“You left a lot ofsomething,” I laugh, reaching for my fork. “I’m surprised what I washed off didn’t clog the drain. I found one of your chest hairs… I think it was a chest hair, in my nose.”
“I knew you were going to be an amazing mate,” he grins, reaching over and squeezing my hand. “Just stay here until we deal with the vampires. Then we’ll have the rest of our lives together.”
“Speaking of the rest of our lives, what do you do, exactly?” I ask, some playfulness in my voice. “Besides stalk girls you see at bars?”
“My brothers and I keep a low profile ourselves. We try to blend in and not call attention to ourselves. Jaxton has trouble with his Third Form, so he keeps to himself,” he growls, taking a big bite of his food. After he swallows, he continues. “We make sure other Scions keep a low profile, too, so that the Crimson Templars never have a reason to come to Chicago.”
“The Crimson… Templars?” I ask, my lip rising as I repeat it. “Who are they?”
“They hunt Scions. They’re the ones who killed our parents. Our brothers and sisters.” Hayden’s face darkens, as the weight of the memories settles on it. “The reason there are no she-wolves left.”
“Okay, so they’re the bad guys. Like,reallybad guys?” I blink a few times and swallow hard before sipping my coffee.
“Something like that,” he responds, obviously holding back anger. “They have weapons that can wound us. Weapons that can kill us too, but they like to make examples out of the Scions they kill. At least the ones that burnt Chicago to the ground did. It’s been a long fucking time since we’ve had to deal with them. We make sure that doesn’t change.”
“So, if they find out about vampires, they would show up. Possibly find you,” I say, putting it together in my head.
“You too,” he says, his tone somewhat ominous. “You’re a Scion.”
I swallow hard as that hits me in my chest. I am a Scion. I’m not… human. I have visions or hallucinations or premonitions. I have no idea what it is. They saved Daisy. Well, Hayden saved her, but I found her.
“Those guys aren’t around Chicago or anything, right? I’m not going to run into them on the streets and they’ll immediately know I’m a Scion?” I question, some concern elevating my tone.
“No, as far as they know, Chicago is Scion-free. But these fucking vampires,” he growls. “We’ll find them before it gets out of hand.It takes a lot to get their attention. Last I heard, they were dealing with bear shifters in Canada and have been for a while.”
“Bear shifters? Oh wow, okay,” I say, digesting the information, as well as my breakfast.
We keep eating. I ask a few more questions, but when Hayden finishes his plate, he gets a text from one of his brothers and has to type out a reply.
“Alright, I have to go meet my brothers. I’ll be gone all day. Maybe into the night,” he says, leaning towards me, his lips finding my ear, beard tickling my neck. “But when I get back, You’re mine, mate. All fucking mine.”
“I’ll be here,” I gasp, missing him as soon as he pulls away. “Please don’t forget to feed Daisy’s cat!”
“I won’t. Now let’s exchange phone numbers so we can reach each other if there’s an emergency.” We do as he suggested and then he walks away into the bedroom.
Hayden shifts into his Third Form, puts on his clothes, kisses me goodbye, and goes to the garage. A button opens it, then he hops into the car that brought us here and guides it out. The garage door closes a few seconds after he leaves.
I stand up, walk around the safehouse for a while, and finally check my phone. I have frantic messages from Daisy’s parents, mutual friends, and the police.
This is going to be difficult to unravel, but I start making calls. I lie to my work and say I’m sick. Not just ill from something I ate, but worried sick over my best friend, too. That part isn’t hard to fake. I am still worried about Daisy, despite knowing she’s still alive. I hope she’s recovering as well as the Witch Doctor says.
My boss seems to be understanding, but I get the impression I just put myself on thin ice, considering how new I am. He makes it clear he’ll take care of the report for Ms. Frost, but that she won’t be happy. That makes me a little more sick to my stomach, but I don’t have time to dwell on it.
Daisy’s mother is distraught. I really want to tell her the truth, but I can’t. She’d never understand. Our mutual friends are fairly worried. It’s officially a missing person’s case now. That’s why the police were calling. Thankfully, the only thing they want to know is if I’ve heard from her yet. I lie and say I haven’t.
After I’m done making calls, I go back to the enormous bed that is still stained from what happened there last night. Over and over again.
Is it going to be that intense tonight, too? A part of me fears it, but another part definitely doesn’t. The part that doesn’t makes my core tighten with anticipation, but that just makes me ache.
“Ow, oh yeah, definitely need to take it easy today,” I wince, finding a clean spot to sit. “But maybe I’ll change the sheets. Where would Hayden keep sheets…”
I guess I’ve got an entire day to figure that out.
CHAPTER 17
Hayden
I pull the car up outside Daisy’s apartment building.
