Chapter 8
I went home alone that night. James insisted he had things to do, but I knew it was because he didn’t trust himself to keep his hands off me. I was dead on my feet, and I needed sleep.
When I got home, though, I found a familiar car in my driveway: it belonged to Kian, Hannah’s boyfriend. When Dani attacked me last year, it was his brother who saved me—Luke, who was also part of the team of hunters responsible for our woes last year. After he betrayed them by releasing me from my bindings, he made me promise to take care of Kian.
Until now, Kian hadn’t come to me on his own.
Assuming the worst, I rushed through the front door. I was not prepared for the sight I walked into.
All the lights were off, save for the soft glow of the TV. I glanced around the room as I entered, unable to keep from smiling at the image in front of me. Kian was spread out on the couch, still dressed in his work uniform. He was fast asleep, Carlos—who was also dead to the world—snuggled under his arm. Or rather, he pretended to be snoozing. The twitch of his ears informed me that he was aware of my presence, but appare ntly I wasn’t important enough for him to open his eyes. At least, not until I approached the couch. Then I got a warning glare that said, “Don’t you take my big spoon away from me.”
I hesitated to wake Kian. He looked so peaceful, and the last year had been hard on him, to say the least. Despite him being a decade-plus younger than me, that couch did no one’s back any favors.
Kneeling in front of him, I softly touched his shoulder. He stirred, his arm protectively tightening around Carlos as he gathered his bearings.
“Hey. What’s up?” I asked.
“Sorry,” he mumbled, pushing himself into a sitting position. He yawned, messy hair standing on end. He’d cut it shorter in the last year, the dark, messy mop falling away to highlight the lighter hair beneath. “I didn’t plan on falling asleep.”
“It’s almost four in the morning; you don’t need to be sorry for sleeping.” I dodged an attack from Carlos’s tongue. “What’re you doing here? Is Hannah okay?”
In that moment, Kian looked more like a kid than his twenty-one years. He didn’t meet my gaze, instead focusing on the silent TV. I could almost see the emotions flickering behind his hazel eyes. They glossed over, then he shut them. His throat worked as he swallowed, and the mask was back when he looked at me again. “Things have been hard since Luke left. And I don’t want to worry Hannah. I guess I could use someone to talk to.”
“Why don’t you get some sleep?” I suggested. “We can talk over breakfast tomorrow. Or… later today, I guess.”
“I’d really like that.”
My hand stopped him as he tried to lie back on the couch again. “Go get in Hannah’s bed.”
Kian shook his head. “That’s hers. ”
“A, she’s not in it right now. And b, you’re her boyfriend. I assume if she had a problem with you in her bed, we’d know.”
“The entire state of Massachusetts would know.”
I snorted, patting him on the knee and getting to my feet. “How many days in a row have you worked?” Kian thought over his answer, taking a little too long. “That’s what I thought. Go to bed.”
“Can Carlos stay with me?” he asked, following me down the hallway. “He’s warm.”
I stopped in my bedroom to grab a pair of sweats for Kian to sleep in, then handed them over before he disappeared into the spare room. “Sure, but don’t let him get used to it—he forgets whose house this actually is.”
Before I could finish the sentence, Carlos flashed down the hallway and slipped behind Kian to get into the bedroom.
“Does he never sleep with you?” Kian asked.
“James is terrified of him.” I wanted to smack myself at how my nose wrinkled as I recounted the memory of their first meeting. “It’s kind of cute actually.”
Kian smiled and held up the pants. “Thanks for these, Ryder—and for letting me stay.”
“Don’t mention it. Get some sleep and we’ll talk tomorrow.”
We both slept like the dead. We’d entirely missed breakfast by the time we were both ready to face the world, so I offered to take Kian to lunch. James wanted to work a shift with Shiloh himself, so he offered me the day off. Kian provided the excuse I needed to actually take a day instead of hanging around waiting for James to finish.
At the restaurant, I sat across the table as Kian did nothing more than pick apart his grilled sandwich—the same thing he’d been doing for ten minutes.
“Kian?”
Tired eyes looked up at me. He let out an exasperated sigh and dr opped the piece of lettuce he’d been shredding with his fingers. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. You don’t have to talk if you’re not ready, but you should at least eat that before it gets cold.”
He didn’t say a word in response, staring at the deconstructed sandwich. He picked up a slice of the bread and tore a frustrated bite out of it.
It was eating me up inside that I couldn’t tell him what truly happened to Luke. Kian had been told that Luke vanished in the middle of the night, leaving no trace he was ever there—except for a note so vague anyone could’ve written it. His “evidence room” was wiped clean, closet emptied, and phone disconnected.
