Can't Keep the Baby

Why would he be at a bar so late looking for someone? With Heath and Lysander out of the city, and Zane under Soraya's constant watch, who else could Alaric possibly be meeting?

Vespera gave a bitter smile. She realized she had no idea who Alaric's other friends were. When he wasn't at home or at office, she never knew where he went. Yet somehow he always seemed to know exactly where to find her. She had laid herself bare before him while remaining completely in the dark about who he really was.

She tossed aside her phone, only for a new notification to pop up - a social media check-in from Elowen at a bar, posted just fifteen minutes ago.

Suddenly, Vespera let out a hollow laugh. Now she understood the source of that mixture of alcohol and perfume she'd smelled on him. The late-night bar visit made perfect sense now. How utterly predictable - the same old patterns, the same old lies.

Though perhaps "lies" wasn't quite right this time. He hadn't actually lied, and she hadn't pressed h