Page 77 of Let Sleeping Vampires Lie

I followed Con toward the stairs, boots matching his stride.

At first.

But the path we took didn’t lead to the training yard or the foyer.

It led to my room.

I frowned. “Why are we heading back here?”

He didn’t look at me as he answered. “You’re not ready for another mission yet.”

“I am fine.”

“You were unconscious a few hours ago.”

“I’m not a fledgling.”

“I didn’t say you were.”

“You implied it.”

“No,” he said, turning slightly as we reached my door. “I implied you need rest. That’s not the same thing.”

“Feels the same.”

He opened my door without waiting to be invited in. Again. A habit I’d let slide because the last time I’d tried to reach the doorknob, I nearly keeled over.

But now I wasn’t weak. And he wasn’t subtle.

“Con,” I said as the door clicked shut behind us, “I don’t need a handler.”

He crossed the room and faced me fully, arms folding across his chest. “Good. Because I’m not volunteering for that job.”

“Really? Because it feels like you are.”

He inhaled, slow and controlled. “If I were handling you, you wouldn’t have nearly died in a graveyard or burned yourself out on the bedroom floor.”

“That’s not handling,” I snapped. “That’s battle. And we survive battle.”

“You barely did.”

Heat pricked under my skin, not from fever this time.

“You’re doing it again,” I said.

“What?”

“Hovering.”

His jaw tightened. “I’m trying to keep you alive.”

“I am not fragile.”

“I know that,” he said quietly. “I know exactly how strong you are. But strong people break too, Cass.”

“That doesn’t mean I need babysitting.”

His eyes flashed, gold deepening. “This isn’t babysitting. I’m not checking your homework. I’m trying to make sure you don’t collapse in the middle of a mission.”