Hell if I knew.
Did I think I’d ever be lucky enough to find my viramore?
Since when was I ever, in my entire life, lucky? No way. No way would I be one of the lucky ones.
I stared at Lanche for a moment, then realized Anton’s hand was still wrapped around his throat threateningly with his claws out and ready to tear through skin. It made me shudder, and I reached over again and grabbed Anton’s forearm.
“Let him go, Anton. Now.” My voice had a little bit of werewolf growl to it that seemed to surprise both Anton and myself.
He lifted a brow at me like he couldn’t believe I’d just growled at him, and I shrugged. My emotions were all over the place, but I knew I didn’t want him to hurt Lanche. I wanted to… talk to the snow yeti.
Alone.
Without an audience.
And that couldn’t happen with the old-ass vampire threatening him like this. Or hurting him.
The thought of him hurting Lanche made my stomach queasy, so I squeezed Anton’s forearm and added a small, “Please let him go.”
Anton stared at me for a moment, then sighed before he turned a hard look Lanche’s way. He put his face right up to the yeti’s and growled out, “If you hurt him, I swear to the Mother of All, I will hunt you down, drain you of every last drop of blood, and feed your corpse to a frost basilisk.”
That made me shudder. Frost basilisks were no joke. They were terrifying creatures that hunted any living creature and ate them with gumption. They were large snakes, bigger even than most dragons, with huge mouths that opened up to reveal shark-like teeth. They had hard scales for digging through snow and ice, so they were like a giant fist bursting through the ground when they hunted.
Honestly, they were one of the most terrifying creatures around and definitely one of the reasons I never traveled outside of the city.
The city itself was protected by charms, spells, and dragon magic—and probably other things I didn’t have the clearance to know about—so the ice monsters that were true threats to people never came into the city. Supposedly, they stayed away from most of the roads that led out of the city to other towns and cities, but why the hell would I want to risk it just to see another city covered in snow?
Anton’s threat was… a good one as far as threats went, but I really needed him to stop and let this damn yeti go.
I said, “Anton,” and a bit of a growl came out of me—a threat. A warning. But both of them ignored me.
Lanche breathed out, “I would never hurt him.”
Anton stared at him for a long moment before giving the yeti a small push and releasing him. Lanche let out a loud exhale as he bent over, panting, coughing, and trying to catch his breath.
I stood there, wanting to reach out to him but unsure of whether I should or not. I didn’t know if he liked being touched or if he’d freak out after Anton’s reaction. So I stood there like a chum, staring at the big man with my hand reaching out halfway between us.
After a long minute, he finally straightened and met my gaze for a few seconds before he looked away, and I dropped my hand, feeling even more unsure than I had a few seconds ago. What the hell?
“Anton?” a voice called out from the breakroom door. “Someone’s asking about renting out the whole store for a party, and I don’t know what to tell them.”
I glanced over to see Vanessa, my fellow employee and yet another vampire in my life, grimacing at us and looking uncomfortable for interrupting… whatever this was.
“Be right there,” Anton said, staring at me for a long moment before he turned to help her.
Jed and the others were chatting loudly behind me, so I asked Lanche, “Do you want to go somewhere we can talk?”
He nodded.
I glanced around, saw everyone staring at us, rolled my eyes, flipped them off—getting a few chuckles—and nodded toward the back door that opened to the employee parking lot. Lanche followed me without question as I led him out to my car.
We got in, and I turned it on since it was freezing out, then sat there, unsure of what to do or where to go.
After a long, awkward moment, he said, “W-we could go back to my-my place.”
I glanced at him, then down at the icicle I hadn’t realized I still held, and something swirled uncomfortably in my belly. A huge part of me wanted to trust Lanche—honestly, my heart felt like it already did, despite not knowing him—but I’d been burned way too many times to give in so easily. My gut told me he’d never hurt me, but could I even trust my gut?
No. I couldn’t. Not after Joshua.
