I moved around so much these days, it was hard to develop any true bonds. I’d been in Chicago longer than I’d stayed most places since I left home at eighteen.
I stared out the window at the passing traffic as Roy navigated his big truck through the busy streets. I’d moved for much less than crazy witches with a vendetta before—and the smart thing would undoubtedly be to just get out of Chicago and start over somewhere else. I’d done it many times before. So why did the thought of doing so now, when my life was literally on the line, fill me with dread?
Because of Warin.
Because I’d let myself get attached. Real fucking smart, Liv.
Adding more friends into the mix… it was only going to make it all the harder to do the smart thing and leave.
Fuck.
The dread in my gut mixed with a clenching sensation of panic, and I breathed deeply to get it under control before I alerted Roy to my internal meltdown.
Having friends was healthy. Maybe less so when friends were the reason you stuck around in a dangerous situation rather than get the hell out of Dodge, but still… It’d been so long since I had anyone I could count on. Who counted on me.
Despite the swirl of panic in my gut… it felt good.
And it wasn’t like I was just going to leave Warin in the middle of a crisis. I might have been a coward when it came to friendships, but I wasn’t an asshole.
I leaned back in the passenger seat, mind made up. I wasn’t leaving until I’d helped Warin. He’d done so much for me; it was only fair I stuck around to see him through this. Despite being out of practice with the whole friend-thing, I knew you didn’t turn your back on one in his time of need.
Definitely didn’t have anything to do with how sick the thought of leaving him behind made me.
* * *
Roy stayed outside my apartment block like a hulking sentinel in his leather coat—which had to have been made with skin from an entire cow. I wasn’t exactly used to having a bodyguard hanging around, but as the sun began to set and the temperatures plummeted, I started to feel bad. It had to be pretty damn boring to hang around outside a building for hours. Boring, and cold.
So, coffee in hand and bundled up in multiple sweaters, I walked out there, ready to be a less shitty host.
“Hey,” I said as he turned to give me a questioning look. “Coffee?”
“You should be inside,” he said, voice gruff, but he accepted the cup from me. It practically disappeared in his large hand.
“Probably,” I agreed mildly as I perched on the brick banister leading to the front door of my building. “So, have you known Warin long?”
“Few years.”
Yeah, Roy wasn’t exactly the chatty type. But, during my day in his mostly quiet company, I’d felt pretty at ease around him. He gave off a weirdly calming vibe. Perhaps it was just due to his size and the pretty solid knowledge that no one was getting past his bulk—but whatever it was, I found I liked his company.
Even if he was basically my glorified babysitter.
“I haven’t known him long at all. I sorta met him by accident this summer, and then we ran into each other again recently,” I said, attempting to get a conversation going with a bit of smalltalk.
A swish from the sky followed by a thunk from the street interrupted me—and had Roy straightening up, alert.
“Hey,” I greeted the vampire who’d just landed on my road, offering him a smile as if I had friends dropping from the sky on the regular.
“You should be inside,” Warin said, face blank and voice dark.
I sighed. “Well, hello to you too.” I slid off the banister and gave a half-wave in Roy’s direction. “Bye, Roy. See you around.”
The large man grunted in response, and I went back inside.
Warin followed shortly after, his dark look still firmly in place.
Tonight was going to be just lovely, I could tell.
“Find out anything good?” I asked as I sunk into my usual spot on the couch and pulled my drawing kit off the coffee table.
Warin sat down in his spot on the other end, leaned forward with his elbows resting on his knees. He sighed softly, making me swap out my pencil. A man that broody needed to be drawn with the rich contrast of charcoal.
“Nothing good. I… have to call for a meeting. For the rulers of my kind. What’s going on in Chicago can have very serious consequences beyond my borders. The witches moving against us, contaminating animal blood… Who knows when they’ll turn their attention to the hospitals’ supplies.”
“You don’t look excited,” I said. “Is it not a happy family reunion when the other vamp royalties come to town?”
He glanced at me. “Carina told you what I am.”
It wasn’t a question, but I nodded nonetheless. “Night Lord of Chicago. Very fancy.”
A ghost of a smile haunted his lips. “I am glad you are not… intimidated.”
I shrugged. “It’s not really my world. To me, you’re just… Warin. My friend. Doesn’t really matter to our friendship if you’re a big vampire boss or not, does it?”
“Not in the slightest.” He smiled a short while longer before he sighed and turned to stare straight ahead once more. “There is another matter I need to see the other Lords about. You remember the skinwalker who couldn’t speak?”
I shuddered at the memory. “Yeah?”
“If he was under vampire Compulsion, the vampire who Compelled him would have to be… very strong.”
I perked up, my fingers pausing from drawing the angle of his jaw. “You’re thinking royalty-strong?”
“Yes.”
“So… What? You’re thinking you can suss out who might be behind it if you get everyone under the same roof?”
He nodded. “Perhaps. But it will be… tricky. And… then there is the thing with us… with our friendship.”
“Which thing?” Something in his tone made my fingers twitch around the charcoal with an unpleasant sense of foreboding.
He hesitated for a moment. “It is… very clear you have become a target due to our relations, despite my efforts to be discreet when visiting you.”
“Way to make a girl feel like a dirty secret,” I muttered.
He ignored me. “I would like you to accompany me to the meeting with the other Lords.”
I blinked. “Uh… sorry, are you asking me to waltz into the middle of a vampire gathering? ‘Cause I gotta tell ya, the last time you brought me into a crowd of your kind, I nearly ended up on the menu.”
“Regrettably, Liv, I’m not asking.” Despite Warin’s still-quiet voice, his tone was like velvet-wrapped granite. “It is the only way I can restore a measure of safety to your life, and so you will go. And I will claim you, among my equals, as my… special companion. As such, you will be untouchable to them. And even other supernaturals will think twice before harming you.”
A hot flush of anger made my blood boil alongside a trickle of desire his no-nonsense attitude shot through my abdomen. Damnit, now was so not the time to picture him brandishing a leather belt in one hand!