Page 24 of The Vampire's Mate

Before I could finish the sentence, Carlos flashed down the hallway and slipped behind Kian to get into the bedroom.

“Does he never sleep with you?” Kian asked.

“James is terrified of him.” I wanted to smack myself at how my nose wrinkled as I recounted the memory of their first meeting. “It’s kind of cute actually.”

Kian smiled and held up the pants. “Thanks for these, Ryder—and for letting me stay.”

“Don’t mention it. Get some sleep and we’ll talk tomorrow.”

We both slept like the dead. We’d entirely missed breakfast by the time we were both ready to face the world, so I offered to take Kian to lunch. James wanted to work a shift with Shiloh himself, so he offered me the day off. Kian provided the excuse I needed toactuallytake a day instead of hanging around waiting for James to finish.

At the restaurant, I sat across the table as Kian did nothing more than pick apart his grilled sandwich—the same thing he’d been doing for ten minutes.

“Kian?”

Tired eyes looked up at me. He let out an exasperated sigh and dropped the piece of lettuce he’d been shredding with his fingers. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. You don’t have to talk if you’re not ready, but you should at least eat that before it gets cold.”

He didn’t say a word in response, staring at the deconstructed sandwich. He picked up a slice of the bread and tore a frustrated bite out of it.

It was eating me up inside that I couldn’t tell him what truly happened to Luke. Kian had been told that Luke vanished in the middle of the night, leaving no trace he was ever there—except for a note so vague anyone could’ve written it. His “evidence room” was wiped clean, closet emptied, and phone disconnected.

But I couldn’t be the one to tell Kian that he was right about James being a vampire, or about Luke being a hunter. It wasn’t my place, and I didn’t want to risk James’s safety—again.

“I found something.” Kian rummaged around in his backpack, which he’d guarded with his life all morning. “When Luke vanished, I threw everything he left behind into boxes and shoved them in my spare bedroom when I moved to Cambridge. I couldn’t bear to go through everything. But when it comes time for Hannah to live off-campus, I figured she would need the extra bedroom to study and stuff, so I started sorting through the things. I think he leftthesebehind on accident.”

Kian produced a rumpled stack of papers and set them on the table between us. It was a court decree—I could see that much from where I sat.

I grabbed the thick stack and pulled it closer. That’s when I noticed the name printed across the top. “You’re adopted?”

“I didn’t think so.” Kian looked down at his fingers. “Read the next line down.”

Frowning, I did—and my eyes nearly popped out of my head.“‘Name of adoptive parent,’” I read aloud. “‘Luke Cavanagh?’ I thought?—”

“That he was my brother? Yeah, so did I.” Kian took a long drink of his coffee. I didn’t need a sixth sense to know that he wished for something stronger.

I set the papers back down in front of him—he made no move to take them. “Do you remember your parents?”

“Luke always told me they died when I was a kid, but I was too young to remember. That’s all I’ve ever known.”

“That could explain the papers,” I pointed out. “Maybe he legally adopted you after your parents died.”

Kian emphatically shook his head. “The names don’t add up.” He pointed to the adoption petition. “That’s not my last name.”

He pulled another form out of his bag—one that showed his name change from KianParkerto KianCavanagh.

“Strange,” I muttered, more to myself than to him. “What does this mean?”

Kian answered me anyway. “I don’t know. I’ve been going insane trying to figure it out.”

“You haven’t asked Hannah? She’s wicked smart, you know.”

He grimaced. “I didn’t want to tell her until I knew for sure. Because of all the…” he trailed off, waving his hand toward me vaguely.

“Me stuff,” I finished for him.

“Yeah.” He sighed. “I hate to call it that. Feels mean.”

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