Read Online Blinding Light (The Bloodmarked Trilogy Book 2) by Alicia Deters - Free Book Online Page A

Mr. West,” said a very cheery Gregory. It was the same front desk man that has developed a longstanding dislike of me. I thought I was growing on him.
    Gavin had his arm around my shoulder as we strolled past him. In a much less excited tenor, he regarded me. “Miss Masters.”
    “Gregory,” I replied in the haughty tone I reserved solely for him. Gavin squeezed my shoulders harder.
    “Be nice,” he whispered in my ear.
    “Hey, you said it yourself, I’m only nice when I want to be. And that ‘tude of his isn’t exactly making me want it bad enough.”
    He shook his head in surrender, and we headed up the elevator to the sixty-first floor. We both showered and, luckily, I had some clothes left in the guest room from when I stayed here. I shoved my remaining things into a weekender bag I found. Digging out the charm bracelet from my jeans pocket reminded me of a stop I would have to make before leaving town.
    Gavin was waiting for me in the kitchen with several glasses full of blood from the supply he kept in his fridge. I didn’t wait for him before throwing one back. By the third one, I noticed him standing there watching me like a total creeper.
    “You’re not having any?” I asked curiously.
    “I’m good.”
    A beat of silence passed. “Wait, wait, wait. So you’re telling me, not only do you walk in the sun, but you don’t need blood either?”
    I’ve never seen him drink blood, except for when he was trying to save the girl at the club by sucking out the lethal drugs in her system. But I always had my suspicions, and I knew without him saying the words that he didn’t need it.
    “Not anymore,” he answered. And that was all he had to say about that.
    “How? How do I learn how to live without cravings?”
    “Who said I don’t have cravings?” he asked around a wicked smirk and winked to drive his horny-boy point home.
    When he saw my serious face, he smoothed his features and continued. “It’s not something you can learn. I still can’t even piece together what happened. It just happened.”
    “I’m never going to fully understand you, am I?” I asked, defeated.
    “Do you really want to?” he asked.
    I looked into his eyes in search of the answer to that hot topic. I did want to get to know him, but only if it was what he wanted, too. And I, of course, had no idea what he wanted. Again, this was not something that took priority.
    Instead of answering his question, I moved on to the next issue. “I have to run a couple errands before leaving town.”
    “Where do you need to go?”
    I grabbed for my bracelet, knowing there was one person I still had to talk to. “I need to find Helen Lancaster. My mom knew her, and she left a photograph on my mother’s grave. I think she meant for me to find it. I think she has answers for me. There was an address on the back of the picture I want to check out.”
    Gavin looked away, rubbing the stubble along his jaw. “Helen,” he said, and I was immediately suspicious. There was something else he never shared with me.
    I clenched my jaw shut and crossed my arms over my chest, staring him down in hopes of intimidating the truth out of him.
    He sighed reluctantly. “Lucy, it’s not what you’re thinking. I know that look. I know it all too well, but I wasn’t hiding anything from you. Not purposely, anyway. It just hadn’t come up yet. I wasn’t keeping it from you intentionally, and I was actually going to take you to see her later.” He paused to measure my mood.
    “I’m listening. Please continue,” I encouraged before taking a deep calming breath.
    I knew there were logical reasons for leaving me in the dark, but the memory of him keeping so many secrets still stung. I had to remind myself that he also promised he wouldn’t hide things pertaining to me anymore. He just hadn’t had much time to uphold said promise since making it.
    Studying me briefly, he reached out his hand for me to take. I raised a questioning eyebrow but accepted