Their breath fogs in the air, mixing with exhaust until the whole world seems to pulse with heat and frost.Somewhere off to the side, someone whispers a goodbye.Gloves clasp.Shoulders are clapped.Promises made in low, rough voices fill the spaces between heartbeats.
The scent of fuel and winter bites at my lungs, but beneath it thrums something sharper, fear, stark and metallic, braided with a fierce, unshakeable determination this club wears like a second skin.It settles over all of us, humming beneath the roar of engines and the crunch of boots on the snow.
Movement catches my eye, Blade, doubled over slightly, not from pain, but because Hannah has thrown her arms around him.I can’t hear what she’s saying, not over the engines and the chaos, but I don’t have to.It’s all there in the way she holds his face in her hands, in the way his forehead drops to hers as if he can’t bear to break even an inch of space between them.Whatever their words are, they’re stitched with love and fear and something so raw it makes my throat tighten.
He kisses her softly, reverently, a promise, and for a moment the whole brutal world seems to quiet around them.
A blur streaks across the snow.
A gray cat barrels straight toward Vex like a guided missile.He crouches without hesitation, scooping her up as she chirps in a bossy little voice.The terrifying vampire who could tear monsters apart with his bare hands melts instantly, rubbing his cheek against her head as she headbutts him like she owns him.
Maybe she does.
I walk toward them, and he turns, cradling her with ridiculous gentleness.“Tessa,” he says, “this is Grace.”
Grace looks at me.
Then at him.
Then lets out a low, disgruntled growl as if announcing that I am intruding onherterritory.
Vex blinks.“Grace,” he murmurs, offended but amused, “be nice.”
She growls louder.
Despite everything, the fear, the looming battle, I laugh.A real one.Short and surprised and painfully needed.
“Looks like she’s claimed you,” I say.
His smile is small but soft.“Seems like it.”
Hannah finds me as I’m putting on the heavy leather jacket Vex gave me, her eyes red-rimmed but dry.She takes Grace from Vex and pulls me to one side as her furball growls continuously.
“You bring him back,” she says, gripping one of my shoulders.“You bring all of them back.”
“I’ll do everything I can.”
“I know you will.”She pulls me into a fierce one armed hug.“You’re stronger than you think, Tessa.Don’t forget that when things get dark.”
Then she’s gone, disappearing back into the clubhouse where the those who aren’t coming with us are hunkered down behind wards and weapons.
Vex appears at my side, his presence a solid anchor in the swirling activity.He’s dressed for war, leather reinforced with kevlar, weapons strapped to every available surface, his eyes already white with vampire intensity.
“Ready?”he asks.
“No.But let’s go anyway.”
His mouth quirks in something that might be a smile if we weren’t about to ride into hell.He hands me a helmet, it’s matte black, fitted with communications gear and helps me secure it.His fingers linger on my jaw.
“Stay close to me.No matter what happens, you stay close.”
“I will.”
“I mean it, Tessa.The moment things go sideways—”
“Already planning on staying glued to you.I heard you.”I catch his hand, pressing it against my chest where my heart hammers against my ribs.“I’m not going anywhere without you.”
Through the bond, I feel his fear for me, his love, his absolute determination to keep me alive even if it costs him everything.The depth of it steals my breath.
