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She sent him a frown. “What’s wrong?”
“Let me make sure there are no hidden dangers.”
Peri pressed her lips together. Her first instinct was to tell him what he could do with his overprotective he-man crap. She could take care of herself. Then she remembered that the last time they were there, Destiny had been hiding in the loft and the miasma had presumably been lurking in the shadows. It would be stupid not to take proper precautions. And since Valen’s hunting senses were far superior to her own, he was the obvious one to check for hidden traps.
“Okay.”
He disappeared in a blur of shadows, presumably peering into the various outbuildings before he reappeared directly in front of her.
“It’s empty.”
“Not empty.” She grimaced. This place would always be filled with ghosts. With a shake of her head, she willed her heavy feet to carry her forward, pointing toward the small cabin closest to the center of the ranch. “That’s my mother’s house.” She waved her hand toward the long structure on the other side of the firepit. “The rest of the coven shared the bunkhouses.”
Valen fell into step next to her. “Did you stay with her?”
“Until my fifth birthday.” She had a vivid memory of waking up on her birthday in the hopes she would have a surprise waiting for her. She did, but not one she’d expected. All of her belongings had been neatly piled next to the door. “Then I was evicted to sleep with the rest of the coven in the bunkhouses.”
“Was it a power play, or did your mother have something to hide?”
Peri sucked in a deep breath, grateful for the question that shook her out of her soppy reminiscences.
“I always assumed it was to emphasize her place as leader, but she might have had secrets she didn’t want to share with the rest of us.”
They reached the door together, but Valen was first to reach out and push it open. “Allow me.”
He stepped through the opening, moving to the nearest window to yank open the curtains. Silvery moonlight cascaded into the cramped space, allowing them to catch sight of the worn sofa and chair in the center of the room and the narrow bed pushed against the far wall.
“Another myth destroyed,” Peri murmured.
“What myth?”
“That vampires can’t enter a home uninvited.”
He shrugged. “Of course I don’t enter homes uninvited. It’s rude.”
She snorted, heading toward a large armoire next to the bed. “And you want people to assume they’re safe behind their closed doors.”
It was certainly convenient to have demons assume that a vampire needed an invitation to step over the threshold. They felt no need to create magical barriers that would make it more difficult for him to enter.
“I want my people to sleep well at night.”
She rolled her eyes at his smooth explanation, tugging open the door of the armoire. Instantly she stiffened, as if she’d taken an unseen blow.
“Oh,” she breathed.
Valen was instantly at her side. “What’s wrong?”
“It still smells like my mother.”
He studied her tense expression. Valen had no experience with a family, and what he’d observed from a distance hadn’t made him regret the lack of parents and siblings. The relationships appeared far too complicated to be worth the effort.
But he’d been around long enough to accept that no matter how messy the interactions between them, most families remained emotionally anchored to each other. Even if it sunk them to the pits of hell.
“You can wait outside,” he offered. “I’ll do the search.”
She glanced toward the door, as if she desperately wanted to walk out of the cabin. Then, with the courage he was coming to expect from her, she squared her shoulders.
“No, I can’t keep running.”
