“There you are,” I said softly, even though it was only the three of us in the room.
“Here I am,” she replied just as quietly.
She watched me walk into the room, her gaze ticking down to my unwrapped wrist, then back to my face.
“All better.” I wiggled my fingers for proof. “Mind if I join?”
“Did they send you here for a nap?”
“They threatened to turn me into a frog if I didn’t.”
She smiled, then scooted back to the edge, making room for me. “Come on over, Kermit.”
I opened my mouth and made a half-hearted wave of hands to mimic the Muppet.
That got a huff of a laugh out of her, and I felt some of the tension, the fear in me, ease.
I settled onto the bed, springs creaking and popping as I lay down to face her, my boots hanging off the end.
I hadn’t expected a high-quality mattress, but it was surprisingly comfortable.
“This is nice,” I said, the fatigue of the last few days, weeks, weighing heavily on me.
She hummed and adjusted her feet, resting the toes of her shoes against my shins.
“I don’t want you to go tonight,” she said. “To find Rhianna. I want you to stay here.”
“I don’t want you to go, either,” I said. “I know you’re fast and strong. But Lula, that does not make you invincible, love.”
“I never thought…” She licked her bottom lip. “Ricky said Raven was right.” She shifted the pillow under her head. “She said Dominick was turned by the monster who attacked us. I know killing him isn’t our goal. I know killing him doesn’t have anything to do with finding the monster who attacked us. Doesn’t really have anything to do with finding the book and destroying it, which is what we should be doing.”
“Or hiding the book,” I said, “if we decide to believe what Raven was saying about Ordinary.”
“Believe a god?” She slipped her hand forward and rested it on my hip. “Doesn’t sound like us.”
I put my hand on her back, the heat of her skin under the soft tank top warming my fingers. I pulled us just that small bit closer together and made a sound of agreement.
“So,” I said, “I think we need to choose how we’re doing this tonight. And whatever choice we make, we do it together.”
“I can’t walk away from saving that little girl. If there’s a chance, I want to save her.”
“I agree. And that means we do it together.”
She hesitated. I could see how much she wanted to argue, how afraid she was for me. “I know,” I said, even though she hadn’t said anything. “I feel the same about you. We will keep each other safe. We’ll trust that we can each take care of ourselves, right?”
She didn’t look away, didn’t frown. But I knew she wanted to argue a different way forward.
“Love.” I tipped my head down so we were eye-to-eye. “I can’t let you go into that vampire’s territory, into that vampire’s home, alone. It’s just not in me.”
“Brogan, if you’re hurt…if you’re killed…”
I shook my head. “I’m capable of staying alive, of being with you, no matter what tries to keep us apart.”
“You have to promise me you’ll remember you’re human.”
“I’m not human.”
“Human enough.” She lifted her hand and cupped the side of my face. “Promise me.”
