“Why do you need a day? To say goodbye to this girl?”
Evan rolled his eyes at his sister. “Yes. She’ll want to know why I’m leaving.” At least, he hoped she would. He thought back to her many questions and knew there would be more to follow. He didn’t know how to explain Eva to her, nor did he want to say goodbye.
“Does it matter what you say? It’s not like you can tell her the truth.”
He kept his eyes down and his mouth shut, but could feel her glaring back at him, no doubt incredulous.
“What have you told her?”
“Enough for her to need more than just a simple goodbye.” He looked at her defiantly, silently daring her to challenge him.
“You’re unbelievable.” Her eyes rolled to the ceiling as she shook her head, her forearms tightening as she grabbed handfuls of the bedding beneath them and squeezed.
“I had no choice but to tell her some truth, Eva. Something happened and I ended up exposing myself. I couldn’t think of another explanation that would sound plausible enough so I told her the truth.”
“Plausible,” she mocked him. “How much does she know?” She was still visibly upset, but seemed genuinely curious to hear how much of their world he had revealed to her. He hadn’t just exposed himself, but his family as well. He opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted by the ringing of a telephone. He expelled a held breath and walked to the desk to pick up the receiver.
“Hello?” he asked briskly.
“Good morning, Sir. This is Angela at the front desk. You have a guest in the lobby, a Miss Zoe Thanatos.”
His blood ran still at the sound of her name. Eva was listening from across the room, staring at him expectantly. Shit.
“Hold for just a second?” he asked before putting the receiver down to his chest and cupping the mouthpiece in his hand. “Give me a day, please?” he asked.
“That’s her, isn’t it?”
“She’s downstairs at reception.”
“Great. I’d like to meet her.” There was a small smile of satisfaction on her face that had annoyed him since childhood. There was no point arguing with her; she was just as stubborn as he was.
Evan put the receiver back to his ear. “Hi. Please send her to my room. Thanks.” He replaced the handset on the base and took a deep breath. “Please, Evadine, be on your best behavior,” he pleaded with her.
She scowled and dismissed his words with a wave of her hand. “You better hope she keeps your confidence, Evander.”
“Who would she tell?” It wasn’t as if anyone would believe her if she did.
“How do you think the knowledge of where you come from will sit with her once you’re gone? Did you really think you could drop a bomb like that on someone you’ll likely never see again?” His face darkened at the thought. A healthy knock at the door broke through the tension between the two siblings. Evan looked to her once more before opening the door.
The Zoe Thanatos who stood on the other side was not the same girl from the boat. She was vibrant and radiant. Dark hair fell in sleek waves over her shoulders and long, bare legs tucked into a pair of blue shoes added at least four inches to her height. She looked fresh faced, relaxed, and even more beautiful than he remembered.
“Hi,” she greeted quietly, her right cheek picking up in what he thought was half of a shy smile. “I know it’s only been a few hours since you left but it occurred to me that we never made any official plans to hang out again. So I thought I’d ask you to brunch. Are you busy?”
After what seemed like a long pause he finally remembered how to breath and covered his surprise with what he hoped was a charming smile. “Please, come in.” He opened the door wider and she walked through. A perfumed curl of gardenia floated in with her, lightly filling his senses. He closed the door and followed her into the room.
She looked back at him quickly before noticing the third person in the room. Eva stood up from the bed and extended her hand to Zoe. The brief smile she had managed was gone and her eyes narrowed speculatively.
“Evadine Nero,” his sister introduced as her hand met Zoe’s own. “Evander’s sister,” she clarified. There was a brief flicker of confusion on Zoe’s face at the sound of his full name, but she quickly recovered and seemed to relax.
“Zoe Thanatos. Very nice to meet you, Evadine.”
Eva’s eyes flickered up to Evan’s, a question in them she could not verbalize in the moment. She quickly recovered and looked back to Zoe, smiling her friendliest smile.
“Call me Eva. So I hear you and my brother just met yesterday? He mentioned something vague about meeting on a boat?” she asked brightly. Whatever reservations she had about the little bit of information Zoe knew about them, she kept them hidden well. She was polite as ever, charming even.