I lift my hands in awhat do I knowgesture and Luna lets out a harrumph.
“That’s odd,” Luna muses. “Really odd.” With a shake of her head, she asks, “So, you’re avoiding him at the moment?”
My chest rises and falls with a loud sigh.
“Maybe.” I wince and Celine flattens her lips at my lie. “Okay, yes. I don’t want to get his hopes up when I’m not sure when I’ll be ready for a new relationship.” I play with the handle of my mug. “Being mates is a huge deal, and I can’t rush into anything. Look at you and Zav. He follows you around everywhere like a puppy. I’m not ready for that.” I point to where her redheaded mate sits on the opposite end of Luna’s coffee shop, sipping at a mug that I think might be filled with blood instead of coffee.
When he catches me looking, he looks away and whistles innocently.
“I’m sure Valen understands,” Celine reasons. “He’s probably feeling very overwhelmed by the state of the world and everything. He didn’t tell me exactly how long he was held, but it sounded…” She pauses, shaking her head. “Like an unfathomable amount of time.” She rests a hand on top of mine. “Meet him where he’s at and just get to know him. Okay? He probably needs a friend right now more than anything.”
She has a point. Who am I to act this way toward someone dealing with their own demons and trying to find their way in a new world? A friend seems like an easy enough thing to be to him.
“Yeah, you’re right.” Filled with a new sense of invigoration, I formulate a plan in my head to get to know the quiet, brooding man—vampire—who landed on my doorstep.
CHAPTER 2
VALEN
The clock ticking isthe only noise that fills the room as I continue to stare at the vampire sitting across from me. We have been doing this for five minutes now, and I tilt my head at him in question.
Red hair falls over his forehead and brushes the top of the frames of his glasses. Emerald green eyes study me, unreadable. A black cat sits in his lap, purring contentedly as he strokes a hand down its back, its tail swishing every few seconds.
I’m not sure what we’re doing, but I’m used to sitting in silence, so it doesn’t bother me.
Finally, the vampire sighs and opens his mouth. “You’re the one who bit my honey while she was imprisoned? You’re thinking about her right now, aren’t you?” He hisses, hand slamming down on the table, and my eyes jerk back to his.
I remain silent. He reeks of a recent mating bond, and I’m certain it’s making him more testy than normal.
“I suppose she is a sexy little vixen who’s hard not to thinkabout.” He looks wistfully out the window for a moment before his gaze swings back to me, his eyes narrowed. “But you have your own mate, so keep your thoughts off mine.”
“She saved me.” My gruff voice, unused to talking, echoes through the room. “I don’t think of her that way. I’m simply grateful and can never repay her for what she did. I was…” I’m not sure how much I want to reveal to him. Not only do I not know if I can trust him yet, but it has been a long time since I’ve had anyone I could share my secrets with. I finally decide to go with. “I was held for a very long time. Freedom is strange, but I wouldn’t be here without her. You have a smart, kind mate.”
Zavier studies me and I watch as his face transforms into a grin. He wraps the black cat around his shoulders and stands up.
“I’m just fucking with you.”
He moves to pat my shoulder, and I jolt away and farther down the couch before he can make contact.
“Whoa, sorry.” He holds his hands up in the air. “I get it. No touchy.”
Thinking about his hand on me makes my skin crawl. I suppress the shudder that wants to make its way through my body. I was shocked last night when Ava woke me up from my nightmare and I wasn’t revolted at the sensation of her skin on mine. The feel of her soft wrist was grounding for me as I came down from the horrendous nightmare.
Every day since I’ve been out of the cell has been both a blessing and a curse. I’m physically free, but mentally I’m just as much a prisoner as if I were still there. It is tiresome. My brain hasn’t seemed to have quite caught up with the idea of freedom yet.
Zavier whistles and fidgets like he doesn’t know what to do with me. An invisible light bulb seems to go off above his head, and he snapshis fingers.
“Want me to take you on a tour of the city? I know it’s a much different time from when you were last out and about.” He grins, and the cat on his shoulder makes eye contact with me before jumping off and wandering into the bedroom, tail swishing lazily as it goes. “I can show you all my favorite places to watch Celine. Ava’s usually with her.” He does a weird wiggling motion with his eyebrows at me.
Ava.
The mate I never thought I’d have.
She has been avoiding me. I heard her talking to herself in the bathroom this morning rehearsing what to say, so I left, not wanting to make her uncomfortable.
“Let’s skedaddle, then. They already left Bean Hive—I checked in earlier—so they could be at the gym, but since Ava’s along it’s more likely they’re shopping,” Zavier babbles as I follow him quietly. “I love sitting on the roof across the way where it’s secluded and watching her…”
He continues to prattle, but I don’t hear a word. All I can think about is seeing Ava and being close to her again. Even if she doesn’t know I’m there, lurking nearby, just being near her will help soothe the chaos of my mind. When she’s close, my brain gets quiet, and I like that.
