“And that makes sense.” Sarcasm.
Whatever Roane was going to say was interrupted as his eye caught and held on something. I saw a slight grin appear and vanish just as quickly, but his eyes remained on whatever spot he watched. He withdrew abruptly from the window and crossed to the office door. It wasn’t even a second before he opened it and another giant vampire stepped through. It almost looked coordinated, but who coordinates that? ‘Vampires would.’ I snorted at that thought. Roane ignored me, but the other vampire lifted a pair of shrewd dark eyes my way. They were cold. No—scratch that. They were freezing. And they didn’t want me there.
“Who is this?” Even his voice sounded like the tundra.
“No one. Did you find something?”
He drew up to his fullest height, which was impressive. I guessed he might’ve been over six feet and five inches, but I’m terrible at guessing that stuff. With his broad shoulders and his rich golden curls, the vampire could’ve passed as a member of the royal Viking family. “Raitscliff and Lucan have both found a female that might be the next.”
“Their families are here?”
The Viking nodded and waited for Roane’s command.
Roane nodded once. His shoulders were made of stone. “Call the rest. I can’t fight both families alone.”
“You are not alone.” The Viking sounded sincere. He laid a gentle hand on Roane’s shoulder and I was more surprised when it wasn’t shrugged off. Roane seemed to get strength from the simple touch.
“I know I am not alone, Gregory, but I would fear for your life too heavily. Raitscliff has vowed your death since Hartsdale.”
“He can try.” Gregory puffed up as his hand formed a tight fist.
He had meaty hands. I could only imagine the damage one of those hands could inflict. Just… impressive…and horrifying.
“Find Wren and I’ll meet you back at the house.”
“And her?” He sneered at me.
I straightened and fixed him with one of my glares. I could do the frostbite thing back at him. I think my glare bounced off him how my hand had bounced off of Roane before.
“Go.” Roane ignored Gregory.
Gregory clamped his jaw tight and abruptly disappeared from the room. He didn’t literally vanish, but the effect was the same. He was there. He was gone. And the door clicked in his wake.
“Boyfriend?”
Roane ignored me as he moved back to the window and peered through the blinds. Then he heaved a deep unnecessary breath.
“Why do you do that?”
“What?”
“Breathe. Sigh. Why do you do that? You don’t actually breathe, you know. You don’t need air.”
Roane studied me for a moment. “It’s habit. It’s the body’s habit. I try to grant the wish of the body.”
“It’s not like you’re a demon that inhabits it. It was your body before you became a vampire.”
He measured his words, but I caught the slightest inflection of… remorse? “To me, I was taught to respect the soul and the vessel of the soul. My mind might be similar, but I am not human, Davy. I don’t have that soul anymore. The body misses the soul. It’s a unique relationship that can’t be described, but there are vestiges. There are little remains that tell me what the body used to do with the soul. Breathing is just one of them.”
Well—that was… very philosophical. I wasn’t sure I was glad that I had asked. “Oh.”
“You’re a human, Davy. And yet, you’re more than the others. You know of us. You know of our world. You look down on us, but I’m human enough to know that you fear us. You went through a terrible thing with one vampire. I understand that his scars are still in you, that you think and feel because of them. They have power over you and yet—I think you’re above those scars. I think you can be above them.”
I was blown away and infuriated by what he said. I was also pissed, though I wasn’t sure why. “You’re a Hunter. You’re a vampire. You own a restaurant. I’m guessing that you own a few of them. You go to college. Why do you even bother going to classes? Why pretend to be one of the lowly creatures we are?”
Roane took a step forward.
I leaned forward on the edge of the couch.