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West’s lean body tensed. “Don’t start thinking you can read people’s minds, Sparks,” he said, but he looked more unsettled thanangry.
Nate rested his large hand on my shoulder. “Dragons see more than any of the rest of us can,” he saidapprovingly.
I rubbed the back of my neck. I’d enjoyed the physical exertion while I was in the middle of it, but the effort was starting to catch up with me. Especially after all those failed attempts at shiftingbeforehand.
Sure I was quick and strong, and I could take a stab at people’s emotions when I needed to. What good was any of that to the alphas if I couldn’t make the full transformation into a dragon? I still didn’t have a clue what Mom had been trying to tell me with the symbol in mylocket.
How long would these guys stick with me before they gave upand—
A jolt of panic shot through me. I clamped down on that thought before my mind could finish it and pushed itaway.
“I think our Princess of Flames has more than proven herself for the morning,” Marco’s smooth voice broke in. “As host to this party, I say we give her a break.” He held out his hand to me with his crooked smile. Even with me tired and uncertain, it still provoked a flutter of attraction in mychest.
“There are a few parts of this house you haven’t seen yet,” he said. “One in particular I think you’ll appreciate. Are you up for a quicktour?”
Chapter 10
Ren
As soon asI stepped into the house with just Marco beside me, a weight seemed to lift off my shoulders. All the pressure of having the four guys watching me, thinking about me... and me thinking aboutthem. Some part of me might like the idea that they were all meant to be with me, but the feeling was still overwhelmingsometimes.
How had Mom gone from that to having no male companionship at all for all those years, without ever showing she missed it? She must have. Maybe she’d just been too good at hiding it for me tonotice.
Leonard was in the main hall, dusting the frame of an oil painting hanging on the wall. So Marco really had put his lieutenant on cleaning duty. Marco shooed him away, I guessed realizing I still might not be feeling super friendly toward the guy who’d grabbed me in the bar. That was fine withme.
“So what’s this part of the house you’re so eager to show off?” I askedMarco.
“You’ll see.” He guided me past the kitchen and down a hall toward the south side of the house with a hand on my back. The light contact sent a pulse of heat over my skin. My thoughts slipped back to yesterday. To that kiss in the bedroom. Just remembering it made my entire bodyflush.
Was the pull between us always going to feel this intense? Or did it ease off a little once the guys and I were officially mates? I had no idea how a relationship like that worked. But asking Marco directly felt way too awkward. He could probably already tell how much his presence affected me. The last thing I wanted to discuss with him was my out-of-controlhorniness.
“Here we are.” He pushed open a door and ushered me through. The second I stepped inside, my jaw dropped. All thoughts of horniness went temporarily out thewindow.
Or windows, maybe would be more accurate. The room we’d stepped into was walled on three sides by enormous panes, like a massive greenhouse attached to the side of the house. The late morning sunlight streamed in from between the trees outside, warming the place with a comfortable glow. The floor space wasn’t huge, maybe ten feet by ten, but the walls rose at least two stories into the air. Ledges and outcroppings in the shape of thick branches protruded from the walls at varying intervals. It was like looking up into a tiered junglecanopy.
“This house is a way station for any of my kin traveling through these parts,” Marco said, looking pleased with my awed reaction. “There’s not much room to run around in shifted form outside. This gives us a place to exercise our feline selves inprivacy.”
It was easy to imagine tigers and leopards—and jaguars—leaping from branch to branch or sunning themselves on one of those ledges. But all those windows... The trees didn’t appear to provide total shelter. “Aren’t you worried about someone wandering by and seeingyou?”
Marco motioned to the walls. “That’s one-way glass. On the outside, it’s blank. We can see out, but no one can see in. We can get up to whatever we want without worrying about prying eyes.” He arched a teasing eyebrow at me. The one with the scar throughit.
How had he gotten that wound? A scuffle with another shifter? Or some other conflict I wouldn’t have understoodyet?
“Is it normal for shifters to live this close to a big city like New York?” I asked. “You must have to be really careful, even with a house likethis.”
Marco shook his head. “Maybe it’s feline obstinacy, but my kin don’t play so well by the rules. In theory, most of the country is divided up between the dominant supernatural groups. The cities are vampire territory, because they find it easiest to blend in—and they need a large supply of people to pick from for feeding.” He grimaced. “Shifters mostly stick to small towns and countryside, the middle-ground between civilization and wilderness. But my kin’s alphas have always liked to keep an eye on what’s going on even in the places we’re not supposed tobe.”
My eyes had widened. “Wait. There arevampirestoo? Living in NewYork?”
“Not a lot of them,” Marco said, but his tone had turned more serious. “They like to keep their community rather... exclusive. But there are still more than enough of the bloodsuckers. If you’re lucky, you’ll never have to deal with them.” He shuddered, and then gave me a more typical smile. “So let’s not spend any more time talking about them. How would you like a properclimb?”
Now that I’d accepted the existence of shifters, my brain had obviously recalibrated its threshold for belief. If werewolves—and werebears and werejaguars and so on—existed, why the hell notvampires?
I looked up at the jungle gym above me, and my earlier fatigue fell away. Oh, yes. This was exactly what Ineeded.
I clambered up a protrusion shaped like a jutting rock. From there, it was only a bit of a stretch to jump onto one of the thick manmade branches. Marco followed me as I roamed higher, staying in human form himself. Maybe he thought it’d be impolite to shift when I couldn’t? I was too busy exploring tocare.
Here and there between the branches and ledges, objects like huge bowls were wedged, stuffed full of plush cushions. I poked at one of the pillows as I climbed past one. “Cat beds?” I said, shooting Marco an amusedlook.
