Page 73 of The Vampire's Mate

“Hold your breath,” Gabriel ordered. “You have to move fast now.”

My chest already ached, so holding my breath only intensified the burning in my lungs. I picked up my pace, lowering the chain into the container.

I couldn’t move away from that thing fast enough, fleeing into the house—and right into James’s rigid chest. He held me close, combing through my hair and whispering in my ear. My chest burned and I coughed. I hadn’t even realized I was gripping onto him like a child until my breathing returned to normal and I could raise my head again.

“Why don’t you sit down?” Gabriel gestured toward the living room. “I’ll bring you something to drink.”

Warily, I asked, “Is it blood?”

He grew exasperated with me. “Water.” When I didn’t relax, he rolled his eyes. “I’m not going to poison your drink, Ryder. If I wanted to hurt you, do you think I would have stood back here while you approached a container of corrosive acid?”

“Then why do you always look at me like you want to rip me apart?”

“Because I like watching you squirm. Now go sit down.”

James and I retreated into the living room and Gabriel followed close behind with two glasses of water in his hands. I took one, and he set the other in front of James. “Drink,” Gabriel ordered. “I know you feel as sick as I do.”

“Where’s your drink then?” James asked, reaching for the glass.

“I find water disgusting—and yes, I hated it as a human as well.” Gabriel settled into the armchair on the opposite side of the table. “Do as I say, not as I do. Though your human here was a genius for reminding me to take off my ring. I hadn’t thought of it.”

“Neither had I.”

I leaned into James’s touch when he put his arm around me. “What happens now?” I asked, voice raspy.

Gabriel was the one to answer. “You let me take care of thingsfrom here. I’ll destroy the conduits on my next assignment.”

“I know they targeted us, but won’t the Koh-i-Noor curse affect you?”

He shrugged. “I can handle a little bad luck. Have you figured out who planted them yet?”

I hadn’t even thought about it. Thankfully, James came to my rescue. “I’ve been pouring over everything we know trying to figure it out.”

“The list can’t be that long,” I said. “How many people do we know that have spent time in both my house and your office?”

“Shiloh,” James said after a brief hesitation.

“No,” I snapped instantly, ice running through my veins like I’d been doused in cold water. There was no way. “It can’t be them.”

“How do you know?” Gabriel asked.

“I just…” Then I paused. Ididn’tknow—not for sure. Shiloh had shown up right before everything went to hell, and they’d been left unsupervised in both locations. I turned to James. “It can’t be them.”

He grimaced. “We might have to consider the possibility, love.”

Gabriel excused himself when his phone rang, which left me and James in silence to try and figure out who would curse us. We ran through every name we knew, right down to the tradespeople James used for the bar and I used at home. Not that it was any use—outside of having the heating serviced, I hadn’t had any work done to the house since I moved in.

“I hate to say it but what about?—”

“Don’t even go there,” I scolded as James and I arrived at the same conclusion: Raleigh and Angel.

James leaned back into the couch with a sigh. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

I rested my chin in one hand, reaching out with the other to rub my palm over his thigh. He widened his legs, nudging my hand farther up his leg. “Not here, baby,” I snickered. I kept my voice low, though I knew it was pointless with another vampire in the house.

James laughed. “Why can’t we still be in our beach house getaway where we’d never have to leave the bed?”

“I did propose that idea,” I reminded him. “You said we needed to get back here and deal with this.”

---