Vampires, Eh?

Chapter 29

Rhys and Drew came back to the car with the hotel keys. They all pulled their bags out of the trunk. Rhys tossed Calvin the keys and he parked the car in the garage.

Rhys placed his hand on Anna's lower back as they walked into the hotel. Anna looked up at the large dangling chandelier and lights that twinkled across the ceiling. The lobby looked luxurious and she felt out of place.

They went into the elevator and went up a couple of floors. When the elevator dinged and they arrived, Rhys and Drew nodded at each other. Drew and Huxley went down the hallway and Rhys guided her down to the other end of the hall. He moved his hand when he went to unlock the door.

Anna stepped in and was unsurprised to see that there was only one bed again. She rolled her eyes as she dropped her duffel bag on the foot of the bed. She sat down next to her bag.

A dull ache laced its way across her skull. Anna gritted her teeth as she grabbed a fistful of her hair. A sharp pain was twisting into her stomach. Rhys sat down next to her and rubbed her back.

"You need to feed tonight," Rhys said. "We'll go out and find something to eat soon."

Anna did not want to kill someone, but she did not want to stay in pain. She nodded her head, but the pain intensified across her temple.

"I'm going to take a shower," he said. "Do you think you will be okay?"

"I'll be alright," she said.

Rhys ran his hand along the back of Anna's head. He let his hand linger at the back of her neck. She looked over at him. He cleared his throat before standing. He grabbed his bag and went into the bathroom.

Anna did not move until she heard the sound of the water running. She unzipped her bag and dug to the bottom. She pulled out her grandmother's notebook. She opened the front page to see the stack of photographs she had taken off the mirror in her bedroom.

The first one was of Anna and Jess at their high school graduation. They had their caps in their hands and their arms wrapped around each other's necks. They each had a smile plastered across their face. They had so many bright dreams for the future.

She flipped to the next picture. It was of her and Jonathan last summer. They were both sitting on a dock in P.E.I. in their bathing suits and a beer in their hands. Anna recalled Rhys seeing the photo in her apartment. He must not have recognized Jonathan as Jonathan Nightingale.

Anna shook her head as she tucked the photos back into the notebook. Her life seemed so easy before going to that club with Jess. If she had not lost Jess in the crowd, she may have prevented Jess from ever meeting vampires. She cursed herself out as she knew that she should have trusted her gut and not gone to that alley.

Anna hid the notebook under her stack of clothes. The sound of the water turned off. Anna zipped up the bag and set it down on the side of the bed. She pushed up the sleeves of her shirt. Anna grabbed the remote off the television and flipped through the channels to try and ignore the pain spreading throughout her bones and muscles.

Rhys came out of the bathroom in a plain black T-shirt and a pair of jeans. He was running a towel over his dark hair. Anna looked over at him and he flashed her a smile. It brightened his face and Anna's chest tightened. She remembered how she found him so attractive at the club when Drew introduced them to each other.

"What are you feeling?" Rhys asked. "Italian? Greek? Chinese?"

"Do ethnicities taste different?" she asked.

"That was a joke, Anna," he said.

She threw her hand over her mouth as she laughed. It was odd for Rhys to be in a good mood, and it was rare for him to make a joke. Rhys's smile grew larger as he watched her smile.

"Are Drew and Huxley coming with us?" Anna asked.

"No, they will get something to eat somewhere else," he said. "I have spent enough time with them lately."

"You have spent a lot of time with me too."

"Yes, but I am responsible for you. It is different."

Anna rolled her eyes and shook her head. She hated hearing that Rhys was her babysitter. She stood and smoothed out her dress. She ran her fingers through her long hair as she walked toward the bathroom. She was still shocked when she did not see her reflection staring back at her. Rhys leaned against the doorframe with the towel around his neck. He watched Anna as she braided her hair.

"I'm supposing you are going to want me to lure some drunk man out of a bar?" Anna asked.

"I did enjoy watching you with that girl," Rhys said with a grin.

Anna glared at him before looking back at her missing reflection.

"How come you did not tell me you were bisexual when we met?" Rhys asked.

"You did not tell me you were a vampire," Anna said. "We all have secrets we keep."

"Is there anything else I should know?"

Anna's fingers froze as they were weaving her strands of hair together.

This is it, she thought. I need to tell him and I need to tell him now.

She opened her mouth to speak, but she fought with her tongue. She wanted to say she was a Nightingale, but she could not force the words out of her mouth. Rhys's eyes narrowed at her as he watched her hesitate.

"What is it?" he snapped.

Anna's hands shook as she finished braiding her hair. She did not want to look over at Rhys's intense stare. The way he was standing, he had her trapped in the bathroom. If she told him the truth she predicted that he would rip out her throat and she would be damned to an eternity in hell.

"I'm allergic to pineapple," Anna said.

Rhys raised an eyebrow.

"Why would I need to know that?" he asked.

"In case you were thinking about getting a Hawaiin pizza for dinner," she said.

"Pineapple never belongs on pizza, Hollingsworth."

Anna flipped her braid over her shoulder. She smiled to hide that disappointment was washing over her. She did not know when she would have this opportunity again.

"Let's go eat and then we can find a restaurant," Rhys said.

Anna nodded. They grabbed their jackets before heading out of the hotel room together.