Chapter 9 A Perfect Match

• "What the hell, man?" The ghoul, whose hand was held firmly, hissed at Asher. He wasn’t very happy about the interruption. He was about to protest further when the vampire’s cold eyes locked onto him. A chill ran down his spine. He sensed that this guy wasn’t someone he could easily mess with. "Whatever."
• He pulled his hand away and retreated. Octavia watched the ghoul scamper off and disappear into the crowd, frowning in confusion at his hurried strides. Asher hadn’t even said a word. "Are you stalking me or something?"
• "No," he said. The way his eyes trailed over her body made her a bit self-conscious about the oversized T-shirt and pants she was wearing. To be fair, she had hurried here, afraid Jess might get herself into more trouble if she delayed. Asher’s gaze settled on her face once more, and he smiled. "It’s merely a coincidence."
• "Sure." Anyway, she needed to find Jess and take her back home before Silas started worrying about the delay. She didn’t need her dad tracking her down.
• She walked through the crowd. Most of the partygoers had moved to the poolside at some point, so the room wasn’t as overcrowded as when she had first arrived.
• Via paused and glanced back at Asher, who, for some reason, had decided to keep following her. She gave him a questioning look, but his only response was that smile—one that was beginning to look a bit flirtatious to her now. She continued walking, and Asher followed. Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore.
• Mutely, she dug into her pocket and produced the bit of garlic she had set aside before leaving the house. She sniffed it just to be sure, then tossed it at the handsome vampire. The garlic hit Asher on the forehead—a rather perfect toss. They both watched it roll onto the ground until it was crushed under someone’s foot.
• As expected, it didn’t work. Via hadn’t really been counting on it to; she just thought it would be funny. And thank God Asher didn’t take offense.
• "I can act pained if you want me to. According to you, it’s supposed to cause us immeasurable pain, right?"
• "No, but my mom used to think so. She was just paranoid."
• "She was," he said. And if Via didn’t know better, she’d think he knew her mom on a personal level. But she knew that possibility was near zero. From what she knew about her mother, the woman had some kind of paranoia about vampires—excluding only her husband and Via’s granddad.
• She looked away from his sharp gaze and scanned the area. It was just a good coincidence that she happened to spot a familiar figure slumped on a sofa in the far corner of the room. She recognized the blue crop top Jess wore—it was the one she had gifted her on her birthday last year.
• "Jess!" She hurried to her friend’s side, barely paying any attention to Asher, who stalked behind her. She didn’t notice the way the few people in the room seemed to clear out of his path with every step he took.
• Jessica, thankfully, hadn’t passed out—though she might as well have, given how incoherent she was.
• "Are you kidding me? What the hell happened?"
• "B...Baybi...Yo, you came."
• "Jess." Via placed a hand under her best friend’s chin, tilting her face up. Her lipstick was smudged, and she was missing a bra—Via could literally see her tits through the top. And sure, Jess was wild, but she wouldn’t attend a party like this, and she definitely wouldn’t get this drunk—not with all these supernaturals who could easily have their way with her.
• "Talk to me. Did...did someone—"
• "She’s just scent drunk," Asher provided, eyeing the human girl with no small amount of disgust, though Via didn’t look back to catch his gaze. "Nothing happened—at least not without her consent."
• "Yeah, V. Just had the bestttt sex of my life. No need to worry."
• "You are crazy," Via scoffed. She rose to her feet and tried to help her friend up. She could have carried Jess easily, being half-vampire and all, but Asher scooped Jess into his arms, carrying her bridal style and walking out of the house before Via could protest.
• Via chased after him, taking note of how hot the display of strength made her. "Hey, you really don’t have to do that. Jess might throw up on you."
• "It’s fine. Don’t want her ruining your delicious scent with the filthy stench of her humanity."
• "Um..." Via played the words over in her mind multiple times, and she still didn’t know what to make of them. Yeah, she’d heard of the Purists before—vampire lords who looked down on every other race and saw themselves as the very top of the food chain. She just hadn’t thought Asher was into that.
• But then again, she knew nothing about the guy. That was another red flag.
• "I’m half-human too, you know."
• "No, you’re not."
• "What?"
• Asher opened the back door of her car with one hand while balancing Jess with the other. The new position had her leaning against him, her feet barely brushing the ground.
• "Woah," Jess slurred, stirring from her scent-induced nap. "You are so pretty..."
• She was dumped roughly into the car seat.
• "You can do better when choosing your friends," he said.
• "Huh?" Via felt like she was losing brain cells trying to keep up with this man. Maybe it was because she found herself staring at his handsome face too often.
• She couldn’t help it—he was just that good-looking. It was hard to believe he wasn’t an incubus with a face like that, a voice like that, and a...
• Her gaze trailed down to his lower half. If there was one way to identify an incubus aside from their good looks, it was by their bits. At least, that’s what Jess had said. Via was curious—maybe Asher wasn’t fully vampire. Maybe if she just took a closer look at his—
• Octavia’s eyes snapped back to Asher’s face when he cleared his throat. He was staring at her with one of his perfectly shaped brows raised. Her face flushed.
• "Jess isn’t that bad."
• "I bet."
• "Yeah." She tucked her friend’s legs properly into the car. Jess had passed out again.
• Octavia closed the door gently. Asher was standing so close that her hand brushed his while shutting the door. He smelled nice—a blend of expensive cologne and something rusty and metallic. Blood.
• It wasn’t repulsive.
• "I guess that’s it for tonight. Thanks for your help."
• "Anytime."
• She hesitated before getting into the car and turned to face Asher. Via noted to herself that she’d never seen him blink. Not even once.
• "This doesn’t mean I’m going to return your affections or anything. I’m not interested in a relationship."
• "Does that apply to me in particular, or all vampires?"
• "That... That makes me sound racist. I’m not like that."
• "I know you’re not. You’re much better."
• "I always feel like you’re referencing something." Or someone. Octavia couldn’t tell.
• "You pretty thing."
• Octavia leaned back against the car to create space between them, but it didn’t do much—Asher just leaned closer until she had nowhere to escape.
• His breath fanned against her skin, making her heart pound fast against her chest. He didn’t even need to breathe—she knew he didn’t.
• He brought a hand to cup her face. His touch was cold, like all vampires.
• "You are so good. So perfect for me."
• "You... don’t even know me."
• "I do. More than you know yourself."
• For a moment, she thought he was going to kiss her, but his lips brushed her cheek instead.
• He took a step back, giving her the space she needed to steady her heart.
• "We are meant to be together. You were made just for me."
• She frowned. The guy was sounding like he owned her. Creepy as hell.
• "Fuck off."
• She got into the car and drove off. Asher remained standing in place, watching her disappear down the road.