“Consequences?”
“The Huntsman may be unhappy.”
I growl, and my magic grows to fill the car, pressing down on both of us. I won’t let him do to Vlad what he did to Maurice. I won’t let him hurt any of us. Not again.
Vlad stretches one arm across the centre console and presses his thumb to my lips. I shiver and go quiet.
“We will be fine. He knows of the bond already. I am simply… I like to be prepared.”
“Okay. Yeah, okay.”
Vlad smiles, andGod, every smile is devastating, just a little bit, and then he kisses me, dragging me close. My magic doesn’t recede. It pulses again, wrapping around both of us, ready to sink into the bond and—
Someone raps on the window at my back. I pull back with a yelp and Vlad glares at whoever has disturbed us.
Maurice. He raises his eyebrows, and I open the door, just enough that I can hear him.
“When you’ve quite finished,” he says, trying not to laugh, I can see it, “we’re all waiting for you inside.Allof us.”
The Huntsman is here, then.
Vlad doesn’t let go of me, but his tone is cool and detached when he replies, “We will be with you shortly.”
Maurice almost breaks. He presses his lips together and swallows and when he says, “Right,” it comes out with a tremor. Fucker. I’ll get him back about Njáll if I have to—though maybe when Njáll isn’t around. For being one of the only people I know who isn’t fae or fae-blessed, he’s surprisingly intimidating.
Vlad waits until Maurice is firmly inside, door closed behind him, before he draws me in for another kiss. “Boyfriend,” he breathes against my mouth. “I like that.”
“You don’t think it’s…” I trail off. Immature? I can’t ignore the difference in our ages, not all the time. I don’t want to make it into athing.
“I have never been anyone’s boyfriend before,” Vlad says, cheeks pink. Oh. Well. That settles that then.
“Well, you’re mine. Now let’s go see what this is all about.”
The atmosphere as we enter the living room is strained at best. Maurice wasn’t kidding—Njáll and Quinn are here, along with all the Hunt, with the exception of Moreau. And Rook and Saide, but I figure they’re long gone by now.
Quinn is sitting where I usually would on the sofa, but he moves when we walk in. Asher grumbles at him when he drops to sit on the floor—he’s right; Quinn doesn’t need to move for me—but then moves to sit next to his mate. Don’t know why he’s bothered. Vlad often doesn’t sit when the Huntsman is here. He stands on tenterhooks, instead.
Only, when I sit today, exchanging smiles with Paxton and Jeremiah first, Vlad takes the now-vacant spot to my left. He sits close enough that our thighs press together, and when he levels his gaze on the Huntsman, my heart beats a little faster.
“Vladimir,” the Huntsman says, inclining his head. His dark eyes move to me. “Grant.”
I start in surprise. He’s never acknowledged me by name before, and it feels like that’s important. He stands before all of us, and my stomach twists because his expression is never anything but stern, but there’s something different to the lines of it right now, something deeper.
“The queen is dead.”
The air stills. Quinn darts a look at me, and I think we’re both in a similar boat, where yeah, we know that’s important, but the true ramifications are beyond us. Vlad clenches one hand on his thigh. “And her heirs?”
“We have to hope they are up to the task,” the Huntsman replies.
I dart looks at the others. Maurice has gone flinty-eyed in that way that means he knows something the rest of us don’t.
I can figure it out, though. I’ve spent all my vampire life talking to fae. I knew the name Iagan long before Eirian said it.
I just didn’t know who it belonged to back then.
“There is much still to do,” the Huntsman says, “and until this matter is settled, things will only be more volatile. I hope you areallprepared.”
His gaze moves from Njáll to Quinn and finally lands on me. I feel his magic reach out, brush against mine, and I push back against it. I’ll obey him because Vlad obeys him and I’m not trying to cause trouble, but I keep the decision I made earlier close to my heart. He won’t hurt us. Any of us.
