Free Bound, An Arelia LaRue Novel #1 YA Paranormal Romance by Kira Saito Page A

all.
I grabbed the glass out of his hand and chugged down the rest of
its contents. An action that I immediately regretted as it slid
down and burned my insides. “Gross! What is that?”
    He looked fascinated as he took the
glass out of my hand. “Henri IV Dudognon Heritage cognac, meant to
be sipped.”
    “ Okay, whatever that means,
I don’t drink. Anyways, aren’t you supposed to be drinking beer
like the rest of the guys your age?”
    “ Is that what guys my age
are supposed to be drinking?” He asked in what sounded like sincere
surprise.
    “ A Bud Light twelve pack and
a parking lot, that’s how guys at school do it.”
    “ Really?” He walked over to
the corner of the room where an intricately carved table held
bottles of exotic spirits, and poured himself a small shot. “Tell
me more.”
    “ You’re not interested,” I
said, as I examined the bottles. They looked ancient. They weren’t
the kind that you found at Bed Bath and Beyond. Some were decorated
with diamonds, others with rubies and jade. They were definitely
real.
    “ I’m not?” He pretended he
was wounded by my words, as he placed his hand on his chest and
took a step back. “Why is that?”
    “ I know your type. Spoiled,
rich, thinking the world revolves around them. You use girls like
Sabrina because it makes you feel good and entitled. They hang on
your every word and make you feel smart and successful. You’re not
interested in what I have to say because it’s too much of a
challenge to stop thinking about your hair. Sure, one day you’ll
marry a girl like her because it’s easy. You’ll have a couple of
kids, a few mistresses on the side and live out the rest of your
days in denial. Don’t get me wrong, I love my friend, but I know
her all too well, and I have a feeling that you two will make a
perfect couple.”
    “ You think so highly of me
don’t you?” He wasn’t angry which made me feel a little bad for
saying the things I did.
    “ Why should I think highly
of you? We just met, and my best friend is half-naked in your bed.
What have you done to make me think that you’re so awesome?”
Sometimes, I had a bad habit of saying exactly what I
thought.
    “ Your friend chose to be
here, I didn’t invite her and had no intention of doing anything
with her,” Lucus explained like it was the most normal thing to
have Sabrina there.
    “ Sure, you’re just Mr.
Perfect, aren’t you?” What the hell was wrong with me? I had a
slight buzz from the cognac. Was I an angry drunk? “I’m sorry. I
think it’s the cognac.”
    “ No need to apologize.”
Lucus sounded like he actually enjoyed being yelled at by an
irrational girl in a nightgown who had barged into his room in the
middle of the night.
    “ So do you like her?” I
asked. “For some reason, she’s crazy about you. You better be nice
to her.” Why had I just asked him that question? It was really none
of my business.
    “ Why is it so hard to
believe that someone could be crazy about me? Do I smell terrible?”
He sniffed his armpit.
    “ No.”
    “ Well in that case, would
you be offended if I were crazy about her?”
    “ Why do you think I would be
offended?” I asked.
    “ If you didn’t care, you
wouldn’t keep asking me what I thought,” he said in what sounded
like a rather smug tone.
    “ I was only asking because
of Sabrina” I felt myself getting defensive again.
    “ It was really amazing what
you did tonight, helping Ben like that and healing his snake bite.”
He changed the subject.
    “ I told you not to talk
about it,” I hissed in case Sabrina woke up and overhead us
talking.
    “ Don’t worry, I won’t but
your friend clearly isn’t waking up anytime soon, so I think we’re
safe talking about it.”
    “ Did it freak you out?” I
asked. “Seeing something like that?”
    “ No, I’ve seen it many times
before.” He stated it like it was an everyday
occurrence.
    “ Like where?” I was
beginning to find this new world