No sooner hadthe message been marked as “delivered,” when a knock sounded at my door. I scooped the sleeping Carlos off my stomach, bundling him up in the blanket Hannah left before going to let James in.
“Is Hannah asleep?” James asked, easing the door shut behind him.
I shook my head. “She’s not here. Do I need to give you permission to enter every time you come over?”
“No, once is enough unless you tell me otherwise. What doyou mean she’s—fuck!” Carlos popped up out of his blanket, giving James his Predator growl. “What is that?”
“A puppy.” I raised a brow at him. “His name’s Carlos. Want to hold him?”
“No, I don’t want to hold that furry creature from hell.”
“Aww,” I teased, keeping my voice low. “Is the big, bad vampire scared of dogs?” I reached down to pick up the ball of fluff at my feet.
“No! I just—ah!” He flinched as Carlos stuck his nose out to sniff him.
“James,youbite harder than he does,” I said with a chuckle.
“But you like it,” he pouted. Still, he suffered through Carlos’s inspection. “I figured with everything that happened tonight, you wouldn’t appreciate me breaking into your house. Now where’s Hannah?”
The events of the night seemed to weigh down my shoulders. I turned to the side to take a few deep breaths, but James picked up on my odd reaction at once.
“What’s wrong, love?” he asked, placing a tentative hand on my shoulder.
“I’m fine.” I focused on the weight of Carlos in my arms as a distraction, like a tiny, fuzzy weighted blanket.
“You’re not as good of a liar as you think you are.”
I relaxed into James’s arms as he crowded me from behind. “We’ve both had a rough night. Can’t we just forget about it?”
“Would that work for you?”
I sighed in frustration. “No.”
“Then tell me what’s wrong. I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t want to know.”
I kept my back turned to him until I was sure I wasn’t going to break down. Once the sensation passed, I led him over to the couch and recounted everything that had happened. Somewhere in the middle of it all, his hand found its way to my thigh,his thumb rubbing a soothing pattern across the cotton of my pajamas. I hardly stopped to breathe, and by the time I finished talking, my chest ached.
“I guess it’s a good thing I texted you first,” he said at last. “You might’ve stabbed me otherwise.”
I furrowed my brow. “Would it have done anything?”
“No, but borderline immortality doesn’t make being stabbed a pleasant experience.”
I laughed, disturbing Carlos who’d fallen asleep on my stomach.
“Do you want me to stay?” he asked. “At least until you fall asleep?”
Yes. I swallowed hard, the word seemingly stuck. Surely asking for help should be easier than this.
“You can tell me no,” James offered.
I sighed, too tired to fight anything anymore. “I don’t want to. Stay—all night. Let me put Carlos to bed.”
I carried Carlos to his enclosure in the kitchen. Behind me, I heard James mutter something that sounded suspiciously like, “Give him an exorcism while you’re at it.”
We settled into bed as we had before: me on my side with James tucked in behind me. I let out a deep breath, relaxing every muscle in my body as his arm closed over me. My throat constricted again, and I blurted, “What am I going to do if I can’t see her anymore?”
James said nothing, but he leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to my temple.
