I smiled, saying elusively, “Just because he’s a Vampire, doesn’t mean he’s cruel.”
Lynn blinked. “That wasn’t what I meant.”
I swallowed, glancing at the house and figuring I needed to quit being so defensive. Not everyone thought Ezra and I were together. Lynn had only been stating fact. “Of course not. I’m sorry for assuming.”
“Not a problem.” He grabbed the last bag and shut the door. “But you should know up front, since we will be dealing with each other, I’m not an unkind man. Only a little set in my ways.”
“I understand that,” I murmured, watching Ezra move around the back of the car while he held a scowling Brann in his arms. I nodded toward the curly-haired cutie, saying to Ezra, “He’s big, huh?”
Ezra’s smile was still sad, but it also held amazement as he turned his attention to Lynn. “Are you sure they’re twins?”
Brann pointed a finger at Brenna. “Hate you.” He really was upset about the seatbelt.
Brenna stuck her tongue out at him, but grinned like the devil afterward.
“Yes, they’re twins.” His chest was all puffed. “Brann was born two minutes before Brenna.”
“Well,” Ezra lifted Brann so he was staring him directly in the eye, “I do believe Queen Ruckler is going to have her hands full with you.”
Lord help me, Brann slowly grinned, chuckling quietly.
Ezra watched, then his gaze met mine, one eyebrow leisurely lifting, and snickered.
“I don’t want to hear it,” I muttered, already having seen Brann’s devious antics when his dad wasn’t watching. “All I have to say is…first ever female Prodigy Vampire.”
Ezra grunted, placing Brann back on his hip. “Don’t remind me.” He tilted his head at the house. “Let’s get inside.” I didn’t miss how he maneuvered so he was walking between Lynn and me. He glanced my way. “I need to talk with you once they’re settled.”
My eyebrows puckered. “Alright.” I wasn’t sure what that was about, but his expression was serious. “It shouldn’t take too long to find a bedroom for them.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
It had taken a bit longer to have that talk with Ezra than we had planned, since he had wanted us to leave the house to have it, so it was dark by the time I burrowed Lynn’s SUV. When we had first entered, we had mutually — silently — agreed to sidestep Elder Zeller since he was still standing in front of the window, but this time holding a bottle of whiskey, which was half gone. Lynn hadn’t said anything, but he must have remembered I had told him Cahal had recently lost his mate because all he had done was lower his eyes and follow us upstairs.
It had been Brann and Brenna who had kept us there, running about, exploring the vacated home. You would think little monsters wouldn’t be able to hide in a home that had no furniture and was stripped bare, but together they had somehow managed it. There had been one particularly high point when we had caught them playing with their tiny cars on top of Antonio’s still-slumbering form. Lynn had been, for the most part, horrified, apparently deducing who Antonio was, but Ezra and I had only lifted the kids and gotten them out of the room before Lynn had a complete meltdown.
I was now driving us down the town’s main strip with the plan to pick up dinner for everyone, while Ezra sat silent on the passenger’s seat even though he had wanted to talk. “So,” I finally relented and broke the silence, “what did you want to speak to me about?”
And, holy fucking shit, he just blurted, “Will you marry me?”
Surprised didn’t even explain what jolted through my system. More like utter and complete astonishment. I physically jerked, the SUV also swerving with my motion, and Ezra’s hand blurred, reaching over to grab the wheel and right our direction before I plowed into a van. “Did you…,” I blubbered, gripping the wheel tight to keep it straight on the road, my eyes darting back and forth between him and the street, “Did…did you…I…” I swallowed hard, trying to breathe normally, my heartbeat racing like mad when he only stared at me, not taking his words back. “Did…did you just ask me to marry you?”
He held his hands up. “Just hold on and hear me out before you answer.” He was scrutinizing me like someone might watch a cagey animal. “First, I’m not asking because my mother was killed yesterday, and I’m looking at life like it’s too short to waste, although, that reasoning is true, just not because I lost my mother. I had planned to ask you that night after we left the ice-cream parlor. Remember I had told you I wanted you in a good mood to ask you something?”
I blinked, gulping in air, swallowing hard as my thoughts swam in a million different directions, but I did remember him saying that right before Antonio had his vision, so I bobbed my head, an odd sound making its way out of my throat.
Confusion. Fear. Shock. Surprise.
All of these emotions were slamming at me, and not to mention I also felt…thrilled.