Chapter 6
426 Words
6
The next morning, Sam brewed herself a second cup of coffee and scrolled through her emails for the third time. No matter what she did, she couldn’t get rid of the persistent dread in her stomach. What if this was the end of her working with Lilith?
To settle her nerves, she took another bite from her toast.
“Arf!” Shadow pounced on a falling piece of cheese.
“Hey!” Sam reached down to intercept the hellhound, but was met with a suspiciously clean spot on the floor. Not nearly fast enough.
She chuckled. “Oh well.”
The greyish puppy curled herself around the legs of her high chair with an irresistible grin that always convinced Sam to break her own rules.
“You’re making me go soft,” Sam said as she finished her toast and threw the last piece of cheese towards the dog bowl in the corner.
Shadow raced after it and devoured the snack. With a smile, Sam scrolled through her emails one more time, and sighed. “Right… I need to stop stalling.”
“Arf?”
“I need to talk to Lilith.”
Shadow perked up at the mention of the Nox’ name and Sam’s stomach tightened. She wasn’t sure why, but surely, that meant something.
She dragged her feet all the way to the front door, trying to think of some obscure reason to put off her confrontation with Lilith. Something… Anything…
Her phone chimed and Sam breathed a sigh of relief. Saved by the bell.
“Thank f**k for that,” she muttered.
She wouldn’t be grateful for much longer.
A little envelope danced on her screen next to a number she didn’t recognise. While she didn’t like dealing with unknown numbers, she swiped to read the message.
“C…” Sam stared at the single letter. There was only person she could think of that would send a message like that.
Vampire Master, Catalina.
“Hmm…”
Between putting herself in the hands of someone that wanted to crack her open like a barrel of whisky or facing the temperamental Lilith that might crack her open for no reason, it was an easy choice.
Sam pocketed her phone and smiled at her hellhound. “I suppose Lilith prefers the night anyway, right? I should just go see what Catalina wants…”
Shadow shot her a doubtful look. Or at least, that was how Sam interpreted it.
“Now, now. I’m not avoiding Lilith. Don’t you look at me like that. Don’t.” She sighed dramatically. “Ah, fine. Alright, I’m avoiding Lilith. Don’t blame me.”
“Arf?”
She grabbed her keys from the bowl and unlocked the front door, eager to escape Shadow’s judging stare.
“Stop looking at me like that!” Her voice softened. “Be back soon. Behave!”
- Writer
