We Own the Night (The Night Songs Collection Book 3) by Kristen Strassel Page A

gave in and burst out laughing. “Calliope,” he mocked my mother. “Clean up that mess. There’s a line waiting.”
    I laughed too, despite being so pissed at him I could barely see. “See? You’re stuck with me.”
    “No,” Tristan held my hand as we headed to the elevators. It felt like the first time after this awful fight, making me all tingly, and slightly madder because of it. I was teetering on the top of a roller coaster, as usual. Just waiting to fall. “You’re stuck with me.”
    I stood up on my tiptoes and kissed him on the lips while we waited for the door to open. “I’m happy you like me again, but I have to ask you about something that’s been bothering me.”
    “What?” Tristan raised his eyebrows and stepped into the elevator.
    I lost a little bit of my nerve. “You once said that vampires weren’t meant to be monogamous. Is that really true?”
    Even as hopelessly romantic as I was, I wasn’t sure if anything could really last forever. Tristan had exhausted me in the last few months. Could I keep pace with this for centuries, or even just decades? Would I want to? How much was really going to change about me, as time passed but my body didn’t age? Was Tristan always going to be like this? Would we always feel this way about each other?
    It didn’t matter what other vampires knew about their kind, no one could answer those questions for me. No one could answer those questions for anyone.
    He leaned against the wall, tilting his head to the ceiling and sighing. “I’m going to be honest with you.” I closed my eyes, waiting for the bomb to drop. “I don’t know.”
    It was honest. “Okay.”
    He squeezed my hands. “I’m not trying to be an asshole. I thought it was true, until you came along, but now I don’t want anyone else.”
    “Have you been with anyone else?” Why did I ask questions I didn’t want the answers to?
    He half smiled and shook his head. “I do a lot of things I’m not proud of.” He sighed. “But it’s not the same. It doesn’t mean anything.”
    “I don’t know if that makes it worse or better.” I stepped off the elevator into the apartment. I headed straight to the guest bedroom.
    Tristan kept talking, but I didn’t bother to figure out what he was saying as I closed the door. It wasn’t a slam, this wasn’t a tantrum. I just needed to be alone with my thoughts for a while, without Tristan clouding them. He had a way of altering my reality.
    I kept quite a few of my things in here, I needed a haven. I’d changed the bedding to something more soft and vibrant, hung pictures on the walls, and thrown scarves over the lamps. It didn’t matter if outside of this room I was masquerading as a powerful vampire clan leader. In this room, I was peace, love, and flower loving Callie. Some things would never change.
    The peace of my room made me long for Lennon. There was a zen about her nobody else could provide me. I could kick myself for ignoring Lennon, because now she was so pissed at me. No one else got me like she did. She always made everything better, put it into perspective, and damn, I needed that right now.
    But more than that, had she made any progress with Cash? He’d made no bones about the fact he wanted something from me, but what? I found his honesty refreshing.
    Anything he wanted from Lennon, I’d guarantee she was willing to give to him. I pulled my pjs on and slipped under my blankets. I shut all the lights off, except for the icicle lights I’d hung above the bed. I didn’t plan on sleeping, I just wanted to look out at the city and think. Eventually, the safety shades would come down and envelop me in darkness.
    I didn’t know much of anything about Cash, besides what Lennon had told me, and I hadn’t bothered to find any more out. Foolish? Lazy? Maybe. Indifferent, more likely. I knew he was a magician, but was he using vampire powers, or everyday sleight of hand? It’d make sense if he had a supernatural advantage, how