Page 36 of Protecting His Vampire Mate

The fact that he knew about the very real danger the hunters presented to us and he had weighed that side-by-side with my emotional well-being, and he had chosen me anyway…

Well, that glimpse into who Tobias really was told me just about everything I would ever need to know about him. As if I hadn’t already been shown that a hundred different times, in a hundred different ways.

I had been right before.

There was no falling for him. I was already in love with Tobias. I probably had been at least halfway there since the first moment I’d laid eyes on him. From the first moment when he had thought I was a ravenous killer and he had protected me and comforted me anyway. There was no denying it, especially not now, and I didn’t even feel the urge to try.

Yep, I was in love with Tobias Hawthorne.

Because how could I not be?

But even at the cost of my own emotional well-being, I could never knowingly place Tobias into danger. I didn’t know what that meant for me, but I damn well knew what it meant for us.

If this situation might hurt Tobias—or worse—I needed to put a stop to it.

Tobias thought he was protecting me. And, hell, maybe he was. I already understood that he would give me anything I wanted from him, no questions asked. He’d give me his heart, his blood, probably even his life.

But who was going to be there to protect him? Who would make sacrifices for him when he needed it? Who would be willing to give up everything they had for him?

Me, that’s who.

I couldn’t be with him the way he wanted or the way he deserved, even though I wanted that more and more with each passing moment. That had certainly changed too. Even if a relationship wasn’t going to happen, I could do the right thing for him.

He had come to protect me. But I could protect him too.

No. Not ‘could.’ I would, simple as that. Because I couldn’t do anything else.

The mountains gave way to forest as we drove west through the Columbia River gorge, then to squat buildings and houses, and then at last to skyscrapers, overpasses, and a truly ridiculous number of bridges as we entered the city of Portland.

When he pulled into a parking lot deep in the city, I stayed in the car while he got out to make a payment at the small gray booth on the other side of the lot.

I pulled my phone out and called Veronika.

My maker answered immediately. “What’s wrong? Where are you? Are you safe?”

“I’m fine so far,” I told her, watching Tobias through the windshield. “But we encountered two hunters in Poplar Creek. I need to know if you’ve heard of them.”

“Describe them to me.”

When I did, Veronika went silent for a long moment afterward.

Tobias had made it back to the car at that point, but he hesitated when he caught sight of me on the phone through the window, like he wasn’t quite sure if he should interrupt or not. He settled for leaning against the side of the car, giving me the few moments of privacy I hadn’t even needed to ask him for.

“You need to leave Poplar Creek at once,” Veronika told me, after several long moments had elapsed. She sounded more worried than I had ever heard her. “They’re seasoned hunters and extremely dangerous. And they don’t shy away from using magical objects. They’ve got more kills under their belts than most.”

“Oh.” My heart sank. I had been half-hoping she would tell me she’d never heard of them before. Or that they were totally incompetent or something.

This was far worse than I had feared.

“You’ve met them, then? So, they know that some vampires are cool.”

“No, I’ve only heard of them. They’re reclusive—they don’t even talk to most other hunters. Bryan, listen to me. The thin one—Danny—he’s the more level-headed of the two. But he’s from a family of hunters. He was raised to fight the supernatural. His brother and father were killed years ago, on a case. But his partner, the pale one who looks like a bodybuilder—”

“Michael,” I put in.

“Yeah, Michael,” she agreed. “The way I’ve heard it, vampires killed his boyfriend in front of him. He became a hunter to get revenge. It’s possible he doesn’t know that there are vampires who still possess a conscience. It’s also possible that he just doesn’t care. Regardless, he kills us on sight now, no questions asked.”

Ice formed in my chest at her words.

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