Page 67 of Hitched to the Vampire King

Jaden gave a low whistle. “Clever bastard.”

“Doing it after dark means Gabriel and Elias can assist, so that’s something.”

Clicking the last piece of her crossbow together, Jaden tested the drawstring with a satisfying snap. “Aimee’s way of thanking us for taking out Nash.”

“Ah,” I replied. I was grateful for the extra weapons, don’t get me wrong, but crossbows had always been Chris’s expertise, and seeing one in Jaden’s hands only reminded me he was gone. There was a beat of silence where I suspected Jaden and Josh were having a similar melancholic moment.

Jaden placed the crossbow down and faced Gabriel. “Are you ready for this fight?”

He curled a lip, exposing a fang. “More than ready.”

She studied him, then pushed to her feet and came to stand in front of him. “The first thing they teach us at the Academy is to separate our emotions from the job. Can you do that? Adrian is your father, and he’s done a lot of shitty things to you recently. To both of you. But you can’t let your emotions get the better of you. You can’t let yourself lose focus. If you do, he’ll win.”

For a moment, I thought Gabriel might snap at her, but instead, he gave a grave nod. “You don’t need to worry about me.”

Jaden spared me a glance with the same question in her eyes.

“Or me,” I told her. “We’ve got this.”

“Alright,” she said with a definitive nod. “Then we go in tonight. What time?”

“I told Elias to expect us about an hour afterward. Enough time for Gabriel to wake, for us to arm ourselves, and then get to the location. Elias said he’ll keep Adrian indoors to minimize risk to any bystanders.”

“And the vamp guards?”

I glanced at Gabriel. “They’re your people. You’re their king.”

“They die,” he said simply. “They’re traitors to the crown. I don’t want them thinking about revenge or anything like that when Elias takes over as king.”

Josh and Jaden’s expressions went comically blank. And when I stole a glance in the kitchen, Sam and Lucy seemed equally surprised. Considering this was something Gabriel and I had only recently discussed, I’d never had a chance to fill them in on his plans. Guess they knew now.

I handed Josh the napkin Elias had written the address on. “Can you look into this location? Just so we know exactly what we’re walking into tomorrow?”

“You got it,” he said.

“On that note, I’m heading to bed,” I said. I was utterly exhausted after the day’s events, considering we’d all been up since the crack of freaking dawn.

Gabriel slid an arm around my waist. “I’ll walk you up.”

A sly smirk curled my lips. “Do I need an escort?”

“Well, considering the danger you attract,” Gabriel said with an arched brow, “I think it’s my duty to accompany you to our room.”

“Mm, I bet,” I teased. “Fine, you can tuck me in, but I’m drawing the line at bedtime stories.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Gabriel said as we started climbing the stairs. “I’ve got quite a few tales that could keep you entertained all night long.”

The hint of innuendo sent a pleasant shiver down my spine, and I laughed.

“Hey, you two!” Lucy called up from the kitchen. “This house is rather small, and some of us have sensitive hearing, so let’s keep the canoodling to a minimum, alright?”

Heat scoured my cheeks, and I leaned over the railing and called back down, “Right back at you!”

“How aboutno onehas sex tonight?” Jaden fired from the living room.

I had to admit, I didn’t want to hear my sister and brother-in-law going at it, or my best friends. So, even though Gabriel was pouting next to me, I shouted down my reluctant agreement.

Gabriel’s pout morphed into a devilish grin as we entered our bedroom. “Fine, no sex. But that doesn’t mean we can dootherthings.”

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