I closed my eyes and took a deep breath as another wave of dizzying anxiety swept through my body. My chest felt too tight, as if my heart and lungs wouldn’t fit in it. Which was ridiculous. I didn’t need to breathe. My heart wasn’t beating. Objectively, it was an interesting discovery that vampires could have panic attacks that felt like suffocating even though they didn’t need oxygen to survive. But on a more personal note, I just wanted theanxiety to end, even though I knew that wasn’t in the cards in the near future.
Not until I’d fully worked through the revelation of who Finn was to me.
I had amate. Something incredibly rare. Something paranormal beings apparently searched high and low for. Sometimes they went centuries without finding their person.
And here I was, three fucking years old—well, twenty-nine if I included my human years, which yes, until I’d reached at least my twenties in vampire years, I’d absolutely do—with a mate.
Aries had been incredibly fascinated when I’d revealed to him that I’d felt a connection with Finn when we’d both been humans, thus proving that even changing species couldn’t destroy a mate match.
I rolled my eyes as I remembered his plea for me to keep him updated on the situation. He said he wanted to help, but there had to be ulterior motives, right? Vampires never did something out of the goodness of their hearts, aside from maybe clanmates.
But Aries wasn’t part of a clan, and he definitely wasn’t a clanmate of ours, though technically Bennie and I weren’t a clan either. Our ragtag group of two was too small to be considered a clan.
My phone chimed, dragging me out of my thoughts. I immediately unlocked it and stared at the display in awe. Finn had answered!
Finn: Hi, Eric. I actually remember you this time around. And yeah, I stopped puking blood, got meds, infusions, and I’m back at home.
I grinned.
Texting with him was great. With a single text, I’d gotten more information about his current state than I’d ever have gotten staring at him from afar.
Finn: Thank you for ordering that Uber. I honestly don’t know what I was thinking walking to the hospital.
Oh, I could answer that.
You weren’t thinking. Lol. You were in shock.
Finn: That’s entirely possible. Still, I’m grateful. I’d love to invite you out for drinks, but I think the doc from the ER might actually murder me for that. I would also invite you over for dinner as a thanks, but it’s nothing but bland food for the foreseeable future for me.
I pressed my lips into a thin line. If he’d listened to me when I first told him about his low iron levels, he might’ve had a chance to stop the progression of his gastritis in time, so we could have dinner together.
Dinner at his apartment sounded fantastic.
Then again, if he’d listened to me in the first place, I wouldn’t have had to drag him to the hospital, and he wouldn’t feel the need to invite me out.
Wait, was I pleased he hadn’t listened to me?
No. I shook my head, thinking about the weeks spent in agony because I knew there was something wrong with my human. My Finn.Mymate.
Damn.
Holy fucking shit.
He really was mine. He just didn’t know it yet.
But I did. I so fucking knew he was mine. And I wouldn’t let him get away with treating himself badly any longer. I didn’t care how, but I’d make sure he would take better care of himself.
And the first step was to get closer to him. If he didn’t listen to my notes, maybe he’d listen to me personally.
Would you like to meet at a café? I know one that carries great blends of tea. The owner makes them herself. I’m sure she has something stomach friendly.
In fact, I knew they carried stomach-friendly tea because I’d asked her about it yesterday. She’d told me all about the anti-inflammatory herbs she used, and I’d planned to go back to buy a little pack of loose tea.
Oh well, I could still buy something for Finn after our little meet-up. He might like a get-well-soon gift from me. Tea, a new mug, maybe some honey?
Finn’s answer interrupted my musings.
Finn: That sounds great. I spent the last forty hours in bed and on my couch, so going out might do me some good. You wanna meet up today?
