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His jaw clenches. He really, really doesn’t want me to know, and though he’ll tell me if I push it, that doesn’t stop him from trying to brush me off first. “It’s nothing to worry about.”
“Nothing to worry about? You could’ve died!”
“It’s not that easy to kill a vampire. They’d have to take my head. I assure you, ksiezyca, they never even got close.”
Why doesn’t that make me feel any better? I gulp down a mouthful of lavender tea. Luna, let the calming properties kick in before I grab Aleks by the collar and throttle him.
He watches me guzzle the still steaming tea with a bemused expression. He still hasn’t touched his, I notice. “Don’t burn yourself.”
“If I burn the roof of my mouth, I’ll heal in a few minutes. What if they got lucky, Aleks? We both know that even the strongest supes don’t win every challenge. You’re dealing with vamps who want to take down the Cadre. They’re targeting you. And you want me to believe it’s nothing?”
I think it finally dawns on Aleks that this is really bothering me. This is what he gets for settling down with a maternal delta she-wolf. Luna-touched or not, I’m not an alpha like Gem is and Julia was. I’m more submissive than anything, but I’m also protective and possessive of what’s mine like any warm-blooded shifter. But that’s not all.
The idea that Aleks might lose his head the same way that Roman didterrifiesme.
“Not all of the rebels are martyrs, Elizabeth. They’re not willing to die for the cause, even if they’re more than happy to end my afterlife. And those who fail earn the same fate as all traitors. If they miss once, I don’t give them a second chance to try again.”
“Then why?” I don’t understand it. Aleks was a respected—and, admittedly, feared—part of the Cadre’s leadership even before he took over as the head vampire in Muncie. “Why do they even bother?”
“It happens. Vampires live a long time. It isn’t often that there’s a power vacuum. It’ll settle down soon enough. When Roman…” He pauses. I get it, too. It’s still so soon, the pain still so raw, and I’d only known Roman Zakharov for a couple of weeks. Aleks had known him fortwo centuries. “When that bekart killed him, it’s the first time that there’s been an opening in Muncie in a hundred years. Others think they’re a better fit to lead than I am. Most keep that thought to themselves, but like those who wanted to remove Roman from the Cadre building, now they come for me.”
Knocking his still untouched tea aside with the back of his hand, Aleks reached across the table, holding his palm out to me. I know exactly what he wants and immediately place mine against his.
“Don’t worry for me, ksiezyca. I didn’t tell you because it pains me to see that stark look in your eyes. I have to do this. For Muncie. Foryou. I have to keep the protections in place. Without Roman, it falls to me. Let the assassins try to remove me. Without my patrols, I need something to keep me in shape.”
He’s teasing. My vampire is doing that for my sake, trying to keep the conversation light. It’s a heavy conversation made all the more difficult with the specter of Roman hanging over our heads.
Because Aleks? He doesn’t want to be the leader. He’s never come out and said so, but it’s obvious. A protector through and through, he prefers to be doing his nightly patrols, keeping Muncie safe from any threats. But, as Roman’s second in command, he was hand-picked to succeed him.
You know what’s expected of you…
It was one of the last things Roman said to Alex before Christian Morrissey swung his sword. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what he meant. With the entire population of Muncie relying on the Cadre’s protection, Roman was passing that responsibility onto Aleks.
With a heavy head, Aleks now wears Roman’s old crown.
Roman wasn’t always the head vampire. About a hundred years ago, when Muncie was a total Fang City, more vampires than humans, the Cadre was led by a vampire named Marcel Claret. He seemed to have been more of a dictator than a ruler, and one day he snapped. He went completely rogue. For the next three nights, he tore through half of the human population of Muncie, plus some of the vamps he lorded over.
Roman Zakharov and a small retinue of vampires—including Aleks—were visiting the United States from an Eastern Europe Cadre. When one of Claret’s victims escaped the borders, they sent a call out for help. Roman answered it, came in with his clan, and executed Claret himself.
Aleks wasn’t wrong when he said that vampires are long-lived. There are still pockets of vamps who believe that Claret is the type of leader Muncie deserves. Not the brutal rogue, but the cold and calculating vampire who treated humans like chattel. He wanted to fuck them, feed them, then discard them when he was done. The rebels giving Aleks trouble think that’s the right idea.
In Muncie, there’s a few blocks in the downtown area that are completely abandoned. The site of the former Cadre headquarters, it stinks of blood to this day, teeming with the ghosts of the humans who didn’t deserve to die. It’s where Roman confronted Claret, and where Christian brought Roman to be murdered two months ago.
A pang hits me in the chest. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
It’s the end of April. I spent more time on the run, rejecting the pull I felt toward Aleks as my fated mate, then living with him as his lover. And yet… I mean it. I love him so Luna damned much that just hearing that he might’ve been killed—even if, logically, I knew he hadn’t been—threw me and my wolf off.
He squeezes my hand. “You’ll never have to worry about that. I’m not going anywhere.”
I wish I could believe that.
Aleks strokes the top of my hand with his thumb. “Tell me. What can I do to make this easier for you? We’re mates, you and I. Compromise. We compromise. I ask you to tell me if you’re leaving the apartment and you do.” He pauses. “Most of the time.”
My cheeks heat up. No denying what that little dig’s about. “I can’t always stay in the apartment, Aleks.”
“I know. I don’t expect you to. But like you worry for me, I worry for you. And I know you can take care of yourself. You’re my beloved. It gives me pleasure when you let me.”
“Like when you have your vamps tailing me?”