But I couldn’t be the one to tell Kian that he was right about James being a vampire, or about Luke being a hunter. It wasn’t my place, and I didn’t want to risk James’s safety—again.
“I found something.” Kian rummaged around in his backpack, which he’d guarded with his life all morning. “When Luke vanished, I threw everything he left behind into boxes and shoved them in my spare bedroom when I moved to Cambridge. I couldn’t bear to go through everything. But when it comes time for Hannah to live off-campus, I figured she would need the extra bedroom to study and stuff, so I started sorting through the things. I think he left these behind on accident.”
Kian produced a rumpled stack of papers and set them on the table between us. It was a court decree—I could see that much from where I sat.
I grabbed the thick stack and pulled it closer. That’s when I noticed the name printed across the top. “You’re adopted?”
“I didn’t think so.” Kian looked down at his fingers. “Read the next line down.”
Frowning, I did—and my eyes nearly popped out of my head. “‘Name of adoptive parent,’” I read aloud. “‘ Luke Cavanagh ?’ I thought?—”
“That he was my brother? Yeah, so did I.” Kian took a long drink of his coffee. I didn’t need a sixth sense to know that he wished for something stronger.
I set the papers back down in front of him—he made no move to take them. “Do you remember your parents?”
“Luke always told me they died when I was a kid, but I was too young to remember. That’s all I’ve ever known.”
“That could explain the papers,” I pointed out. “Maybe he legally adopted you after your parents died.”
Kian emphatically shook his head. “The names don’t add up.” He pointed to the adoption petition. “That’s not my last name.”
He pulled another form out of his bag—one that showed his name change from Kian Parker to Kian Cavanagh.
“Strange,” I muttered, more to myself than to him. “What does this mean?”
Kian answered me anyway. “I don’t know. I’ve been going insane trying to figure it out.”
“You haven’t asked Hannah? She’s wicked smart, you know.”
He grimaced. “I didn’t want to tell her until I knew for sure. Because of all the…” he trailed off, waving his hand toward me vaguely.
“Me stuff,” I finished for him.
“Yeah.” He sighed. “I hate to call it that. Feels mean.”
I considered the documents on the table between us. “It’s not mean; it’s the truth. Our situation is complicated. How long have you been sitting on those?”
“A few weeks.”
I winced. “You could have come to me sooner, you know.”
“I figured I owed it to myself to try this ‘alone’ thing first.”
“But you’re not alone. You have Hannah.” I snatch ed the papers again and scanned the adoption decree; something wasn’t adding up. “And me, for what that’s worth—which isn’t much.”
Kian snorted. “More than you think.”
“Can I take these?” I asked. “I want to do some digging.”
“They’re all yours.” Kian took another bite of his sandwich. “I’m sick of looking at them.”
Thankfully, Kian finished off his plate before checking his phone and announcing he had a late shift to catch. I made him promise to call if he needed anything else and I spent the next hour at the diner, bouncing between the papers and my phone. Google wasn’t bringing up much, but I wasn’t the most tech-savvy person either. I needed help, and I couldn’t get it through my usual channels. Given the supernatural involvement, I didn’t want to ask the police.
With a defeated sigh, I made the call. One of the hardest things to accept about being in a partnership was that I wasn’t alone anymore. After twenty years of it, I’d grown too used to doing things on my own.
“What a pleasant surprise,” James hummed, voice pumping through my veins like a drug.
“Hi,” I whispered, already feeling more relaxed.
“Is everything okay? I thought I was going to see you later.”
I paid for the meal, then shrugged into my jacket. If I sat at the diner any longer, they’d charge me for lodging. “If the bar isn’t too busy, I’d like to see you sooner rather than later.”
“Can’t get enough of me, huh?”
I groaned, and lowered my voice. “You already know the answer to that, vampire.” Then, in a normal tone. “Something strange happened, and I need some help trying to figure it out.”
“Uh oh.”
“It’s not bad ,” I told him, leaning against the door of my car. “I don’t think. But it’s… weird. I don’t know what to make of it. ”
“I’ll be there shortly.”
“No,” I said quickly, “don’t do that to Shi. I can come to you.”
“I’ll see you soon then.”
I sat in my car for a moment, wondering why I felt so unsettled. Throwing Kian’s papers into the passenger seat, I hissed at a sudden sting in my finger—a papercut. I glared at the pages that silently mocked me with their mystery. Something wasn’t right, but I couldn’t figure out what. When the chill in the air started to seep into my bones, I finally started the car and drove to Liz’s.
