Her jaw drops. “No way.” She bites into another cupcake. “That’s some crazy shit,” she murmurs, spitting some crumbs over the counter.
I shrug, not avoiding the smile tugging on my lips. “Magic.”
She snaps her fingers and points at me. “True.” Then she turns to Apollo. “You wanted to leave while we had light. Why?” She waves at the windows. “It’s not like it makes any difference down here.”
“It doesn’t,” the shifter points out, picking up a cupcake and stuffing it into his mouth without a drop of elegance. “Since it makes no difference here, we might as well have some advantage up there. Remember you had a vampire in your place. If they, whoever they are, make a move again, we better have sunlight on our side.”
He has a point, of course. Even if someone attacks us here, we can make a run for it and be safer if we have sunlight up above. Safer, not safe. I don’t think we’ll be safe for a long time now.
Cassandra scratches her eyes and yawns. “Don’t you have any idea why that vampire was after me, Don?”
I meet her gaze, the nickname something new and heart-warming. Her dark, trusting eyes are knives to my chest. I have to be careful with the words I say to her. She can sense the truth pretty well. “Someone’s hunting you. I don’t know why.” It’s a truth. I don’t know specifics, just that she’s being hunted. My maker wants us, and he probably sent that vampire after her, but I don’t know why. Why does he want a mage? There are millions of mages out there. Even if Cassandra is unique, it doesn’t explain why my maker wants her. He can’t know her power is different. He hasn’t seen her.
She nods in acquiescence. “So, what’s the plan? We wait for tomorrow?”
I grind my teeth, studying her pretty face for a moment. “No. I’ll pack things up, and you’ll go rest for a couple of hours. I’ll wake you up when everything’s ready, so we can leave.”
“During the night?” Apollo arches an eyebrow in doubt. “They can hunt us down.”
“I think it’s better to risk it,” I offer. “Much more dangerous staying here another day.”
Cassandra nods, but Apollo doesn’t seem so convinced. He doesn’t know my maker, and he has no idea how far Kayn goes when he wants something. That’s the thing about ancient vampires. They are too convinced the world should bend to their will.
“So we head to my mother’s place?” Cassandra asks, turning to me.
“You think she’d receive us in the middle of the night?” If she didn’t know where the woman lives, then they’re not on good terms. That happens so much with humans. When I was alive, I had the luck to have a loving mother, but that is not the rule.
Cassandra shakes her head. “I don’t think so. She abandoned me, after all. But I want answers.”
Silence hangs heavy between us. Apollo’s forehead furrows, but he doesn’t say a word, his eyes lowered. I reach out and curl my hands around Cassandra’s hips, bringing her closer. She braces her hands on my chest, tilting her face up.
“We’ll make our way to her and get your answers then,” I promise her, my face hovering over hers, inches separating our lips. Her body against mine makes my blood boil, and I breathe her delicious scent in. The sensation of her skin beneath my fingers makes my pants tight.
Cassandra nods, then raises onto her tiptoes. Her lips brush mine. She smiles. Her smile passes to me, my heart pumping, pumping inside my chest. I press my lips to her soft ones, and my eyelids flutter shut. Cassandra tastes as good as she smells. Her lips part for me, and her tongue touches the bottom of my lip. I stroke her with my tongue, drinking from her, letting the mix of scent, touch, and taste intoxicate me. Cassandra’s kiss singes into my skin, every touch of her lips more addictive than the previous. She teases my fangs with the tip of her tongue, and I have never been this aroused. Her breasts push against my chest, and my hands itch to curl around her ass and bring her up over the counter. I could take her like this. The height would be perfect. My cock’s ready to go, but Cassandra’s tired, and I won’t force her to do anything.
When I claim her, I want her wide awake.
She breaks the kiss but doesn’t step away. Half-lidded eyes stare at me. “I thought vampires didn’t have heartbeats,” she says in a lower voice before shooting me a last smile and whirling around. She leaves the kitchen, swaying her fantastic ass away. A moment later, I hear the mattress giving in under her weight.
My heartbeat slows down, the way it does when she’s far from me. I make my way around the kitchen, shoving cookies and fruits into a bag. Bottles of water. Should have a first aid kit for Cassandra, but I have nothing close to it in here. Vampires don’t exactly need it.
“What the fuck are you?” Apollo hisses, and I whirl around in alarm. I’ve never heard him sound so aggressive. His entire body is taut, his hands closed in fists. Ready for a fight.
I arch an eyebrow. “Vampire.” I raise a side of my lips to show him the fangs. “Thought you knew that.” To make the point, I open the fridge and throw several bags of blood into a thermal bag.
Apollo shakes his head. “Vampires don’t have heartbeats.”
“We do under a special circumstance.” I stare at Apollo, challenging him to attack me. We’ve had peaceful moments because of Cassandra, but I will rip his head off if I need to.
He shifts in place, though, his shoulders relaxing. “Is it because of her?”
I nod once, then go back to my packing. Apollo doesn’t ask again. Good. I don’t want to explain to him how vampires work. He comes to my side without another word and helps me pack up. We stand in amicable silence for all of ten minutes before I hear scratching.
I stop and straighten my spine. Apollo stops, too, narrowing his eyes at me. “What is it?” he asks, his voice a mix of annoyance and hesitation.
“A scratching sound.” I amble to the kitchen’s entrance and preen my ears. “It’s coming from out of the door.”
“Scratching? Like a cat?” Apollo’s lip curls in pure confusion now. “Was that an excuse so you can stop packing, and I’ll do it all by myself?”