Chapter 12
Luther
I forced myself to take a step back from her.
It felt like trying to walk away from the sun after standing too close, my skin thrummed, my senses sharpened, my entire being pulled taut toward her.
Jade stood at the battered old table beneath the work lamp I’d set up earlier, her brown hair catching the yellow glow like warm silk.
She was humming under her breath, a tiny sound she probably didn’t realize she made, and it speared something low in my gut.
This had to be too much; she was getting too close.
Today, she had already learned more than she should have, namely, that Belfry could truly talk.
The last thing she needed was an explanation of why she could hear him when no human should—why her mind fit so perfectly with mine.
Not tonight. Not yet. I wasn’t sure if I was ready to have that talk at all.
I recalled the bloodshed, the danger exposure like that to humans entailed.
Could I risk the others in town that way?
Perhaps that was not a question I could answer alone.
“I have some errands to run,” I said, clearing my throat.
My voice came out lower than intended. “It’s late.
We missed lunch entirely. You should close up and head back to Sweet Dreams Guaranteed.
” It would make me feel much better to know she was safely behind the warm and warded walls of the B Liz did like to get her wolves together from time to time, and it appeared to be a nearly full moon this evening.
A whisper of air brushed my cheek, and then Belfry landed on my shoulder, silent; too silent for him. I blinked, taking in his uncharacteristically serious expression. “No commentary?” I asked, my hand going up to brush the soft fur on his head between his large ears. He leaned into the touch.
Not tonight, he answered in my head, the telepathic voice softer, gentler.
You looked like you needed the quiet. Warmth spread in my chest, an appreciation I tried never to show him, lest he hold it over me for the next century.
But the bond between a vampire and his familiar was an old, bone-deep thing.
Moments like this made the years less hollow.
We stood together for a breath. Two ancient creatures on an empty street, pretending at stillness, or perhaps it was life we were pretending at. Then Belfry shifted, and his tiny claws tightened slightly in the silk of my shirt. Go. I’ll keep an eye on her.
“Will you?” My suspicion rose immediately; Belfry was seldom up to any good.
Mischief was his middle name—or perhaps it was Gossip King—but he’d take pride in both.
“Why the sudden eagerness to help?” He was far more fond of hindering whatever I did than helping, and I fully expected some kind of sassy comeback.
Then again, he genuinely seemed to like Jade, and he clearly loved that she could hear him.
He took off in a flutter, wings vanishing against the library’s eaves.
Just trust me, Luther, he sang back. You know you want to!
He found his own entrance, one I still hadn’t discovered.
I watched the darkness swallow him and wondered, not for the first time, if Belfry knew more than he let on.
If he knew what Jade was, if that was why he’d been pushing, nudging, scheming.
Mate. The word crawled across the inside of my skull, equal parts wonderful and terrifying. I shook myself sharply; indulgent thoughts would get me nowhere.
Rounding the back of my store, I briefly ducked inside to retrieve the wrapped parcel Thorne had commissioned, months ago but that I’d only just managed to acquire.
A rare tome, older than Hillcrest Hollow, and not easily found, yet I had found it.
Even Thorne hadn’t expected that. Whatever the ancient lore was this book contained, Thorne was not the only one curious about it.
Perhaps I should read it before handing it over, just in case it was anything dangerous, but I didn’t have the time. A rare conundrum for a vampire.
As I slung the parcel under one arm and stepped into the treeline outside town, a heavy tread approached from behind.
What now? I did not want, or need, company while I quickly made this delivery.
It was bad enough I’d have to deal with the rude Warlock upon arrival.
The man paid good money, and I asked far more of him than I would of anyone else, but he was by far my most obnoxious client.
“Hold up,” Jackson called. He jogged to catch up, blond hair sleek and neat as a pin despite the evening patrol.
Griffins were swift, but not vampire swift, and he had to work to catch up.
“Gwen says you’re smitten,” he informed me the moment he did, a smug smile spreading across his face, amber eyes twinkling with his obvious amusement.
I groaned, long and low. Really? This was what I had to deal with?
Why did everyone seem to think they could stick their noses in my business?
First Belfry, now Jackson; pretty soon, I’d have to expect a visit from the mayor, warning me that I could not be the next one finding his soulmate.
I knew the odds, they were astronomical, and it couldn’t happen again, except that it had.
“I am not smitten,” I growled at the nosy shifter, enough bite in my tone to make most sane people back off in a hurry.
“Sure,” he said, grinning. “Because when Gwen says ‘smitten,’ what she really means is ‘completely undone by a pretty librarian.’” He waggled his brows at me in a playful manner, acting like he hadn’t even heard one bit of my warning to back off.
I thought I’d made myself clear with that growl, but lions could be stubborn; perhaps he needed a more obvious demonstration.
“Jackson,” I said, turning on him and halting in the middle of a beam of moonlight.
I bared my fangs, but that just made him smirk wider.
His body was broad inside the tan lines of his uniform, and the gold star of his station glinted on his chest. Typical griffin, he might not dress in silk, but they were proud as fuck and often vain.
Now that he had a mate to preen for, he was even worse than usual.
Always hovering around town, perching on the roof of the B the next, Jackson’s back slammed into a pine so hard the trunk shuddered.
My fangs snapped down, my vision flaring silver.
I pinned him there with an arm across his chest. “You will not,” I snarled, voice rough with something I didn’t want to name.
“Do you understand me? You will not set her up with Drew. Not with anyone!”
His eyes changed first, amber irises bleeding into molten gold.
A lion’s snarl rumbled from deep in his throat.
His claws, half-shifted, dug into my sleeve.
It could just as easily be a trick of the eye, but his face seemed to subtly change: a golden glimmer, a widening of his nose, a hint of whiskers, and the flare of his mane around his head.
We froze like that, locked in old instincts we both pretended we no longer possessed.
Then Jackson threw his head back and laughed, actually laughed, like I hadn’t been about to lunge for his jugular moments ago.
“There it is,” he wheezed. “Now that sounds like not-smitten to me.” I released him with a disgusted sound.
He brushed bark from his jacket as if being nearly throttled by a vampire was a minor inconvenience. UNEDITED
“Good night, Luther,” he said, ruffling his hair back into place.
“Try not to brood too hard.” I muttered something unkind and left him to his amusement.
Why did everyone accuse me of brooding, anyway?
I did not brood! But he was right, I was definitely smitten with my librarian.
Extremely so. Which meant I had my answer, didn’t I? She was worth the risk.
The woods swallowed me whole, the same way my thoughts did as I contemplated my next move. To woo Jade, I was going to have to pull out all the stops. That was going to be fun, she had no idea what was coming, but I’d make damn sure I erased that first impression I’d made on her, and then some.