She shoved herself up to sit. Dizziness attacked her, and she shut her eyes, her free hand pressing against her forehead. Memories flashed behind her eyelids. Holy shit.
She opened her eyes and slowly turned to see Bear leaning against the far wall, his arm in a sling, bruises across his jaw.
“You shot me,” he said mildly.
She blinked. “I was falling.”
“I know. How’s your head?” He fingered a bandage above his right eyebrow.
She gulped and shook her head. “You’re a bear.”
“Yep.” He smiled. “Though it was nice of you to try and protect me.”
How in the hell was any of this even possible? She turned toward Kell, who remained protectively close. “Bear turned into a bear,” she said slowly.
Kell slid an arm around her shoulder and tucked her into his side. “He’s a bear shifter.”
“Shifter? Shifters exist.” She shook her head. “Witches and shifters.”
“Oh my,” Bear said, straight faced.
Kell threw him a look. “We have feline shifters, wolf shifters, and multi-shifters.”
She shook her head. Pain clamored between her temples. “But he’s a bear shifter.”
“Aye.” Kell ran gentle fingers over her scalp, touching a bump at the top of her head that might get him shot. “Sorry. Multi-shifters used to be able to shift into anything, mainly bear, but now most bears can’t turn into anything but bears. I haven’t seen a multi in centuries.” He turned toward Bear and lifted an eyebrow.
Bear shook his head and winced, touching his bandage. “I don’t know any bear shifter who can shift into anything but bear. If you ask me, multies are extinct, and we’ve all evolved into bears.” He sighed and leaned his head back, shutting his eyes. “We’re the next generation, baby.”
Kell rolled his eyes. “Why are witches attacking you?”
Bear focused again. “We were approached a week ago, via a burner phone, to distribute Apollo, and we said no. I think this was a second request.”
“I knew a witch was behind this,” Kell muttered. “Any idea who they work for or who approached you?”
“No clue.” Bear slid to the side as the door opened.
Garrett and then Logan, both wearing clean clothes, gingerly strode inside.
“We wanted to check on Alexandra,” Garrett said.
She eyed the boys and their innocent expressions. “Did you two fight the witches in the delivery truck?”
“Hells ya,” Logan said, high-fiving Garrett.
She gave them her strongest cop expression, and they sobered instantly. “Are you two witches as well?”
“No, ma’am,” Garrett said softly.
“Bear shifters?”
“Nope.” Logan eyed Kellach.
Kell sighed. “Might as well tell her the truth. She knows almost all of it.”
Garrett smiled, and sharp fangs slid from his mouth. “I’m a vampire.”
Holy freakin’ crap. That sweet boy was a creature of the night? “I’ve seen you outside and in the sun.”
He chuckled. “We can go in the sun and are just a different species from humans.”
It was too much. The world as she knew it . . . didn’t exist. She swallowed. “I read a blog by a Sarah Pringle.”
Garrett nodded, his light-refracting glasses moving on his nose. “Aunt Sarah. She mated my Uncle Max.”
Mated. There was that damn word again. Lex’s abdomen heated. She was mated to Kell. “Sarah wrote that the vampires were white-faced and afraid of the sun.” Lex tried to grasp onto any tendril of reality.
“Those were the Kurjans, our enemies. You don’t have to worry about them.” Garrett’s fangs slid back in.
She had enough to worry about and would figure out Kurjans later. “Do you, ah, drink blood?” she whispered.
“No.” Garrett chuckled. “I mean, we do, but only in fights or during sex.” Red climbed into his face. “Begging your pardon, ma’am.”
What a polite freakin’ vampire with deadly fangs.
Lex shook her head and focused on Logan. “Vampire?”
“Half vampire.” Logan allowed his fangs to drop and then retract.
Lex stiffened her shoulders, trying so hard not to relax into the safety that was Kell. “The other half?”
“Demon. Half demon.” Logan shuffled his feet. “We’re the good guys. I promise.”
Demons were the good guys, and Kurjans the bad guys. The immortal world seemed rather complex. She shook her head and tried her best to adapt without shooting anybody in the room. Not that her bullets did much good, apparently. “Um, so Dage Kayrs, is the, ah, king of the vampires?”
Garrett nodded. “Uncle Dage is King of the Realm, which is a coalition of vampires, shifters, and witches, but you could say he’s also the king of the vampires, since he is a vampire.”
“Okay,” she whispered.
Kell jerked his head toward Garrett. “Did you know she was enhanced?”
Garrett smiled and then slowly lost his grin. “Wait a minute. Didn’t you?”
“No.” Kell glanced back at Lex. “Not at all.”
Lex glanced from one to the other. “Excuse me?”