Unless he’d planned to draw Connor or Liam’s attention.
“How fortuitous that I’ve found out your relationship now.” Connor’s smile widened, showing more of his fangs. “It would have been a shame to mar such a pretty throat over a case of mistaken identity.”
Okay, maybe I’d been a little quick at considering Drake the bigger threat. It seemed Connor had his own agenda. One that was exactly as bloody and final as you’d expect of a vampire.
“Yes—just as much of a shame for you to end the night sans heart,” Drake returned with an equally saccharin smile.
“M’kay. Enough of that.” I stepped between the two men before either could decide to make good on their not so subtle threats. “You’re both on the same page now and neither of you are going to try to kill the other.”
I leveled both with a look in hopes they would listen.
Frowning, I watched Drake stroll toward his bike. “Where are you going?”
“Since it looks like this date isn’t happening, I’m calling it a night.” Drake grabbed his helmet and threw a leg over the back of the bike. “A word of advice—next time you’re on a stake out, maybe don’t leave your car in the area. The spooks in town all know it by now. It’s a dead giveaway that you’re somewhere nearby. Even if you leave it a few blocks from where you’re staking out an apothecary.”
I guess that answered the question of whether his happening by me at that exact time and place was an accident.
Drake slapped down the visor of his helmet, the bike coming to life with a low rumble. “See you later, cuz.”
I stepped back as he hit the accelerator, speeding past before slowing to make the turn at the end of the parking lot.
“We should head home too,” Connor informed me.
“Connor.” I stopped, not knowing where to start. I should have told him about Drake being there the night my parents’ home was attacked by hunters. Even then, I’d known I should. But by the time he’d arrived to help me compel the police that their neighbors had called when they heard gunshots, it had just seemed easier to keep my dad’s secret—and by extension, Drake’s.
Connor’s expression gave nothing away. His gaze as deep and mysterious as the ocean at night.
“I know. You were worried about your family.”
“You’re my family too.”
My brother by circumstance, if not by blood.
“I’m sorry. I should have told you,” I said, forcing myself to meet his gaze despite the guilt clogging up my throat. “I needed time to process this massive shift in everything I thought I knew.”
“I imagine learning your father is descended from a line that hunts our kind is difficult to come to grips with.”
There was something in his voice as he said that. An understanding born of experience. It occurred to me how much of a shock it must have been to learn his father, our sire, was a vampire all those years ago.
I, at least, had the benefit of pop culture to soften the blow. It had been shocking to find out that myth had become my new reality, but modern thinking was a tad more flexible than the era he’d grown up in. Just look at how his mother had reacted—by trying to drag his father and uncle into the daylight in hopes of killing them.
“I know my dad would never do anything that might jeopardize or hurt me or our family,” I explained.
It was how I justified keeping this secret from him and Liam.
Drake was something else entirely though. It was the reason I felt like I was drowning in guilt. In some ways, it was a relief for Connor to finally know.
Connor moved closer, stopping beside me to tousle my hair. “Don’t look like that. I’m not angry at you.”
“Really?”
Connor dropped his hand and stepped back. “It would be the height of hypocrisy if I was.”
Wait a minute.
“Does this mean you’re keeping something from me?” Taking a moment to swipe Caroline’s belongings off the ground—she’d want them later—I trailed after Connor as he moved through the parking lot. “You’re not, right?”
Connor stopped in front of a dark blue minivan that still had its temporary plates on it. He spread his arms wide, indicating the vehicle. “What do you think? Nice, huh?”
