Page 16 of The Vampire's Mate

My heart thundered. Jamesmusthave heard him—with his supersonic hearing, there was no way he hadn’t. I waited for the inevitable confrontation, for him to storm into the room and demand answers, but it didn’t come.

“Y-you know?” I fumbled for words. My eyes must have been the size of walnuts. “Wait, you know vampiresexist?”

Angel smiled softly before nodding. I waited for him to elaborate, then remembered who I was speaking to. “How? He looks like an ordinary human.”

“Most times.” He sighed at my stunned stammering. “How do you learn things about people? How can you tell if someone’s a kind person? They act, and you observe. How can you tell if someone is a vampire? You observe.” He shrugged. “It takes practice. The signs are there, once you know what to look for. The silver chain, the speed, the way he talks, the red haze in his eyes when he looks at you.” An uncharacteristic blush heated my cheeks. “If you look close enough, these things give him away.”

I stared as he nodded knowingly. He’d said that last line with a finality I’d come to recognize in my years working with him, so I knew better than to press. It never ended well for anyone who pushed Angel. Besides, he’d damn near reached his daily quota of words.

Still, my mind reeled. How did he even know vampiresexisted?

Raleigh appeared in the doorway. “Everything okay, you two?”

“I think,” Angel said, stepping up to his husband and putting his hands around the bigger man’s waist, “Ryder’s learned to get his head out of the clouds.”

Raleigh eyed me over the top of Angel’s head, pressing a kiss to his hair. They’d always had their secret looks, but something about how they watched me now… was I missing something? I shook the feeling away. I had a vampire waiting for me in the other room—and I needed to have a conversation with him. I grabbed the drinks from the counter and returned to my spot on the living room floor.

“Is everything all right?” James asked, nuzzling my cheek.

Was it? The Jenkins men reentered, Raleigh sitting on the floor,his long legs stretched out in front of him. Angel knelt behind him, wrapping a tattooed arm around his chest. Tattoos of the all-seeing eye cascaded down both arms and, from what I’d seen, across his back as well. I’d never learned the reason behind his obsession with the symbol. As I sat there and watched Angel curl into Raleigh’s neck, I swore one of those tattoosblinked. Stunned, I set my drink down and rubbed my eyes. Exhaustion. It had to be. The last twenty-four hours had been a whirlwind, and I was running low on fuel. It was the only explanation for seeing Angel’s tattoosmove.

Right?

“Love?” James’s hand on my back brought me back to reality. I glanced around the room, at everyone watching me expectantly.

Then Angel smirked.

I was definitely missing something.

“I think I’m just tired.”

“I’ve hit my limit too,” Angel said, stamping a kiss to Raleigh’s cheek and getting to his feet. “I’m going to check on Evie and get to bed. Goodnight, bloodsucker.”

“Goodnight, glow stick!”

My brow furrowed as I looked back and forth between James and Angel’s back, which was quickly disappearing down the hallway. Sure enough, a warm halo illuminated the dark walls to either side of him. He looked over his shoulder, tossed me a wink, and vanished through the bedroom door.

I probably looked like a cartoon character as I shook my head, turning back to Raleigh. “Angel’s, um…”

“Somuch more than a name,” he breathed, dreamy eyes staring into the space his husband had vacated.

“I-I don’t understand,” I said, swallowing a protest when James cupped the back of my neck.

“Come on, love,” he said gently. “Let’s talk.”

“Okay.” Stunned, I stood and reached for the containers.

“I’ll take care of that,” Raleigh said. “You two go ahead.”

I didn’t even have the mental capacity to be a good host and argue. With James’s hand on the small of my back, I let him guide me to the bedroom.

Chapter 6

Almost on autopilot,I readied myself for bed. As I left the bathroom, James was pulling the blankets back. I grinned and sauntered over to the bed. “You going to use that mouth of yours to keep me relaxed?” I joked, easing onto the pillows.

James settled between my thighs, resting his chin on my stomach. “It’ll be difficult to carry on a conversation with my mouth full, don’t you think?”

“You can nod.”

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