"Pack all the things," she told him. "I want an apartment, Cain. I want a home, and this time, I will fight to keep it."
"We all will," he promised.
Chapter Forty
DAHLIA
Dahlia found a country and western bar in Kansas City, on the Missouri side of the state line. There, she met a cute cowboy who had no problem getting blown in a bathroom stall. For good measure, when she finished him, he turned her around, bent her over, and gave her a little more.
By the time she was done, he was staggering, convinced he'd drunk his beer a little too fast. Dahlia agreed, knowing it was more that she'd sucked away his vitality, and then she simply walked out of the club without a backwards glance. Her little meal only set her back half an hour. When she pulled into the hotel Cain had picked, it was five minutes after midnight, so she'd guessed pretty close.
The woman working the front desk assured her that yes, Kane Eldritch had already checked in. Then she passed Dahlia a key, but she kept looking at her strangely. Dahlia didn't honestly care. It had been a long drive from Dallas, and she'd done it in a single shot. She probably looked like hell.
When she found the right door, she used the keycard to unlock it and simply stepped in. The room seemed empty at first, but the TV was on. Jangling her keys, she made it clear that she was a real person, then closed and locked the door behind her.
"It's me," she said once that was done.
"Had to be sure," Cain replied before stepping around the corner.
He hadn't changed at all, and yet he'd changed so very much. His skin was the same dark ebony. His hair was now short and cut close to the scalp, and somewhere in there, he'd grown a beard. It looked good on him. His nearly black eyes still looked warm and inviting, and his body was as fit and toned as she remembered.
Cain wasn't a massive man. He was lean but athletic, and he stood only an inch taller than her, but when he hugged her, it felt like she was smothered in his embrace. Dahlia just pressed her face against the side of his neck and finally let herself relax. She wasn't alone. She didn't need to be alone. She still had people willing to be in her life.
"I missed you," he breathed. "I'm so sorry about Mei, and yet I'm still glad you survived. You're the only other one who can understand what I've lived through."
She leaned back to rub at his arms, ignoring the wave of grief his words brought. "I can barely understand. Have you figured out how long you've lived yet?"
"No," he laughed. "A few thousand years longer than you, but it can't be much more. I also spent a lot of those years in the Abyss." Then he sighed. "But I've been working on some ideas. We're going to form a company. It's going to hire temporary workers. Because of this, we'll need apartments with no lease. Those usually have more lenient requirements."
"Ok," she agreed. "They'll also be in the worst neighborhoods, so the additional crime rate won't be a problem. I'm sure some of the newer eidolon will make mistakes."
"Most likely," Cain agreed. "Our goal will be to teach them how to feed instead of hunt. I've already talked to a witch from Salem and a black dog from the 1700s. I've put out more feelers, so we should expect an influx."
"Yeah," she said, a little shocked that this was actually happening, and so very fast. "So tomorrow we get to go apartment hunting, right?"
He just cupped both sides of her face and tilted her head down so he could kiss her brow. "I'll worry about that. You get a shower, and then relax for a bit. I have a feeling you haven't stopped in days. I've got you, little sister."
A laugh slipped out. "Is that what you told the front desk? That I'm your sister?"
"Yeah? Why?" he asked.
"Because the woman who gave me a key seemed rather shocked to see me."
"Ah..." He leaned back and took the keys from her fingers. "Well, letting her wonder which of us was adopted is a lot less controversial than someone thinking I'm going to abduct and rape you. Now give me anything else you have on you, and go have a shower."
She passed over her keycard and phone, along with the credit cards Thane had given her. Cain took them all, then shooed her toward the bathroom. Dahlia hadn't even made it all the way into the hotel room, but she was oddly ok with this. Once again, Cain was taking care of her, and right now she needed that.
The hot water felt great. The towels she used when she was done were soft. Her clothes were still technically clean. She'd bought them on the way up, but they were all she had - since Thane's gym clothes weren't really hers. Gathering those up, she walked out in only her towel, and tossed her things on the top of the long dresser, then she flopped face-first onto the closest bed.
Cain chuckled. "Brush your hair, Valerie."
"No," she breathed. "I'm…" She had to stop because her throat tensed. "I'm not ready to stop being Dahlia, Cain. I know I have to. I know that changing my name is the only way to stay safe, but I'm just not ready."
He dropped a brush on the bed beside her, making it clear he hadn't been kidding about her hair. "Then just use your new name legally." He shifted to sit across from her. "So, this inquisitor. Do I want to know how you met him?"
"A club," she explained. "Mei killed a guy who thought he could just rape her. A homeless man saw and called it in. Inquisitors are tracking 9-1-1 calls now, it seems. Anyway, they sent a team out to get a vampire and her thrall. Me. Thane was the hunter, and I couldn't take my eyes off him. Thought he was just a very sexy warrior, and it's been too long since I've met a man like that. I tried to seduce him; he was seducing me back, thinking he was saving me. It was all fine until I touched the cross tattooed on his arm."
"And they were all watching," Cain realized. "From that moment on, you were at the top of their list. A demon who could touch the cross."