Deirdre motioned for them to follow her to the bedroom. “Believe me. He’s dead to the world right now. He won’t hear a thing.”
The women filed into the room and stood around the bed. “He’s a cutie pie, isn’t he?” Eve said.
Dee smiled at him. “Adorable.”
“And a sweetheart too,” Venus said.
Lilith cringed. “We’ll see how sweet he wants to be when he wakes up and realizes what I’ve done. I’m afraid he’ll hate me.”
“Why would he hate you?” the Goddess of Love asked.
“Because he made it quite clear he did not want to be a vampire. What if I’ve done the wrong thing by turning him?”
“Pfft.” Deirdre waved a hand dismissively. “He’ll get over that real quick.”
“How do you know? Were you turned against your will?”
“Well, no, but my sire abandoned me a few years later, and I got over it.”
Lilith crossed her arms. “And how long did that take?”
Dee shrugged. “Just a century or so.”
Lilith sighed and sank onto the edge of the bed. “Fangtastic. He’s going to hate me for a century.”
“No, he won’t.” Eve patted her shoulder. “You’re not going to abandon him. That’s the difference.”
“Never. I love him.”
“Everything will work out,” Venus said. “Ladies, let’s give Lilith some privacy. You know where to find us if you need anything.”
Lilith nodded. “Thank you.”
Her friends left, and Lilith gazed at her soulmate lying on the bed. Esther had taken her favorite spot on Spencer’s belly, and Lilith lay beside them in the bed while Percival sat between them. She never realized how much of her heart resided outside her body until this moment. She’d taken her familiars for granted, assumed they would always be with her. She knew now that she had to take care of them and of herself.
Spencer’s eyes moved beneath his lids, and Lilith sat up, her muscles tensing. She would never take this man for granted, and she would show him every day for the rest of eternity how much of her heart resided in him.
Percival rose to his feet, watching the movement intently, and a light flush of color returned to Spencer's ashen cheeks. Though he didn’t need to breathe, he sucked in a gasp of air, and his eyes opened.
Spencer lay still, staring at the ceiling in a dark room. A weight lay on his stomach, and something or someone stirred beside him. His throat felt like he’d swallowed an electric sander—while it was running—and his mouth tasted of copper, but otherwise, he felt okay. A little foggy, but no worse for wear.
The ceiling above didn’t look like anything he’d seen before. Painted black, it had millions of tiny crystals scattered across it like stars. Where the hell was he?
Think, Spence. Think. What’s the last thing you remember?
The cavern in the rainforest had been covered with crystals like this. Had the cave-in knocked him out? Had the past few weeks been nothing more than a dream? No, that wasn’t possible. He’d found his soulmate; he hadn’t imagined that. Speed dating… Costa Rica…
Romania. He and Lilith had spent the night at Andrei’s castle, and Alan and Rebecca met them there the next day. Then what? He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to chase the fog from his mind. They interviewed Andrei. Or…they were going to interview him. Had they done it?
Yes, the memory was vague, but he recalled the library and how good Lilith looked on camera. Then they’d gone to the cemetery, and… No, that part had to be a nightmare.
“Spencer?” Lilith’s fingers brushed his forehead, and he opened his eyes to find her gazing at him lovingly.
Relief washed over him. “I had the wildest dream.” He rose onto his elbows, and his gaze locked on the thing weighing down his stomach…a snake.
A fucking snake.
“Ahh!” Without thinking, without assessing what kind of snake it might be, whether or not its bite could kill him, or even why it was lying on his stomach, he grabbed it behind its head and flung it across the room.
