“That is really sweet.”
He leaned over, kissing a spot on my neck, and I caught my breath.Oh yes, I liked that. “I’m not sweet. You make me want to be.”
Griffin stepped away just a little bit, putting the smallest amount of distance between us. It felt immense. “Griff?”
“Come on. I need to tell the others about your birthday. Everyone is going to want to see you tonight. To make sure you’re okay. It begs the question, Maci,whyare you so okay? You’ve had one shock after another.”
I took his hand. “I’m not okay. I’m so far from okay, I’m not sure I ever will be again. But I’m not the one who is going to die. I’m not the one they’re going to stick in a coffin alive. I’m not… My problems are my own. I’ll deal with them like I always do—silently. Let’s focus on you guys. You have the more imminent issues.”
“Don’t deal with it silently. We all have our roles in this little family. Rowan thinks he solves problems but the truth is that its mine. I solve problems. If you’re feeling things, I need to know what they are. Please, trust me like that.”
I swallowed. “You have trusted me only because you had to. You’ve all seen me at my worst. I mean… I think you can guess how I’m feeling. At the moment, it’s best described as overwhelmed.”
“Then let’s see to it that you start to find your feet again. Come on. Let’s go find out what all those servants were doing in Rowan’s house. What could they possibly have been up to?”
I wasn’t at all sure I wanted to know.
Ten
“Hey.”I stopped Griff by grabbing his arm before he stepped inside the house. “I know that you set Mrs. Reemus up with a vampire because of what she did to me.”
He lifted an eyebrow. There was challenge in his look. “She got bit twice and sent home—enough to give her what she herself had been trying to get for some time and to frighten her. The vampire who bit her is a bad dude, I’ll admit it. He’s not kind, not that any of them are, but he is particularly bad, so I’m sure it was painful. Nothing about that will leave permanent damage to her except that she will now be watched. Part of the group of people who could be called upon to do things in the event they’re deemed necessary. On the off chance that she is already addicted after just twice…well, that is just too fucking bad.”
I squeezed his arm. “Griffin, I’m not upset about it. I’m even a little bit…glad?” And if that made me a bad person, then so be it. “I wanted to say that I’ve never had anyone do anything like this for me before. It’s a little bit bad, I guess, but maybe that’s what I am—a little bit bad.”
“You’re not. You’re very, very good inside. We all reach a threshold where we don’t mind the people who hurt us getting what’s coming to them. That just makes us human. Vampires take it to another level. So maybe the vamp soul in me is just a little bit more evil than most and it was already showing itself.”
I leaned against him. “We can call Mrs. Reemus my birthday present. Thank you for it.”
He scowled at me. “You were tricky with that. No, it’s not your birthday present. I’m going to spend money on you. Deal with it.”
I matched his scowl, which made both of us grin. Finally, we entered Rowan’s house, finding our way to his bedroom. If anything, his mansion was bigger than Caesar’s. The vampires did like to have showy houses. There was nothing understated about them. I looked out the window, something I hadn’t done the last time I’d been there. The woods were visible, which was funny to think about. The same woods that surrounded my trailer were right there too, just from a different edge.
It was what connected us.
Or maybe I was overthinking it.
All the guys were back, and the room had changed significantly. Six beds where there had just been one. The servants set them up so that they were all in a circle with an open space in the center that seemed a natural gathering area, since that was where everyone sat on the floor.
Tanner had his guitar out, and I walked over toward where he strummed. He grinned at me, so I sat next to him on the ground, finding Rowan’s gaze. “Are you okay with this? It’s your room, but now it’s where everyone is sleeping, even me.”
He nodded, leaning against his bed. “We used to have sleepovers all the time. Not for years. It just sort of stopped.”
“About four years ago, we started to get a little dour.” Ace scooted next to me. “No fun. Just…sort of existing.”
The fact they started to commit small crimes made more and more sense to me. “So your fathers have basically forced you to have a good time again.”
“They’re trying to make sure we can all be watched.” Ace put his hand on my knee. “Easier.”
“Hey, guys.” Griffin sank to the ground next to Rowan and Caesar. “Tomorrow is our girl’s birthday.”
Their girl. The title felt like a birthday present all unto itself. “It is. But listen, Griffin is insisting on doing something. There really is no need…”
“You’ll be eighteen just about the time we wake up. Well, maybe we’ll be up earlier.” Ace said it like what he said had no ramifications at all. “If we’re more like nine-monthers rather than year long.”
My stomach twisted. “I…I won’t see you for a whole year.” I’d known them days, but already, I couldn’t stand the idea. Actual pain assaulted my midsection, and I wasn’t sure I wouldn’t throw up.
“You won’t see us then, either.” Rowan sighed. “You won’t be anywhere near us—not then and not in the future. Can’t allow it.” He held up his hand. “Don’t argue with me about what I can and can’t do, Griffin.”