Miss Me When the Sun Goes Down Read Free

anyway?  This was a far better opportunity than working for minimum wage plus tips in an all night diner.  “I thought you of all people would be happy for me.”
    “It’s not that I don’t want to be happy for you.  You’ll invite a lot more scrutiny in such a high profile position.  People might start to suspect you’re not who you claim to be.” 
    “So let them.  You yourself set up my identity as Anja Gudrun, I’m safe as houses.    I held my own against the bullies over there. I can handle myself on my own home turf just fine.  You’ll see.”
    Bishop let out a long breath.  “I hope you’re right.”   An awkward silence stretched between us, neither wanting to break the call, but unable to think of anything to say.
    “How are things there?” I ventured.  “Are you alright?”   
    “I’m not really at liberty to say…” He shifted uncomfortably and I realized he was hiding behind protocol rather than getting personal with me again.
    “Of course not,” I nodded sadly.  “Vetis and the West aren’t completely allies these days.  Say no more.  Well, like I said, I’ll have my stuff out of here in a jiffy.”
    “And like I said, there’s no rush.”
    Mixed signals.  How was I supposed to figure out what was going on between us when he kept giving me mixed signals?  Not that it mattered, with him on another continent for the foreseeable future.  “It’s good to see you again, Bishop.  I hope things sort out for you over there.  Oh, and ah, watch your back around Angel.”  I remembered suddenly that I’d never had a chance to warn him about his boss and her involvement in Thomas Lyon’s death. 
    “What do you mean by that?”
    I realized it wasn’t a good idea to discuss it over Skype with him in the House of Vetis.  In fact, I probably shouldn’t have mentioned most of what we’d talked about.  “Just be careful.”
    “You too, Anja.  I hope like hell you haven’t bitten off more than you can chew with this Jarl thing.”
    Me too.   “I’ll be fine, Bishop.  We both know why I can take care of myself.” 
    “Fair enough.”  He looked away, jaw tightening as if he wanted to say something else, but his self control won out.  “I have to go,” he muttered abruptly, the connection breaking before I could so much as open my mouth to say goodbye. 
    For the second time that night, I said goodbye to someone I’d counted on to be by my side.  Was this what being a vampire would be like?  A constant string of goodbyes as those I came to care about passed through? 
    “Goodbye, Bishop,” I said to the darkened screen, closing the door to that part of my life as I snapped the laptop shut. 
     
    * * *
     
    I slept like the dead for most of the next day, waking with a lump in my throat the size of Texas when I saw the empty space beside me in bed.  I lolled around on Bishop’s side of the bed, imagining I could still smell him on the pillow, even though I knew that was completely insane.  As evening painted long shadows against the bedroom walls, I realized I couldn’t lie in bed for the rest of my life.  Sure, I could lay there and feel sorry for myself for a day or thirty, but that wouldn’t change anything.  The only way to move on was to get my sorry behind out of bed and start going through the motions. 
    Besides, I had responsibilities.  Back at the apartment, a fragile girl and a baby vamp waited for me to show them my city, and I was pretty sure my new bodyguards would be camped out downstairs when I went outside.  But before we could do anything together, I needed to feel them out about the turn of events in the past twenty-four hours. 
    Sure enough, Gunnar and Isak waited patiently as can be in a gunmetal gray Mercedes Benz sedan right outside.   The pair wore identical dark suits again, with sunglasses, even though it was pitch black outside.  Their hair was cut in exactly the same fashion and they were similar enough in height,