I gripped the bottle of water tight enough to make the plastic crackle. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.” His implication—that Nicolas was somehow broken—sent a flash of anger through me.
Jeremy’s eyebrows shot up.
“He didn’t want to frighten me,” I explained tightly. “He’s been trying to make this whole thing easier on me.”
And the moment I spoke the words, I knew they were true.
“You love him,” Jeremy said, watching me steadily. “It’s not just magic or fate. It’s him.”
“Why would that be surprising?”
“He’s a killer, for starters.”
“He’s probably saved more lives than he’s taken,” I shot back, hating the note of judgment in Jeremy’s tone.
Though, I’d had the same reaction myself, hadn’t I?
And it wasn’t as though IcondonedNicolas killing anyone, regardless of who they were or what they had done. But there was a big difference between him and most serial killers: he didn’t take innocent lives—instead, he stopped the dangerous ones who hurt innocent people. Though he might not have had noble intentions, that didn’t undo the side effects of his actions. In his own roundabout way, he had spent centuries sparing the lives of people he’d never even meet. And his intent didn’t change that.
Jeremy frowned at me, his eyebrows drawing together in confusion, as though he were preparing to grill me on what, precisely, I had meant. Then he paused, cocking his head to the side. “They’re done.”
I stared at him, surprise overriding my temper. “How could you possibly know that?”
Jeremy’s expression became bemused, the corners of his mouth tugging up in a faint smile. “You’ll understand sooner or later. Probably sooner, is my guess.”
Then, without another word, he led the way out of the kitchen. Feeling off-kilter, I followed behind him.
* * *
By the time we walked into the living room, the difference between Thierry and my vampire was night and day. They sat side by side on the couch. Nicolas’s arm was slung over Thierry’s shoulder, and there were broad smiles on both their faces. Their eyes were still glassy, and Thierry’s were red-rimmed, but their matching expressions were filled with unselfconscious joy.
My heart practically stopped in my chest at the shining light in both their faces. Had I ever seen Nicolas quite so happy? It made my heart ache to see it—in a way that told me just how far gone I was for him.
Memories, sudden and strong, rose in my mind: Nicolas and Thierry in sunlight, walking down a packed-earth street, narrow stone buildings with thatched roofs on either side, both brothers deep in conversation. My heart had gone pitter-pat then as well, just the same as it did now.
Yes, I was in love with Nicolas.
And when my vampire met my gaze, his smile became a grin, his eyes dancing. And I didn’t need to be told again that he felt precisely the same way.
And that simple truth blotted everything else out. Whatever else happened, we could manage anything that came our way—so long as we were together.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX || COLE
Jeremy and Thierry stayed in my spare room. Eli slept with me. I didn’t intend to let my human—my miraculous, beautiful, fierce human—out of my sight. Not until Magnus was dealt with.
“You’re cold,” Eli murmured quietly from behind me in bed, his arms wrapped around my chest protectively.
After eight centuries spent as an emotionless predator, it was strangely nice to be the little spoon. Provided, of course, that my perfect human was the big spoon.
“I’ll be all right,” I said. “I just need to eat. I can do that tomorrow, when I wake.”
“You’re—you’re hungry?”
“I’m fine, Eli. You needn’t trouble yourself worrying about me.”
He snorted. “Too late.” Then he paused. “So when you get cool to the touch, it means you’re hungry?”
“When vampires don’t feed properly, we become less human-seeming,” I explained, feeling suddenly wary.
