“A human?” This wasn’t her business, but somehow she needed to know. “A Supernatural?”
“Human,” he said shortly. “Enhanced.”
“And?” she prompted, smothering an unexpected spark of jealousy.
“It was also a mistake.”
There was a terrible finality to that statement. It thudded between them like a stone barrier.
And yet…she’d been wrong, hadn’t she? Someonehadbeen protecting her. She might not have expected her neighbor’s vigilance, but he’d employed it on her behalf anyway. Not only last night, but for at least the past year, during which time he’d intercepted two different intruders on her property. Without her asking for help. Without her realizing he’d watched out for her and defended her safety. Without them so much as holding hands.
Whatever he felt for her, then, it wasn’t utter indifference, and it wasn’t purely sexual. Even if he considered intimacy with her—with anyone—a fool’s game.
As her thoughts began to drift, she hazily wondered what to make of that conclusion. Maybe he’d lied to her about the rarity of vampire friendship and attachment. Or maybe…there wasalways the flip side of that vampiric coin. On one face, absolute disinterest.
On the other: absolute, to-the-death commitment.
Could he possibly feel that strongly about her?
She didn’t see how or why he would, and she wasn’t certain she wanted him to. In her weakest moments, she might long for love, but she’d rather die herself than have anyone else risk their life for hers. Including Max.
Especially Max.
She took that thought with her into slumber. Into dreams. And finally, into nightmares.
11
The familiar horror racked Edie as she perched far above the violence and cowered in fear and shame. The smell of iron choked her, howls of triumph hurt her ears, and she knew it was a dream. She’d watched this moment a thousand times in her sleep, her mind supplying the grisly details she hadn’t actually witnessed in real life, so she knew what to expect and it couldn’t hurt her, only—
“Edie.” Cool hands drew her closer to an equally cool body. “Wake up.”
The nightmare twisted, and it wasn’t just her parents below her anymore.
No, she shouted, and tried to jump down from the attic, ladder or no ladder, but she kept falling endlessly, unable to look away as the zombies slaughtered everyone she—
“Shhh. You’re safe.” The quiet words, gentle for all their implacability, interrupted the bloodbath. “Don’t cry, my Edie.”
Her ears ringing, she blinked awake and scrabbled for Max’s hands, his forearms, any bit of him she could snatch against herself and keep safe and whole. Her ragged nails bit deep into hisskin, and she was panting as she flailed in an attempt to turn over andseehim.
When she began to fall off the couch, he hauled her back into his embrace and against his chest, this time facing him. “Calm yourself, ma puce. I’m here. All is well.”
He wrapped her in himself, and she huddled against him, trembling. One big palm cradled her nape as she pressed her face into his bare neck. The other swept up and down her spine in slow, steady strokes. She sniffled, attempting to parse her nightmarish reality and her literal nightmare, and a brief, soft pressure touched the top of her head.
After several minutes, she’d shaken off the worst of it.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, and would have curled into herself like a humiliated shrimp if he hadn’t kept her stretched out against him. “I haven’t had a dream like that for a while, but…”
He exhaled, his leg sliding against hers. “Yes. The last two days have been a challenge.”
“Please.” A husky feminine voice came from somewhere behind the couch. “Do tell.”
Max had clearly been tempering his speed and strength for her sake, because she couldn’t even follow how quickly he moved or believe how easily he movedher. Before she could blink, she was lying flat on the ground and hidden as fully as possible between him and the sofa, her cleaver’s handle pressed into her grasp, as he stood and faced their uninvited company.
Another confrontation. More violence. Fuckinghells.
Adrenaline flooded her veins and tasted metallic on her tongue, and she had to tighten her grip on her weapon so her fingers wouldn’t tremble.
“Come no closer,” he warned them—because it was morethan one person. The sounds of shuffling feet and brandished weaponry indicated a substantial gathering of people. “I don’t wish to hurt you, but I will.”
