The trio had to squeeze in close in the back seat, though Kit knew it wouldn’t bother them in the slightest.
In between paying attention to the road, Kit couldn’t help but eye Shaun’s slim leather choker that was incongruous with the rest of his casual outfit. It wasn’t a fashion statement. DJ’s collar—a silver chain—was peeking out from beneath the neckline of his shirt and could be mistaken for a simple necklace. No matter what the pieces looked like, though, they still represented Rake’s ownership.
“What?” Shaun said, catching Kit staring.
Kit scrabbled for a suitable lie. “You have a hickey on your neck. How high school of you.”
Shaun shot him a cheeky smile. “Sure I do. Sir wasn’t about to let us walk into a nest without looking claimed.”
Quin glanced over at Kit. “Should I be concerned about that with you?”
“You’re fine,” DJ said, flapping a hand in the air. “Kit smells like he bathed in your scent.”
“I showered and used normal grooming products, thank you very much,” Kit retorted.
“You’ve been feeding solely from him, haven’t you?” Shaun said, sitting forward in the middle seat as far as he could whilst being pressed between Rake and DJ.
“Yeah.”
“I can tell. You both smell the same.”
Maybe Kit didn’t need to wear Quin’s collar if anyone with supernatural senses could tell that the two of them were together. Still, he touched his bare neck, wondering what it would be like to be so overt in stating what they meant to each other. The last item he’d worn around his neck had been his old school tie. Perhaps it was time to replace the memory with a more pleasant experience.
“Kit?” Quin’s voice drew him back to the present. “I asked if you remembered what the hell those other vampires with Conroy were called.”
“Kezia and Tati.”
“And the witches are Roxana—I think she goes by Roxy—and Xavier,” Quin said. “Sister and brother.”
“Russian accents,” Kit added.
“Are all witches Russian?” Rake asked.
“Just these particular ones,” Quin said. “My pack had dealings with an Italian one in Wales. Witches are more common in some countries than others.”
“How does their magic work?” Rake asked. He always seemed to have questions.
“Not sure, exactly,” Quin said. “They seem to channel it through objects.”
“Xavier had lots of rings, and Roxy had her necklaces. Must be how they harness it,” Kit said.
“Cool,” DJ said. “Magic, but make it fashion.”
Shaun snorted. Kit kept his face blank, though he was also trying not to laugh.
DJ pointed a finger in Kit’s direction. “You’re smiling.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve never smiled in my life.”
“You smile every time that you look at Quin,” Rake said, though his attention was out the window and not on the conversation.
On cue, Quin gave Kit a satisfied look that had him resisting the instinct to smile. “Fuck off,” he said, then glared at Rake in the rearview mirror. “And fuck you too.”
Quin chuckled, though Rake remained as unbothered as ever, only humming a quiet acknowledgement of Kit having addressed him.
As St Andrews came into sight, a restless energy built in the car. The reality of facing down a nest of vampires was enough to sober them.
“We need to feed before we get there,” Shaun said. “In case there’s any fighting required.”
