Eloy throws his cup into the sink, chipping it. “Okay, clearly, I'm the dumb one here. Will somebody fucking tell me what the hell is going on?”
Galyna laughs, shaking her head. “Our boy here just found his mate. How adorable! So where is she?” She pauses, sniffing the air. “Or maybe he, with how strongly this house smells of mating.”
“Galyna…”
“It doesn’t smell overly wolf-y—did you find a mate in a different shifter category? Ooh! Did you catch a bird? I know you like birds.”
Doc snorts, and I swear I want to wolf out on all these motherfuckers.
“Galyna. If you love me at all, even a little, shut up. Please…shut up.”
It's Eloy’s turn to gape at me and point. “Are you telling me that that little vampire you defiled all night long is yourfatedmate? You’re mated with a vamp? Is that even possible?”
Lil shrugs and lifts her hands. “If the vampire was a shifter—or someone with shifter parentage—when they were made? Totally possible.”
Eloy, who is not given to joviality of any kind, starts laughing so hard he nearly falls to the floor.
“Would y’all shut up? He’s asleep!” The entire kitchen explodes with laughter, so I take my pillow and go back to my room, growling under my breath.
“He wasn’t in there when I grabbed your pillow,” Doc says, a little breathless from laughing. “Probably took your knot and then took off.”
I stop in my tracks, remembering something about vampire hearing.
“Don't be mad! We're happy for you. This is a good thing,” Galyna shouts from the kitchen.
Racing over to my room, I find it empty, where he’d been here just moments ago.
“Remy? Where are you?” I check the bathroom and bupkis.
I make my way back into the kitchen. “Any of you assholes seen my mate?”
Another round of titters goes around the kitchen, but everybody shakes their heads.Fuck.
I check everywhere in the house, calling for him, and no joy. I go back to the room and realize…shit. “None of his things are here. How could he have left so quickly?”
Galyna meets me at the door, nudging me out of the way. “Aren't vampires really fast?”
“Yeah, but why would he leave? We could barely be away from each other. Even though I gave him my knot, the idea of leaving him…” My heart drops to my stomach, and a terrible realization hits me. The things I said at the beginning of this conversation weren’t even close to true. If my empty bed is any indication, he’d heard the part about the ransom, and, more awfully, when I made it just about getting laid.
He didn’t get to see the rest of the team join us for breakfast as Eloy kept fucking with me. I stomp back into the kitchen, pointing at the newest jerk currently ruining my life.
“Eloy, you fucking asshole. You just fucked this for me.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“He heard you asking about his parents and whether or not they would pay us off.”
“How could he hear that? I was whispering to you.”
“He's a vampire! He can hear everything!”
Eloy does manage to look slightly abashed. “Dude, you know I wouldn't fuck with your forever-ness, or whatever y'all call it. I'm not like that. I didn't know!Thisis why you should tell things and not keep secrets.”
“Yeah, well, lesson fucking learned. Where do you think he is?”
Jameson leans over and whispers something into Lillian's ear. She nods. “We think he's over at his parents’ house. If people are trying to get money from returning to his parents, him going there first means that nobody gets any money off him.”
“Damn skippy,” I say, realizing that he's lumping me in with that goddamn werewolf. For fuck’s sake. “I guess I'm going to meet the parents today. And you're taking me because this is all your fault.”
