He gives me a subtle nod and a small wave of his hand.
His hand.
The hand that was missing.
I rub my eyes and look again.
Yep. Both hands are there.
I jerk upright. “How?” I gasp. “It was gone.”
“Hex, I told you to keep it hidden until we calmedher down. You hear that? She’s going to pass out again,” Lucian chastises.
“Hear what?” I ask, clutching the sheet to my chest, looking between them like a skittish animal ready to bolt.
“Your erratic heart,” he answers.
“You can hear my heart?” I whisper.
“Drink this. It will calm you a little,” Hex says, handing me a bottle.
I reach out, my hand shaking as I take it. I sniff.
Whiskey.
Good whiskey.
I press the bottle to my lips and knock back as much as I can manage, stopping only when the burn becomes too much. I cough and splutter, my eyes watering.
“Thanks. I needed that,” I croak. “What will you do to me?” I ask, dread crawling over my skin.
“Us? Nothing. But I’m sure Prez has a list of things.” Clutch smirks.
Lucian glares at him.
“You’re not going to kill me?” I press, looking at each of them.
“No,” they all answer, except Silas.
Lucian notices and turns his attention to him.
Silas holds my gaze for a long moment. “No,” he says at last, reluctantly.
That’s… reassuring.
“You’re really vampires? Like, this isn’t some cosplay thing, and you’re just in character? Like you’re really bigBladeorTwilightfans?” I rush out, then take another sip of whiskey.
Warm fuzziness spreads through me like a comforting blanket.
No one answers.
Lucian bares his teeth, exposing his fangs, his eyes glowing.
I swallow. “Okay. Not cosplayers,” I mumble, clearing my throat.
“You said you can hear my heart. What else is there?” I ask.
Silas lets out an exasperated sigh. “Look, if this is going to turn into a Q&A, I’m going to save you some time. We hear everything: your heart, your pulse, your breath. When you ‘crept’ down the hall while we were at the table, we all knew you were there. Prez just told us to ignore you,” he says.
