“Perhaps this ghost thing isn’t so bad,” he said, stroking my arm. “Shepherd’s matches disappear off the floor, so I won’t be picking up after him. And since Viktor is shifting with his clothes on, I won’t be having to see testicles on my morning stroll.”
“What about Blue?”
“She doesn’t have any.” He touched the ends of my dry hair. “At least you won’t have an excuse for taking your time in the bathroom getting ready for a date.”
“Ooh, are you taking me on a date? Where do you take the undead?”
“I hear the mausoleum is nice this time of year.”
I twisted more to my back, my head resting on his shoulder. “Do you have any advice for me tomorrow?”
“Aye. Don’t go on a killing spree. You’re there to get the wee one. We’ll worry about taking back Keystone later. Even with my blood, you can’t fight off more than one Vampire. You can severely injure them, but that means they can do the same to you.”
“Why did you let me drink your blood tonight? I thought you’d want to save it up for the morning.”
“I wanted to see if it worked. You can’t eat or drink, so I had my doubts about blood. I wager if you can drink blood, you can also steal light.”
“We still don’t know if I can die.”
His short laugh was filled with derision. “I suppose you want to find out?”
“Not really. But he made it sound like we’d be in this shadow realm forever. Maybe he was just being dramatic. But what if we really can’t die?”
“What if youcan? You might be trapped, unable to move on, invisible to even Breed. Never seen nor heard.”
“Good point. I’ll do my best to stay alive.”
“And don’t get close enough for one to charm you. Some use their influence to shorten a fight.”
“So pretend I’m fighting Medusa.”
He caressed my stomach. “You have the advantage in the daytime, so they’ll use what they can. And worse if they take you alive.”
“At least I’d be inside, close enough to kill Sparrow.”
“I’ll not have you held prisoner by a coven. I’d have to leave Keystone.”
I glanced up at him. “For what reason?”
“To spend the rest of my life hunting each one of them down if they disband and escape.”
“You wouldn’t do that.”
“Wouldn’t I?” He dipped his chin to look at me. “No one who harms you will escape my wrath. They’ll suffer, to be sure.”
A chill ran up my spine. “Can she hear us?” I whispered.
“The walls are too thick. Unless she’s standing at the door, we have privacy so long as you talk softly in my ear.”
I turned onto my stomach and rested my arms on his chest. “Have you noticed Viktor’s behavior? He’s distancing himself from her.”
“No complaints here.”
“All this time, I thought Viktor was enamored of her. You’ve seen how he is when she’s around or after a date. Turns out she’s been spiking his drinks with sensory magic.”
Christian gave me a cold look.
“Don’t ask me how I know.” While I didn’t respect Lenore, I had to honor the rules around favor trading. She asked me to keep my getting the alcohol a secret, but it wasn’t the important part of the story anyhow.
