Roman—not only a guard but the best friend of the king—sighed in resignation. “This is how you’re gonna wind up kidnapped,Your Highness.” He saidYour Highnesslike it was an insult.
To my surprise—and honestly, to my amusement—Oakley flipped him off. “Get in the car,bodyguard.” They saidbodyguardthe same way Roman had saidYour Highness.Oh my.
Roman stepped up close to me, leaned in, and said in a low and growly voice, “I swear to the Mother of Scales if this is some kind of trick or if you hurt Oakley in any way at all, I will take pleasure in ripping your limbs from your body before I smoke you and eat you whole.”
He swiped the keys from my hand and pushed me toward the backseat while I gaped at him and tried not to pee my pants. He might’ve been shorter than me at the moment, but when he shifted, he’d be as big as a house and could very easily pull off his threats.
Holy crapola, I might puke even though my magic was singing in my veins.
This back and forth with my anxiety, fear, and excitement wasn’t good for my belly.
Oakley huffed and grabbed the keys from Roman, murmuring, “Was that really necessary?”
“Yes, yes, it was.” Roman climbed into the front passenger’s seat, turning around to glare at me—I really might pee my pants—I sat in the back, and Oakley sat in the driver’s seat, asking, “Where to?”
“Um, do you know the bookstore, Sleepless Books?”
“Oh! Anton’s place. Sure do.” They pulled out of the parking lot and headed in that direction.
“You know Anton?”
“Yeppers. His viramore is my best friend.”
My eyes widened again, but I decided to focus on my magic… and on Dain’s essence. We weren’t connected the way viramores were once their magics blended, but he was still holding my icicle, so I could feel where he was. As long as he didn’t let go, I should be able to follow it. Hopefully, he’d stay at the bookshop—assuming that was where he still was.
Now that I was on my way to see him, my anxiety started overtaking the happiness I felt from him holding my icicle—my magic, my heart.
Oakley made it to the bookstore in record time, and as soon as they parked, I jumped out and ran for the door, not caring at all that they still had my keys.
I had to see Dain.
Ihadto.
I rushed in, and even though I wasn’t supposed to go into the employee-only area, I could feel Dain back there, so I didn’t hesitate to go through the door. Someone yelled at me from behind the counter, but my only thought wasGet to Dain.
As soon as I walked into the breakroom, everyone inside went quiet.
Anton, the oldest vampire in our territory, rushed me, wrapped his hand around my throat, and slammed me against the wall. His voice came out with a hiss. “What did you do? What hold did you put on my werewolf?”
His werewolf? He thinks Dain is his?
No fucking way.
A strange growling sound came out of my throat, and I struggled to speak around his hand. “He’s. Not. Yours.”
Chapter Five
Dain
“He’s. Not. Yours,” echoed through my head, through my heart, and solidified there.
He was right.
I wasn’t Anton’s—at least not in the sense that Lanche meant. Anton was my friend, perhaps even family, but I wasn’t his.
But I wasn’t Lanche’s, either.
At least not yet.
