Page 33 of Heir

I glared at him, knowing that I could at least get mad at him and not turn his brain into hamburger.

“Please, let us return home so we can figure this out. We don’t need to mate right now, but we do need to figure out how much of the Realm knows the King is dead. We also need to find his brother, Lord Lerris.” The bear sidled up to me, but he didn’t touch me. The man had to be twice my size, at least.

“What kind of a bear are you?” I asked.

“A grizzly.”

“And how do you . . . turn into one?”

He smiled in such a sweet way it settled down my building ire almost instantly. “Tomorrow, I can show you. We can go out to the woods and I can show you. It’s not safe here though. If people saw . . .”

“Right.” I exhaled. “Was Gemma there when you left?”

The mage nodded. “Yes. She seemed fine.”

“H-how do I make sure I don’t hurt her again?”

The vampire made an impatient noise in his throat, as if to say, “I already told you how. Mate us.”

I glowered at him. He just averted his gaze, but I could see him wince a little.

Dammit. I didn’t like him, but I didn’t want to hurt him. I didn’t want to hurt anyone.

“What do we do with the . . . ash?” I pointed to what was left of the Phaceanesh or Nightwalker.

“He’ll be washed away with the next rainfall,” the mage said. “I doubt anybody will miss him. Serves him right for assaulting a woman. For assaulting the Queen.”

“Come on, Little One. Let’s get you home.”

I glanced up at the bear and the tenderness he looked at me with. “Okay.”

Flanked by the mage and bear on either side of me and the vampire behind, we walked back to my apartment. I had no idea what time it was, but just as we reached my front door, it started to rain again.

“Down the drain he goes,” the mage said with delight, referring to the Phaceanesh’s ashes. “Fish food.”

I punched in my code for the door and it clicked open.

“What is your code?” the vampire asked. “So that we may come and go as we need.”

I glared at him.

He stared blankly back at me.

“I’m not giving you that,” I said.

“Why not? We are your mates. Where you go, we go. And we may need to enter the apartment without you.”

“Get a fucking hotel. You’re not crashing in my place.”

He shook his head. “Not happening. You are not safe without,” he cleared his throat and his gaze shifted side to side to take in the bear and mage, reluctance clear on his face, “us.”

I was too tired to argue with this black-and-white thinking, impeccably dressed, bloodsucking robot. I simply opened the door and let them file in ahead of me.

Even though the elevator said it could accommodate eight adults, it was crowded in there with the bear. He took up space for at least four people, but the way he stood there, just content with a small smile on his face, pulled so strangely at my heartstrings, I took a half-step away.

I wasn’t sure what I was going to walk in on when I got home. Would Gemma already be packed up and gone? Did she lock herself in her room and bar the doors? Would there be a pentagram in the middle of the floor, garlic everywhere, and wooden stakes ready to be plunged into my heart?

I absolutely wasn’t expecting her to run up and hug me the moment I walked in, that’s for sure.

---