Page 64 of Fanged Temptation

The old man pulled back. “Sniffles?” he echoed, sounding bewildered. “You were practically on death’s door the way they made it sound.”

At that, Maxine sheepishly butted in, trailing up behind me. “I, uh—sorry, sir. We kind of panicked.”

I stepped aside while my grandfather studied Maxine for a moment, wrinkled frown easing into sudden recognition. “Maxine, is that you? My, you’re all grown up now!”

He glanced back at me. “But why the bloody hell did you send your new friends to fetch me over a case of the sniffles?”

I shrugged, playing innocent. “Better safe than sorry?”

“You could have just said that you missed your old grandpa,” he huffed, ruffling a hand in my hair. “As long as you’re truly all right, kid. Either way, it’s good to see you.”

The other women all tittered at the embarrassing display of affection and I scowled in their direction. My grandfather followed my gaze, eyes flickering between the odd collection of friends I’d recently acquired.

“I must say, I’m quite impressed with your friends over there.” He nodded his head toward River, Sky, and Dylan. “They were so polite—and quite well off, I presume—they paid for my ticket and everything! How did you land yourself with such a fine crowd?”

“She showed off her algae collection and they were all immediately smitten.” Maxine poked at my ribs with a sly smile and I glowered back at her.

“She does love her algae.” My grandfather nodded solemnly like that stupid fucking story made perfect sense. “Has she told you about her work? Leah is a bona fide marine biologist, best in the business if you ask me.”

“Grandpa,” I groaned, steering the old man into the building, mortified when the others cracked up laughing. “Let’s just get you inside, okay?”

Maxine met my eyes over his shoulder, smiling from ear to ear, and it hit me then that we’d made it. After everything that happened between us, after all the lies and betrayals and broken promises, we’d made it.

The monsters were gone and the running was over, and something as simple as reintroducing her to my grandfather—and not dying of pure embarrassment in the process—was the only immediate worry we had between us.

We stood on the precipice of the rest of our lives, and now it was up to us—the two of us, and no one else—to decide what to do from there.

29

Maxine

Leah’s grandfather was a goddamn delight and all the Leyore women seemed to agree.

Even darling Dylan—who kept everyone at arm’s length—was grinning as the old man spun story after story about his life. He’d only been in the grand hall for fifteen minutes, but already, he’d charmed the entire crew.

He was currently chatting with Amara, engaged in a lively conversation via eccentric hand signals and expressions. I recognized the distinct, looping gestures of sign language, and my brows lifted in surprise.

“Where’d he learn that?” I nudged Leah with my elbow, directing my chin at the two new besties, chatting up a storm like they hadn't just met that morning.

Leah laughed, shaking her head. “He had this friend from back in his army days—apparently the guy lost his hearing from some accident in the field. Grandpa learned sign language so they could still swap old anecdotes. I think he’s happy for the chance to flex his skills.”

“Of course.” I giggled, watching the exchange. Though I only understood a few sporadic signs—my knowledge paled compared to Dylan’s or River’s—it was clear they already had their own inside jokes, glancing between the rest of the group and tittering amongst themselves.

Amara was looking better. Well, actually, she was looking like a tried and true vampire. She was grinning, moving her hands through quick motions while she talked, occasionally batting off a hovering Dylan who buzzed around her like a particularly faithful fly.

She’d found her feet in this new life faster than I could have anticipated, and she and Dylan slotted together like a lock and key.

I watched Amara shoot her wife a sidelong look, fingers wiggling through quick signals, and caught the quick quips between them. “Dylan, stop hovering.”

Dylan let out a spluttered exclamation, touching fingers to her eyes as she signed out the words. “I’m not hovering!”

“Yes, you are, go bother Maxine.”

Dylan’s gaze flicked over to me and I offered a snide little wave in response, chuckling when her eyes rolled like they did ten times a day. Amara's grin was playful, her next sign too fast for me to catch entirely, but I caught the vague mention of “helicopter wife” and Dylan’s delightfully exasperated expression.

Eventually my attention wandered to the side, where Hunter perched, half-turned away from the group. The look she gave me was mildly barbed, arms folded across her chest.Oh right,that.

We hadn’t properly smoothed things over since Addison’s kidnapping and the whole fiasco with Gregor. Hunter blamed me—blamed my secrets—for the danger Addison ended up in. And though we’d all survived, the sting of her resentmentlingered. She was fierce about protecting her fiancée and I respected that, even if it meant bracing myself for her wrath.

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