I missed the weight of him when he stood. I sat up, resting my elbows on my knees and my head in my hands. Slowly—too slowly for my liking—my hearing started to return. James stood next to me, rubbing soothing circles over my back. His voice was muffled at first, like we were underwater, but finally I could make out what he was saying.
“Can you hear me, love?”
I nodded. “Head hurts,” I mumbled into my palms.
“I need you to come back to me.” His serious tone made me look up. Gone was the vulnerable man from five minutes ago, replaced with a hardened version of him. Something dangerous lurked behind his eyes, something I couldn’t quite discern, but it wasn’t what I expected. He didn’t look scared—or even surprised—that a fuckingbullethad just shattered his window. He looked angry. “I need you to go home.”
“What?” I shouted, confused. I stood on shaky legs. “Are you out of your mind? I’m not going home. Someone shot at us! I’m not leaving you here.”
“Only one of us can survive a gunshot, and I’m not keeping you in danger. You have a daughter to think about.”
“James—”
“Ryder. Please don’t fight me on this.” He brushed sweaty curls from my face. “I need to deal with this, and I can’t while I’m concerned about you. I need you to get out of here.” I opened my mouth to protest again, but he cut me off. “Please.”
His thumb stroked my cheek until I looked at him again. “Okay,” I finally relented.
He pressed his lips to mine. “I promise I’ll come to you as soon as I’m done here.”
“If I don’t hear from you in two hours, I’m coming back.”
“I can deal with that.”
I looked at the shattered window, but James guided me to the door.
“Go. Home. I’ll see you soon.”
Reluctantly, I left him alone in his office. I stumbled down the hall, reminding my legs how to work as I headed into the main bar area.
The room was dark, the only illumination the spotlights over the shelves, and the room was too quiet. It was the kind of silence that makes you check around corners and behind shower curtains for lingering psychopaths. A chill crept down my spine, and I looked for James out of instinct—but he was nowhere to be found. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.
It was only once I was halfway home that the feeling of danger faded away—and I realized I hadn’t seen Dani anywhere.
Suddenly afraid for her, I fished my phone from my pocket and dialed, only to reach her voicemail. Her car hadn’t been in the parking lot, so I had to hope she’d made it out before the gunshot went off.
I drove the rest of the way on autopilot. I let myself in the door, walked Carlos around the block just to keep myself moving, then paced in my foyer.
Waiting…
And waiting…
And waiting. My phone remained silent. No vampires appeared at my door or window. One hour passed, then two.
Keys in hand, I was marching toward the front door when I heard the knock. I rushed to answer it so fast that I tripped over my own feet, catching myself on the doorjamb. I threw the door open relieved to see James standing there.
The relief faded as I took in his stance, his expression. He stood with his hands in his pockets, eyes downcast. He didn’t look at me as he said, “I’m sorry, Ryder.”
Chapter 25
“I’m being hunted.”
“I can’t put you in any more danger than I already have.”
“I can’t tell you how sorry I am.”
“I want you too, Ryder, so bad it hurts. But I can’t put you through this.”
“We can’t, it isn’t safe.”
