Page 84 of Only Human in Strangeville

Bridger and Katsuro shared a quick but meaningful glance that filled me with hope that we’d all be able to make this work despite some of our differences, though that he now considered me a supernatural being was a bit mind blowing. I’d been only human, but now? I guess I hadn’t thought too much about it.

Oliver gave me a quick hug then he and Bridger left. We turned our attention to Davin.

“Hannah, we’ll talk.” He took my hands in his before bringing one up to his lips and kissing my knuckles.

I took that as a good sign, but a pained twinge curled through me as he left.

Katsuro offered me his hand. I let him pull me into a comforting embrace.

“He’ll come around, Hannah. The pack dynamic requires he consult with his people before he does anything drastic.”

“I mean, I have three of you. I shouldn’t be greedy, right?”

Katsuro’s chuckle rumbled through me, as I was pressed against him. “Nothing wrong with being greedy, sunshine.”

“Okay, so how do we do this?”

“The simplest way is a blood exchange,” Katsuro said.

I wrinkled my nose.

“It’s not that bad.”

“You’re a vampire!”

“Well, yes.” He kissed my hand much like Davin had. “But I promise, it’s not that bad. Just a taste. And no matter what else we get up to,” his voice dipped into the seductive ranges. “It does require a blood exchange. Even with the werewolves. So, we can just do the ceremony, or we can have sex after.”

“Oh, I vote for sex.”

He laughed. “No objection. Let’s go someplace a bit more private.”

“Like, do you have a lair or something?”

The vampire snorted. “No, though we do have an extensive underground complex under the coffee shop where the majority of my vampires live during the day.”

“Oh, holy crap, that’s so cool. Is it safe though? If the enemy knows where it is, could they attack you there?”

“It’s likely that Vito knows where our complex is. It’s a standard design in this part of the country. It is also very secure and comes with quite a few built-in protections. We’re not helpless during the day, just inconvenienced.”

“Okay, good. Just seems like having everyone in one place could be bad if someone had, like, I don’t know, napalm or something.”

Katsuro took a breath. “Yes, that could be a problem, but I think you will be reassured after a tour.”

“I’m surprised you’re letting me down there.”

“You’re to be my bonded mate, of course you can come down. Nimbus, too, of course.” He squeezed me gently before shifting us so he could offer me his arm.

I accepted, and he led us out of the coffee shop’s back room, the cloud dog on our heels.

Instead of turning toward the main dining area, he led me the other direction until we reached what appeared to be a utility closet. It even had all the necessary cleaning supplies. Another non-descript door led us out the back and into a plain industrial-looking corridor complete with florescent lights and chipped linoleum floors.

“We obviously need a utility closet anyway,” Katsuro said. “And it keeps curious innocents from accidentally stumbling on something they shouldn’t. There are security cameras and vampires monitor them constantly.”

We turned a corner at the end of the hallway and a vampire lounged in a reasonably comfortable looking chair, idly poking at a computer keyboard. She looked up when we approached and stood, bowing.

“M’lord Katsuro.”

“Shelby. This is Hannah and her cloud dog, Nimbus. Add them to the authorized list, please.”

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