Six
Damien
The ride home is really uncomfortable. I’d love to fill the silence with as much nonsense as I can come up with, but Killien isn’t in the mood. His eyes are fixed on the road, still filled with that ugly rage that makes it seem like he’s about to snap. His long fingers are curling around the steering wheel a bit too tightly, turning his knuckles white. What the fuck do I do to fix him? I hate to admit it, but all of this might be my fault.
Sometimes, I get reckless. My mentality is to reach out and take whatever I want in life. It’s what I’ve been doing since I became immortal. Okay, maybe I was already doing it before.I don’t understand the concept of delayed gratification, really. Maybe I should learn a bit more about that. Fucking hell.
“Did you fuck him?” Killien’s voice breaks the silence, low and maybe even threatening.
Oh . . . You jealous, Killi?
“What?” I look at him, even if he avoids my gaze. “No, of course not. We’ve been flirting for a while, but nothing has happened yet.”
At least I don’t have to lie. If I did, I’d probably lose him for good. That’s not what I want. I need to keep my dick in its place and not listen to it. At least until Killien calms down.
“Be careful, Damien. Maybe we can’t trust anyone at this point.”
“You mean because of the whole drinking vampire blood thing?”
“Yeah—” His voice finally starts to soften after he takes a deep breath. “I’m not surprised that Ledger hid something important from us. We were his secret; he didn’t introduce us to other vamps. He basically kept us as slaves and fled with most of the money we made for him, anyway.”
“Why do you think he left? I believe Jacob when he says he didn’t see it coming. He seemed genuinely surprised to me.”
Killien rolls his shoulders and relaxes them. His grip on the wheel loosens a little bit. “I believe him too, but I don’t want to be wrong.”
I’m glad to feel him winding down and becoming himself again. That usually happens when it’s just the two of us. Honestly, I only feel at peace when I’m with him. Just like it’s always been. We have each other, above all.
“You’re never wrong,” I say, because he’s always been good at warning me about other people’s intentions.
Finally, his gaze meets mine. The right side of his lips curls up in a half smile. “I make mistakes too, Damien. You’re just too impulsive sometimes.”
“Sometimes?” I laugh.
“Maybe always.”
Jeez, I’ve missed his normal self. It’s been a few days since we’ve had a simple conversation like this one. Killien has been tense after our last hunt. The Clara thing has hit him hard—which is what I wanted, but I didn’t expect him to shut himself off. It’s almost like he built a wall between us.
We remain quiet for a few minutes. It’s a comfortable kind of silence, though. Killien’s face relaxes, returning to his usual angelic expression. His full lips are my disgrace; I can’t stop thinking about kissing them. I love that he has a masculine body, but some of his features are soft. I love the contrast between his ginger hair and his darker eyebrows. He’s so enticing I always struggle to keep my eyes away from him.
“Are you going to take Jacob’s offer?” Killien interrupts my thoughts with a question I didn’t think he’d ask.
I stare at him, startled. “Well—I want to.” Lying is not a good idea right now, so I don’t.
“Maybe we should do that instead of hunting.” He turns his head to face me briefly, his expression completely serious.
Fuck. He’s not joking. I can’t believe it.
“Really?”
“I could be wrong, but he’s been good to us so far. And we won’t know until we try. Who else could we possibly drink from otherwise? We don’t know anyone that can make us stronger. Plus, we still have the cash Ledger left behind, so we don’t need to hunt for that either.”
That’s a typical Killien reasoning right there. Logical, simple. He’s capable of thinking clearly, even in a moment like this, when he’s about to snap. I’m far too complicated. As much as Ilike being the way I am, it tends to get me in trouble. My brother is good at keeping himself out of drama. Unless I pull him into it, which is exactly what I do best. My angel can’t stop saving me from myself, and I’m addicted to it.
“I’ll text him.” I smile.
“But you won’t make it weird.” Killien’s tone is definitely a threat, his eyes hardening on mine when he stops at the traffic lights. “If you step out of line, I’ll leave. You hear me?”
“What do you mean by stepping out of line?” I might need clarification, because I really wanna end up in a threesome with both of them.
