“They were like this when I found them,” the man at the door said.Foundthem? That made no sense. Wasn’t Shi in Houston?
“Whoa…” Shi said, wavering, and I noticed James tighten his grip, steadying them.
“Why don’t you go lay them down?” James suggested, trying to hand Shi over to me.
“You don’t want to do it yourself?” Shi asked, batting their eyelashes at my vampire. “I wouldn’t mind, you know.” James looked down at them in surprise.
“Go,” I said. “The couch is more comfortable than the floor.” Looking back at the stranger hovering awkwardly in the doorway, I added, “I’ve got this.”
“Are you sure?”
I glanced at Shi Baby pointedly. “They’ll be on the floor in a minute if you don’t.”
James’s attention flickered from me to the stranger, but he must’ve reached the same conclusion I had that the man wasn’t a threat. He left me at the front door, whispering softly to Shiloh. I watched them go, worried, until a soft murmur distracted me.
“This is all my fault.” The man, tall enough to look me in the eye, pushed a hand through his cropped, mousy hair. He swallowed hard, and for a moment I thought he was about to cry.
“Okay…” I scrubbed my hands over my face, banishing the last traces of sleep. I knew turning into a vampire was supposed to be draining, but I was starting to suspect the change wasn’t happening. I felt too normal, too tired. I didn’t think vampires felt fatigue so easily. “Why don’t we start with who you are?”
“I’m Michael,” he said. “Shiloh’s brother.”
“I’m—”
“Ryder, I know. They haven’t shut up about either of you for weeks.”
“What do you mean they were like this when you found them? I thought they were in Houston with you.”
Michael sighed. “They were. There was, um… an incident, and they flew home early. Got in this morning—yesterday morning, I guess. I booked a flight to come after them, but when I arrived a couple of hours ago, I found them like this.”
My skin prickled, but it was nothing more than my protectiveness over Shi. My heightened defenses had little to do with the guy standing in front of me though. Judging by the look on his face, and the way he spoke about them, he really cared about Shiloh. “An incident?”
Michael seemed to think over his response. He opened his mouth, then closed it again. Finally, he said, “I’m sure it’s nosecret that my sibling is quite tight-lipped about their personal life.”
“That’s the understatement of the year. They’ll want to be the one to tell me, won’t they?”
“I think so.”
“Make him go away!” Shi called from the couch. “Tell him I’m fine.”
I cringed. That couldn’t have been pleasant to hear. “Do you have somewhere to stay?” I asked him.
“I’ve got a hotel nearby. Are you sure they’re okay with you? I can wrestle them out of here if they’re a bother.”
I grinned, but as I spoke, I found it quickly softened into a natural smile. “Nothing’s ever a bother when it comes to them.”
After promising to call and check in on Shi later, Michael left in what I assumed to be a rental car. I locked Carlos behind the baby gate in the kitchen doorway, then joined Shi and James in the living room. Shi had their head in James’s lap, and despite having called out less than thirty seconds earlier, they were snoring softly. The alcohol had knocked them out. Instead of sitting on the loveseat, I lowered myself to the floor at James’s legs.
“Are they all right?” I asked.
“Mmhmm…” Absentmindedly, James let his hand fall to their hair. Freezing in place, he looked to me for guidance.
There was clearly a spark between the three of us, and we had yet to address it. Now, however, wasn’t the time. With a smile, I leaned against James’s thigh, a silent signal to him that it was okay.
“How are you feeling?” he asked, eyes sinking to the deep purple mark on my neck—one that had become nearly permanent since the first time he bit me.
“I don’t feel anything yet,” I whispered, only for James’s brows to furrow. Concerned at his expression, I added, “How long does it usually take?”
“It’s typically pretty quick, which is all the more reason you should get back to bed. In the morning?—”
