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He pouts. “What if I want to hold your hand?”
Scarlett snorts.
“I think you’ll live,” I remark dryly.
Lex winks at me. “You think?”
I roll my eyes and push away from the wall, walking over and dropping onto the stool. “Baby,” I mutter, slapping my hand onto the chair, palm up.
He slides his fingers through mine as Scarlett leans over and lowers the tattoo gun to his skin. The bastard doesn’t even flinch. In fact, he inhales slowly and smiles as if he’s at peace, and I faintly recall him saying that he enjoys pain. His thumb traces back and forth against my hand, and I watch that instead of the ink being permanently etched into his skin.
“So your thing is tattoos, Gabriel’s is cooking, Kade’s is… his hair, probably, and Atlas’s is being the grumpiest person alive or undead or whatever.” I panic and my gaze flies toward Scarlett before I remember what Lex said about glamouring her.
He chuckles. “You’re mostly right.”
I tilt my head. “What, Kade’s thing isn’t his hair?”
“No, you’re definitely right about that. Atlas on the other hand…” Lex trails off, and I’m holding my breath waiting for him to give me some information that will help me make sense of the broody as hell vampire. “He was born to a very powerful vampire family a long, long time ago. There are certain expectations he’s had to live with that would put a strain on anyone.”
So Atlas wasn’t turned, he was born a vampire. “Is that why the rest of you look up to him?”
“We respect him,” Lex explains, holding my gaze as if Scarlett isn’t in the room with us. “For many reasons. One of which being, for me at least, that he turned me. There’s a special bond between a vampire and their sire. He doesn’t control me, but he doesn’t have to. I would do anything for him—we all would. And I see that look on your face, but before you say anything, you should know that he would do the same for us.”
“Okay,” I finally say. “But you’re the only one he turned?”
Lex nods. “He saved my life. I was living in Brooklyn at the time, driving into the city for work. I left the office long after dark following a meeting that had run late one night and hit a whiteout storm. I was in a head-on collision and was minutes away from death when Atlas found me. He was driving in the opposite direction and saw the crash. I don’t remember that night, just waking up several days later in Atlas’s home on the Upper East Side with the most excruciating burning in my throat.”
I swallow hard, my heart pounding in my chest. “I… I’m sorry that happened to you.”
A flicker of surprise passes over his usually sharp features, softening the gray in his eyes. “Don’t be,” he says, squeezing my hand, “I’m not.”
I wet my lips, nodding. “And what about the others? How did they become vampires?”
Lex glances over to Scarlett as she finishes tracing one of the thorns before turning his gaze back to me. “Kade was a vampire when Atlas and I met him shortly after I turned. He was going through some shit that he never really elaborated on, but he helped me get a handle on my bloodlust. I wasn’t ready for the constant urge to rip into people’s throats, so it was quite the adjustment.”
“You still don’t know how he became a vampire?”
He shakes his head. “And before you ask, I don’t know about Gabriel either. It’s not exactly something we talk about.”
“Why not?” I ask, pulling my hand free from his and resting it in my lap.
He shrugs, and Scarlett snaps, “Don’t move.”
“Sorry, Scar.” He clears his throat, then says to me, “Gabriel is a fairly private person, in case you hadn’t noticed.” The corner of his mouth kicks up. “I think it’s just naturally ingrained in him for some reason.”
I nod, feeling as if I’ve gotten to know my vampire housemates a little better—finally. I still have so many questions, most of which pertain to me and my future, but I suppose this is a start.
An hour later, Scarlett is bandaging Lex’s new ink. She makes quick work of cleaning up her station and shrugs on a jacket. “I’m late for another appointment,” she says, tossing a key at Lex, which he catches easily. “Lock up on your way out?”
“Sure thing.”
She pushes through the curtain and disappears before I can say goodbye.
Lex makes no move to put his shirt back on and instead pokes at the bandage across his collarbone.
“Did it hurt?”
“I’ve felt worse,” he answers. “It goes numb after a while.”
