Page 26 of Vampire Visions

“And that means what, exactly?” Vaughn asked, his English accent tinting his words.

“Look,” York started as the door opened and Franklin walked in, “She said ‘just hold him down for me’, and then he lit himself on fire.” He glanced at each of us with a serious expression while shaking his head. “I’m not fire-retardant. It took me three days to heal the burns he left on my skin, and I had to shave my head because I had a big ass patch of hair missing.”

Sloane covered her mouth with her hand and turned her face away from him. Her eyes brimmed with tears as she fought back her laughter. “It was great,” she choked out.

“It was horrible!” York gasped. “I drank more healing potions than the damned hellhound needed to begin with. Then, because Helios is a dick, he chewed up all the shoes I had here. For a whole month, every time I walked too close to him, he’d lift his leg and try to pee on me. Do you know how I got him to stop?” He looked scarred from his memories. We were all trying not to laugh. Even Franklin, who was still standing right inside the door, kept pulling the corner of his lip down when it would curl up on its own.

“No. How?” Sloane laughed and quickly tried to recover. “How did you make him stop peeing on you, York? I’m dying to know.”

“I kept bringing him steaks when I came home from work. Not cheap ones, either. No,” he drawled, “He wouldn’t eat those. Only the best cuts of meat for your precious Helios.”

“You should have said something,” Franklin cut into York’s rant. “I would have put some in the fridge for you to bribe him with.”

“I can’t believe this is a serious conversation right now,” Stone whispered to himself before turning to Sloane. “I’ll help you dose them. At least they can’t burn me.”

“Great. Now that that’s all settled,” she turned to Franklin, “How’s my schedule looking?”

“Open, Madam. I've already moved everything around in preparation for your trip.”

“Awesome.” She perked up as she stood.

“Clear your schedules, boys. We’re going to Louisiana tomorrow.”

“I’m not a boy,” Briggs grumbled.

“Are you a girl?” Sloane asked sarcastically.

“No.” He looked at her incredulously. “I’m a man.”

“I don’t have any proof to confirm that.” She smiled sweetly at Briggs, and he rolled his eyes. Something was going on between those two, and if no one said anything then they’d keep playfully bickering with each other.

“We’re all clear except Stone this week.” I turned to the demon in question.

“I don’t have any patients until next week. If I need to cancel those, then I can,” Stone confirmed while scrolling through his phone. Probably checking his calendar, if I had to guess. He was meticulously organized when it came to his job.

“Okay. So everything is sort of planned then?” Novak questioned everyone.

“Yes and no,” Sloane answered, tilting her head to the left. “How do you guys want to get there?”

“Can we talk about that later?” Briggs groaned. “I’m starving.”

“And I’m dead on my feet,” York complained. “No offence, Novak.” He gave the vampire a lopsided grin.

“Ha. Ha.” He shot back blandly. “You’re so punny. You know she’s part vampire, too, right?”

York smirked, looking exactly like the Druid he was years ago. “Yeah, but she has a heartbeat.”

As they all began to clear the room, bantering all the way up the stairs, I waited behind with Sloane. I stood by the doorway, watching her push in all the chairs.

Her hair had been fading from highlighter yellow back to her natural metallic silver color in small chunks. She slid across the floor in her socks instead of walking, grinning to herself when she glided more than a foot or two.

She was so imperfectly perfect. From the way she moved to the way she acted. The more I was around her, the more I felt myself slipping. Love was a dangerous word. Even though I didn’t love her yet, I knew I could. Knew I would. There was no way to stop it.

How could she love us all, though? Especially with all of us bringing our own issues to the table. We hadn’t unpacked any of our problems with her yet. We all had secrets, but mine were a little different. Maybe York had told her about his family drama, but I knew he’d be the only one and only because of their shared past. I knew he hadn’t spoken to any of us about what happened when he was imprisoned. Vaughn had things that he hid about his family. He never spoke of them or his time in the fae realm. Stone rarely mentioned his years living in the underworld because of the shit that happened to his parents. Briggs had his own emotional baggage. A sensitive heart and crazy exes that rivaled our mate, just to name the simplest ones. Novak had a string of arrests and daddy issues.

But me? My problems weren’t with my family, exes, or home. They were worse than that. I knew I needed to back off until I told her everything I was hiding, but I couldn’t bring myself to say any of the words aloud. I didn’t even want to think about them. Could I tell her everything without her getting angry? Would she understand that I made my mistake before I met her?

I couldn’t stay away from her. I knew that much. Every molecule in my being sang for her. When we touched, it felt like electricity humming through me. I wouldn’t give her up. I’d die before I turned her over. I just needed her to trust me enough to know that I couldn’t and wouldn’t hurt her. The thought made me sick.