Page 86 of Protecting His Vampire Mate

“I know,” I said. “But I’m okay. We’re both okay.”

Though, that wasn’t completely true. I wasn’t okay. Not at all.

Because Bryan’s business here was concluded. The vision I had been shown had almost certainly been of Bryan’s death caused by the hunters. Whatever strand of fate had been leading Bryan there was now unraveled. I was sure of it. And I felt equally sure that Bryan was aware of that fact as well.

So where did that leave us?

I had promised Bryan I would leave once this was over. I had sworn that, if he asked me to vanish from his life for good, I would. He’d said before that he wanted me to stay. But then, back in the hospital, he had still seemed to be harboring doubts. So, the question was, did he still want me to go?

The idea of it caused something in my chest to tighten painfully. I had let Bryan go once before, and it had been awful. But we had hardly known each other back then. I had known, intellectually, that he was my mate. But I hadn’t been in love with him then. My body had, maybe, on a purely instinctive level. But the rest of me had barely even known him.

It was nothing like now. There wouldn’t be anyone else for me, ever. I didn’t want there to be. I only wanted him.

Bryan pulled back slightly, his vibrant green eyes searching my face, as though memorizing it. As though he was filing everything away for when he left. But whatever he saw there caused a flash of pain in his eyes.

“Tobias,” Bryan said my name softly, stepping out of my embrace. He dropped his eyes to the ground. “Look, we should talk.”

Something lurched in the pit of my stomach as I realized it was happening, right now.

Somehow, I had thought that maybe we could have one more day. Or even a few more hours, where I could pretend that he was mine.

“Yeah,” I said back, fighting to sound normal, though my heart was cracking in two. “I guess we should.”

“Sorry—am I interrupting?”

The voice was so incongruous that both of us startled.

Bryan reacted first. Before I could even blink, he turned so that he was in front of me, putting himself between me and the potential threat. He held himself in a deceptively open way, with his knees slightly bent and both arms seemingly relaxed at his side. I’d seen vampires stand this way before; it was a stance that allowed them to move in any direction in an instant, with the full movement of both limbs. But, even through the psychic wall he held up between us, I could sense the tension that had instantly coiled through him.

My sister was sitting on the edge of the bed, watching us.

I could tell immediately that Poppy wasn’t really here in the room. It was almost certainly a bilocation spell, allowing her to be in two places at once. It was extraordinarily advanced magic, the kind that isn’t even taught to master apprentices, but which is only taught to coven leaders and those in the witches’ council.

Bryan relaxed immediately, the fight seeming to go out of him. He shot me an almost sheepish look, then stepped out of my way so I could speak to my sister.

“Poppy,” I greeted her. “What are you doing here?”

“Sorry for just dropping in like this, but no one called me. I had to be sure you were okay.”

“Oh, right. Poppy helped me find you,” Bryan explained. He winced, turning back to my sister. “I’m sorry I didn’t call.”

“You were busy rescuing my brother from those asshats. You’re forgiven. Also, thank you.” Then she paused, frowning as she took us both in. She arched an eyebrow. “Things have obviously gotten a little more serious between you two. So. When’s the wedding? Can I be best man?”

Bryan and I traded a look, and I could sense from his mind that we were both trying hard not to laugh.

“We’re not quite there yet,” I told her. “But when we are, you can definitely be best man. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“Good.” She grinned at me, her eyes wet. And I realized right then, how afraid for me she must have been. Her voice went thicker, and she choked out, “Ethan is going to be fucking livid. I can’t wait. I bet he’s going to invent new swear words.”

We grinned at each other, then she lost her watery smile a few moments later, her expression growing a touch more serious. She bit her bottom lip, studying me intently.

“There’s something else. Another demon, actually. Some idiot mundane managed to conjure one when he and his friends were messing around. It’s just an imp, totally not that big of a deal. But still. I mean… if everything is sorted out here…?”

She let that hang out there between us.

And then I realized she was asking me to come back.

Bryan seemed to get it too at the exact same moment, because he stiffened and his eyes widened slightly. He swallowed hard. But then he met my gaze. “If you have to go, I get it. You being the coven’s big guns and all when it comes to spirits and demons.”

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