Just then, a weird sound comes from the living room. I pause and wait to see if I hear it again. A few seconds later, the murmuring continues and picks up in volume.
My feet softly touch the ground, and I creep over to the door. If an intruder has already offed Valen, I need to be ready with the boxing skills Celine has forced me to learn. I’ll karate chop their ass. I might be a mere human surrounded by supernatural creatures, but that doesn’t mean I’m going down without a fight.
Opening the door as quietly as I can, I peek around and scan the room but find nothing out of the ordinary. A thrashing on the couch catches my attention, and I find the source of the noise.
Valen writhes and lets out whimpers of pain in the livingroom. Acting on instinct, I rush over to him and gently touch his shoulder, avoiding a hit to the face with his swinging arms.
“Hey.” I shake him, but nothing happens. “Valen.” I shake a little harder. “Valen!”
I gasp when a large hand encircles my wrist and grips tightly. Looking down, I make eye contact with Valen’s brown eyes that are wide with panic.
“Ava?” Valen breathes out between short pants. Once he realizes it’s me, he loosens his grip but doesn’t fully let go.
“Are you okay?” I ask, my heart racing in my chest.
The black T-shirt he wears sticks to his sweat-soaked skin, and the urge to push wet strands of hair off his forehead comes over me.
He lays his head back down and closes his eyes. A small tremor runs through the hand that continues to hold me.
“Go back to bed,” Valen finally sighs, and reluctantly releases my wrist. “Sorry for waking you up.” He rolls over, ending the conversation.
I press my lips together, wanting to say more but not knowing what to say. Giving up, I shuffle back to my room, attempting to settle in, but now it’s even harder than before.
Valen has to be haunted by his imprisonment, and the trauma he must hold is immeasurable. This man is an enigma. I know that for certain.
When I finally drift off, I feel the ghostly trace of his touch.
“You’re a vampire. What the fuck, Luna!” I hiss at the woman in question across from me.
Celine and I ducked out for some much-needed girl time over coffee at Bean Hive this morning. Valen was gone when I woke up. I’m secretly glad I didn’t have to face him and mayor may not have been practicing what I was going to say in the mirror before I left my bedroom.
“Say it a little louder, why don’t you?” Luna sips her iced matcha nonchalantly.
Celine watches the interaction with a smirk.
“You’ve known this for weeks, Ava.” Luna tips her cup at me.
Crossing my arms over my chest, I level her with a playful glare. “Correct, but we haven’t talked face to face about it yet.”
While Zav and I were searching for Celine, he had plenty of time to fill me in on the supernatural world and how mates work. I had no idea how useful that information would actually be, since I certainly didn’t expect Valen to show up.
“What do you want me to say?” Luna laughs and tosses her blond hair over a slender shoulder.
Her flowy boho top flutters against her body. I wonder how I didn’t notice the ethereal glow to her before. She carries herself with an elegance and grace a normal human just can’t possess.
“U-Uh well,” I stutter. “I hadn’t thought that far. Justwhat the fuck,” I reiterate and hide behind my coffee after the embarrassing retort.
Luna giggles and Celine snorts.
“The whole vampire thing is crazy, isn’t it?” Celine’s gaze drifts away. She keeps playing it off like she’s fine, just like someone else I’ve recently met. “Have you and Valen properly chatted yet about the situation?” She raises a dark brow at me.
“No,” I promptly respond, and Luna squints at us.
“What situation? Who’s Valen?” she questions.
“Get a load of this.” Celine hooks a thumb at me and lowers her voice. “Not only am I the mate to a vampire, but so isshe.”
“What?” Luna gasps, laughter bubbling out of her. “Onehuman being the mate to a vampire is unheard of, let alone two—the fact that you two are best friends makes it even crazier.”
