard Gravy Boat had. I was sure of it.

I nearly jumped out of my seat when someone knocked on my window. I looked to see Felix leaning down and motioning for me to unlock the door.

I grudgingly let him in. He filled up the other half of my car like a lady in her forties trying to squeeze into her high school prom dress.

"Since when are you working jobs again?" Felix asked. He bent his neck, making a show of looking around for some sign of what I might be trying to watch.

"It's not a job. I was out for a drive and I decided to park here."

"Mhm. Well, your random choice of parking has some of the rebels worried enough to ask me to ask you what's going on."

That got my attention. The fucking rebels were asking about me? Did they have something to do with Sylvie? "The fact that you and the others are working with them is disgusting. You realize that, right?"

Felix shrugged. "They're vamps, yeah. But it's not as simple as all vamps are bad. You wouldn't be so bitter if you could get that through your head."

"Yeah, sure. These rebels of yours are fighting the good fight. They want what we want. For now," I added gravely. "What happens when we help them take out the vamps who don't agree with them? What happens when we make them the new bosses? You don't think they'll turn on us?"

"I think the Pack trusts them. That used to be enough for you."

"Yeah," I said. "Things change though, don't they?"

Felix gave me a lingering look. "Yeah," he said finally. "They do."

A few moments of silence passed, and it seemed to be enough to get Felix to give up the argument. "So what are you doing here. Really?"

"I'm not interested in helping you be a good little bitch for the rebels. Tell them whatever you want about what I'm doing here. Or maybe they can come ask me themselves if they're so interested."

He chuckled. "They've heard stories about you. I don't think any of them are going to come within a mile of this car, Riggs."

"Then they're not completely braindead. I'll give them that."

Night had come while we talked, and I saw a pale figure slink into view. He had his hood up, but I could practically smell it from here.

Vamp.

I felt the hairs on my arms stand on end. The wolf inside me stirred, growling with anger to mirror my own.

Felix followed my eyes, grinning. "That's not one of the rebels. That's Coven."

It was, and the asshole just walked into Sylvie's building. "You can finish my dinner," I said, tossing the wrap I'd forgotten about into his lap.

I was out of the car and across the street just minutes after the vamp had gone up the stairs. I told myself it wasn't about her. It wasn't for some girl I barely knew, even if she had been the first woman to hit me in the head with a baseball bat. Twice.

I grinned a little at that. I could respect her spunk without wanting to fuck her, obviously. And that was as far as I planned to let my interest go.

Right now, this was about figuring out what the hell a vamp was doing lurking around two human women. That was all.

7

Sylvie

I was neck deep in an erotic scene. Bosoms were heaving. Bodices had long since been ripped. The Duke had arrived in the very erect, very firm-assed flesh, and I was all sorts of hot and bothered.

Of course, I was in my usual spot with my head leaned against the warm glass of the window. Gravy Boat was doing the thing he liked to do where he got just close enough for his whiskers to tickle my legs. He pretended to have no idea what I was swatting at him for when I lost my temper, like usual.

I was flipping the page to find out if Countess Ray-Anne was going to let the Duke give it to her in the back door when Maisey cleared her throat.

Given where my head was, the only natural thing to do was throw the book up in surprise, sit bolt-upright, and smile like I hadn't just been visualizing the dirty deed.

"Oh," I said breathlessly. "I didn't hear you."

"There's somebody I want you to meet, Sylvie. And... I'm going to warn you now, this is going to feel super weird and not make a whole lot of sense."

I narrowed my eyes. Maisey had been taking later shifts at