Rushing toward the warmth of the bar, I paused when someone called my name. It was a busy Saturday afternoon with everyone flocking to the fall festival in the town square, but I still found Ben when he popped into view. I tucked Kian’s papers under my arm. “You out here getting into trouble?”
He came to a stop in front of me, his salt-and-pepper hair blowing in the wind. His eyes shone in the afternoon light, his face pink from the cold. “Would it make me seem cooler if I said yes?”
Damn, I loved the bashful ones. I flashed him my signature grin. “I’m flattered, but you’re married to my ex.”
“That’s actually why I’m here. Erin came day-drinking with a co-worker, and a glass of wine turned into being ‘white-girl wasted.’ Her words, not mine. I’m here to pick her up.”
Shaking my head, I opened the door and gestured for him to enter. “My condolences.”
Erin made herself known immediately. She shouted out Ben’s name and threw herself into his arms. He blushed under the attention. With her glossy eyes and slurred words, Erin hadn’t been exaggerating—I felt bad for Ben, the poor guy.
I left them to it and sought out who I truly wanted. The adoption papers under my arm felt like they weighed a thousand pounds. James pretended not to notice me until I approa ched the bar, then he gave me a show-stopping smile that made my heart skip a beat. “Hey,” he said.
I kept a smile on my face—totally of my own volition, and not because the sight of James had me grinning like a fool. “Mind if I hang out in your office? Unless you want me back there with you?” There were quite a few people in the bar, but nothing he and Shi couldn’t handle.
James leaned on the counter in front of me with his arms crossed. “Oh, I want you here, but not to work.”
“Down boy,” I muttered, fighting a wave of heat creeping under my collar. “You’re the owner of this place, you have an image to maintain.” He’d gotten insatiable since I’d accepted the bond. James licked his lips, and my eyes involuntarily dropped to the movement. Fuck, I was in for a whirlwind when he got home. I was equal parts excited and terrified.
“Make yourself comfortable, love. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
I gave him a quick kiss. “See you soon.”
After just a few minutes in the office, I grew restless. I tossed the files onto James’s desk and browsed the books on the shelf. I wasn’t normally a reader, but it was never too late to start, right?
My one request when James rebuilt his office was that he replace the couch. Granted, I didn’t have reading in mind when I asked him to do it but I couldn’t help but feel warm and cozy as I settled into the corner with the book on my lap. I ignored the papers and dove into the story, trying to shake the threat of panic rising in my throat.
An hour and a few chapters later, the door crept open. “You’ve been so calm back here. I thought you’d fallen asleep.”
“How do you know how calm I’ve been?” I asked, rubbing my eyes. I set the book aside and stretched my legs over James’s lap as he settled in next to me .
“Heart rate. I’m even more attuned to yours now because of the bond.” He glanced at the book, wrinkling his nose. “ Dracula ? Really?”
“Me reading it is no more ironic than you owning it.” James massaged my calves, and I stifled a moan.
“I own it because it’s a classic, not because I’m a vampire.”
I relaxed, only answering with a contented noise in the back of my throat. “I should be rubbing your legs. You’re the one who’s been working.”
“You know I don’t feel fatigue like you do. Now what’s going on?”
Reluctant to move, I stretched out behind me, barely able to reach the papers on the desk—but I managed. “Kian was asleep on my couch when I got home last night. This morning, he showed me these.”
James flipped through with one hand while the other stroked my legs. “Luke adopted Kian?”
“Apparently.”
He set the papers aside, returning his full attention to me. “What’s got you worried?”
“I don’t know,” I muttered, shaking my head. “It’s just a feeling. Something’s not right, but I don’t know who to turn to for help.”
“I know someone.”
“Who?”
He hesitated, not meeting my gaze. Uh oh. “You’re not going to like it.”
“Try me,” I said, twisting my fingers through his. “I may surprise you.”
“Do you remember the group of vampires you met after the… accident?”
I shifted, a sense of discomfort washing over me. Oh, I remembered them all right. I saw their blood-red eyes in my nightm ares—but I’d never admit that to James. In response to his question, I nodded. Though his hand tightening around mine told me he knew exactly how I felt. Damn heart rate .
“Gabriel is a private investigator. That’s how they masquerade their business.”
“Okay. Call him.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Really? You’re okay with it?” He eyed me suspiciously. I didn’t hate Gabriel, per se, but I’d made no secret that I didn’t particularly like him or his crew either. I tended not to be a fan of things that killed people.
“Sure,” I said, ignoring the lie that twisted my gut. “Let’s go pay your friend a visit.”
James considered me for a long moment, likely reading right through my bullshit. “Associate,” he said at last.
“Apologies. Let’s go pay your friend an associate .”
James grinned, lunging forward to tickle my stomach. “Smartass.”