“We’ve kept things quiet,” Dalton said. “I didn’t want to get caught up in the bureaucratic bullshit that you know would come up. Between the treaties and the political posturing, we’d never get to the bottom of things. Even so, we’ve hit a wall. That’s why Rosemary was sent in. We’ve managed to track some of the soldiers, but we haven’t figured out who’s giving them orders.”
“Yet,” Ian said quietly, still petting the bulldog. “We haven’t found themyet.”
“Nowhere in this story have any of you convinced me why you thought it was acceptable to send my mate into the fucking lion’s den,” I reminded them. “Or why we’re still sitting here waiting for the militia to show up.”
“No one knows where we are,” Gary assured me with a quick shake of his head.
“Forgive me if I don’t take your word for it.”
Gary looked pointedly at his daughter.
“I can explain all that,” Rosemary said with a sigh, unfolding her legs so she could climb off the couch. “Come on, let’s go outside.”
Chapter 3
Rosemary
It was a good thing that I knew what to expect when it came to mates, because I was having a hard time keeping my hands off Daniel. I should’ve been freaking out that I felt such a strong pull toward him. I didn’t even know him.
However, I’d seen the mating bond in action before.
No hesitation on my part would change the outcome. No second-guessing would make things any easier on either of us. When I had a few more moments to myself, I could panic and scream into the void about how unprepared I was to meet the person I’d spend the rest of my life with. I could shake my head in wonder that, out of all the human women in the world, I was one of the few who was connected to a Vampire for all eternity. I could fist pump a little that my mate looked likethat.
But those moments would have to come later. We didn’t have time for them, and frankly, even spending the fifteen minutes apart while I was showering was painful. I’d seriously considered calling him in to sit on the toilet until I’d finished.
“Shoes,” Daniel ordered as I opened the front door.
“What?” I eyed him over my shoulder. God, he was handsome.
“Put some shoes on. You’re barefoot.”
I looked down at my feet.
“You’re going to hurt the bottoms of your feet if you go out running in the gravel again.”
“I didn’t plan on running in the gravel,” I countered.
He just looked at me.
Letting out a long-suffering woosh of air, I slid my feet into my dad’s old slippers and continued outside. The air was cold against my overheated skin, and I’d come to the realization on the couch that I wasn’t actually sick.
The mating bond was making me feel like garbage. It was the reason for the heat beneath my skin and the cramping in my belly and the pressure in my chest. If I’d been thinking more logically earlier, I would’ve put it together. To be honest, when Aunt Halle had explained the symptoms to my cousins, I hadn’t been paying much attention. It was one of the less fascinating parts of the mating bond, and I hadn’t thought it would ever apply to me.
“Why are we outside?” Daniel asked as we stopped at the bottom porch steps.
“Uh, well…” I glanced up at the house and back down at my mate. “I’m the sacrificial lamb.”
“You’re the what?”
“I think they believe that hearing it from me while we’re alone will somehow soothe the wild Vampire beast inside you enough that you won’t start taking heads.”
“Wild Vampire beast,” he repeated flatly.
“The crazy mate beast, yes,” I confirmed.
His lips twitched.
“So here’s the deal,” I said quickly, my words running together because I was speaking so fast. “This isn’t my house. I live in town. I knew I couldn’t go back there, which is why I had you take me to my dad’s house. I’m here most of the time anyway, so it wasn’t exactly a lie. I was taken from the drivewayoutside my townhouse, and they’re probably watching it, but I don’t plan on going back, so…whatever. And because of my dad’s history, no one knows where he lives. Like,no one. He doesn’t get mail here, it’s not in his name, he used an LLC to buy it, you get the picture.”
