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“What do you want to know?”
“Do you sparkle?”
I fought to keep a straight face. James, however, grunted. “You’re going through a rough time, so I’ll forgive you for that one.”
After a pause, Kian gestured between the two of us. “How does this work?”
I raised my eyebrows. “Well, when two people really like each other…”
“Ew! Gross! Not what I meant!” He scrubbed a hand over his face as if he could erase the mental image. “I deserved that.”
“Yes, you did,” James agreed. “Now, what do you mean by that?”
“V-vampires have super strength, right? So how do you keep from hurting Ryder?”
James fished the chain around his neck out from his sweater, holding it up with his thumb. “Because of this.”
“Silver?” Kian guessed. “I thought that was werewolves.”
“Pure silver dulls my powers, but there’s not enough in this one to hurt me. Can’t say the same thing for the wolves though:anyamount is too much for them.”
Kian looked at the jewelry for a moment, then shook his head. “I’m confused. If it dulls your powers, why wear it?”
James tucked the chain away again. “Think of it like… Adderall for vampires. Too much of it can kill me, but the right purity keeps my powers in check. Does that help?”
Kian nodded.
“What else?”
He was quiet for several long moments, stroking Carlos’s fur. “Did my brother—Luke—say anything to you before he left? Did you see anything?”
“Sorry, but I didn’t arrive until after he was gone. He likely booked it out of there before the fire started.”
Kian bit his quivering lip. “I don’t know where to go from here.”
James knelt in front of Kian. In that moment, Kian wasn’t a twenty-one-year-old man; he was a lost, scared little boy who didn’t know which way to go. His parents were dead and his brother was missing. Did he even consider Luke a brother anymore? There was so much to unpack, and he wasn’t the only one who didn’t know where to start.
Kian hugged Carlos close, letting James rub his back while he fought against the tears threatening to fall. My heart squeezed—not just because I felt for Kian, but because in spite of everything, James sat there and soothed him. My man was so compassionate that it made my heart ache. It was yet another reason I loved him.
My stomach lurched.
Fuck.
Sitting there, watching him soothe the brother of the guy who tried tokillhim, it finally hit me. Outside of the mate bond, I’d been distraught overeverything.
Because I was in love.
Chapter 19
Unfortunately for us,Shi and I didn’t get much time to recover. They from their wicked hangover, and I from my startling realization.
I’d tasted those silly little words on my tongue more than I cared to admit over the last few weeks, but now they didn’t seem so silly. My stomach roiled at the thought of spitting them out. By that time, Shi showed up at the bar looking as green as I felt. They carried a bottle of Gatorade in one hand and held an ice pack to their head with the other. Teasing them gave me a break from trying to figure out how to tell James that I lov—nope. My stomach wasn’t ready for me to eventhinkthe words. In the midst of it all, a thought crept in.
He’ll just leave like everyone else.
But I shoved it away. I had to. I had too much else to think about.
“Regretting that last mojito, Shi Baby?”
