Blood Warrior (The Arcadia Falls Chronicles #4) by Jennifer Malone Wright Page B

back to Anthony’s house shortly before dawn to
get some sleep and prepare ourselves.
    The moment we stepped out
of the LaLaurie Mansion, I felt the tension wither out of my body.
It was a crazy feeling, I should have felt safer inside , since it was out
in the streets that was supposed to be the dangerous place. Perhaps
the spirts had a hold on us even when we couldn’t tell they were
there.
    Once we were back within the confines
of Anthony’s home, I felt even better. We filed into the kitchen
where Anthony brought out the makings for a quick meal. After I ate
two huge salami and cheese sandwiches, I felt myself begin to fade.
I hadn’t gotten much sleep before we went out into the city and it
was quickly catching up with me.
    I bid everyone a hasty goodnight, gave
Drew a quick kiss and then headed to my room. Once I was alone, I
stripped off all of my weapons and threw them onto one of the fancy
chairs that I’d bet no one ever sat in.
    I was so tired that I even
contemplated skipping the shower, but the Louisiana heat had me
covered in sweat again. I hit the shower long enough to scrub my
body and that was it. I threw on a clean tee shirt and sweats then
fell into bed, but not before making sure my gun had been tucked
safely underneath my pillow.
    All the curtains were pulled tightly
shut so the room was completely dark. I lay there, on the brink of
sleep and only slightly aware of the waking world. I heard the
bedroom door open and shut softly and I knew without looking who it
was.
    He set his gun on the nightstand with
a light thunk of metal on wood and then pulled back the comforter.
He slid between the sheets then pulled them up again. I felt his
arm wrap around my waist, pulling me toward him.
    Wordlessly, I lifted my head, letting
him slid his arm underneath so that I could use it for a pillow. I
snuggled my back into his chest and moved my right hand so that it
rested over the top the one he had around my waist.
    His chin touched the top of my head
and stayed there.
    “ I love you,” he
whispered.
    “ I love you too,” I
responded in a low voice and then squeezed his hand. It wasn’t long
at all before the heavy curtain of sleep had me drifting away into
my dreams.
    ***
    When I woke, it felt like I hadn’t
slept at all. Man, this was not good at all. I needed to be rested
and in top condition to be able to fight. Why the heck wasn’t my
body cooperating with me these days?
    I gently moved Drew’s arm off of me
and rubbed my eyes with both hands. I could tell already it was
going to be a very long night.
    “ Morning,” Drew murmured
softly, moving his hand to my thigh.
    “ It’s afternoon,” I
corrected him.
    He hadn’t even opened his eyes yet,
but still responded with a sleepy, “whatever.”
    I turned and leaned down so that our
lips could meet. He returned my kiss and then rolled onto his back.
He still hadn’t opened his eyes. “Come on, it’s time to get up.” I
shook his shoulder, making him bounce on the bed a
little.
    “ For once, I don’t want to
get up.” He turned over on his other side so that he was facing
away from me.
    Drew was always up before everyone
else. I was an early riser anyway, but he took the gold medal for
getting up before the sun. But for the last several months, our
schedules had been really crazy and we had been surviving on a few
hours of sleep at a time. I didn’t blame him for not wanting to get
up.
    “ Sorry, I wish I could
sleep more too.” I lay back down and snuggled into his back. I
loved the feel of his skin underneath mine. Briefly, I imagined
that the Vampire Apocalypse didn’t exist and that we moved away
from Arcadia Falls, just the two of us.
    What would we be if we weren’t
Hunters? I couldn’t think of anything that I would be good at doing
in life. This was what I’d been doing since my mom died when I was
fourteen, almost four years.
    I’d known Drew that long too. Now, I
couldn’t imagine my life without him in it.
    I took in air