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“I think I’ll stand, thank you.”
Torr pushed away from the porch railing to walk toward her. Charlotte was pretty sure the shiver that ran down her back had nothing to do with the increasingly cool weather. Being near him affected her in odd ways.
Like the feeling of an imminent kiss.
Or standing on the edge of a cliff.
“Your friends did not betray you.”
“But I heard them talking—”
“Of something that very few people would be willing or able to comprehend.”
“I don’t like the sound of this.” Charlotte took a step back. His expression almost scared her.
“You heard the word ‘Cheld.’ It refers to someone of a certain . . . bloodline that gives the person special abilities.”
“I don’t understand.”
“All Cheld are descendants of my brother Alec and his wife, Lady Isobel.”
“I thought Lawrence was your only brother?”
“We had an older brother, but he died long ago.” Torr took a deep breath. “Centuries ago.”
Now she really didn’t understand. “What in the name of—”
“I am a vampire, Charlotte. As are my brother and sister.” He made a face. “And Kenton Morley.”
“A . . . did you just say—?”
Had they been served spiked drinks by the bartender for hire?
“Vampire. Don’t be afraid.” Then, without warning, he opened his mouth and—
“What the fuck?” It slipped out before she could bite it back. One of a grand total of three times she’d said the word aloud. Charlotte backed up, her leg hitting the wicker chair behind her. Gripping it, she sat on the floral cushions.
Torr knelt beside her. Which was when Charlotte realized she’d trapped herself.
He must have seen the gleam of fright in her eyes, because he immediately edged back. “I will not hurt you. Alessandra and Toni would never have allowed me to be with you alone otherwise.”
Alessandra. Toni. “They . . . know?”
“That their partners are both vampires?” His teeth went back to normal. “Yeah, they know.”
Gripping both sides of the chair, Charlotte stared at his mouth. Had she really just seen that? It wasn’t possible. Couldn’t be. “Was that some kind of prop?” she said in a feeble attempt to refute what she’d just seen. “Are you guys practicing for some dinner theater thing at your brother’s bar?”
“No prop. No tricks.”
She gripped the chair harder, until it hurt, and stared up at him as if her gaze could delve into his head.
“I’m going to leave for a moment,” he said. “When I do, I want you to whisper a word to yourself.”
Before she could respond, Torr walked to the edge of the porch and promptly jumped over it. They were on the first floor, but it was still a ways down. She was about to stand when she heard him yell, “your word.”
A word. Charlotte couldn’t think of any.
She sat still, wondering how he’d moved so quickly—and without even gaining a bruise, from the look of it.
