Her aunt Emma glanced sideways at Janie’s mother as they sat side-by-side on the wide sofa. “Um, no?” Emma whispered.
Cara didn’t move. “You, ah, mated.”
Janie paused. “Yes.” She studied her mother closer. “Are you okay?”
“Am I okay?” Cara asked, her voice rising two octaves. “Am I okay?”
Emma slid an arm around her sister’s shoulders. “I think maybe your mom is a bit taken aback, Jane. You know. With the mating and all.”
Frankly, Emma sounded taken aback as well.
Janie’s face heated. “Right.”
Emma, ever the scientist, leaned forward. “Only demons have markings, huh? Interesting, and it clears up a couple of questions I’ve had. Can we see it?”
Janie paused, embarrassment flooding through her. “Sure.” She turned and lifted her shirt.
Her mother made a sound similar to a cat being strangled.
Janie dropped the shirt and turned around. “I know this is, er, a surprise.”
“A surprise,” Cara said weakly.
Emma cleared her throat. “Are you okay, Janie? I mean, he didn’t force this on you, did he?”
Cara’s head jerked up, her blue eyes darkening. “Janie?”
Janie shook her head. “No, he didn’t force me. The marking took us both by surprise, but I, ah, fully participated.” Her blush actually burned her face. “I care about Zane—I always have. Please help me keep him alive.”
Emma swallowed and shoved dark hair away from her face. “Ah. Hmm.”
Cara nodded. “Yes.”
Janie frowned. Somebody needed to speak in a complete sentence. “Are you two all right?”
Cara stood. “I don’t know.” Emma tugged on her arm, and she fell back to the sofa. “Mated. To a vampire-demon.” She turned her gaze on her sister. “Mated. Likemated.”
Janie lifted her chin. “Wait a minute. You’re upset because he’s part-demon?”
Emma patted her sister’s hand. “I think your mom is overwhelmed by the thought of you mating anybody. It’s not like you’ve had dates, gone to prom, had your heart broken a couple of times.”
Yeah. She knew she was odd, with a heavy destiny. “So?” She’d gone from indignant to ready to defend Zane to plain old confused.
“Well”—Cara played with her hair—“mating is pretty heavy duty, well, you know . . .”
“Sex?” Janie asked, her face heating again.
“Beyond sex,” Emma snorted. “Waaaay beyond.”
“And before, you haven’t, I mean that you really haven’t, um . . .” Cara lifted her chin and squinted. “Have you?”
“Ah, no.” Janie coughed into her hand. “I’ve been a bit busy for sex. You know?” God? Could this get any more embarrassing?
Emma straightened her shoulders. “Yes. I do know. So. Well. Um.”
For Pete’s sake. One of the most brilliant women in the universe was spitting out nonsense words. Janie sank into an overstuffed chair. “I liked the sex.” Wasn’t she supposed to?
Cara coughed out a garbled expletive.
