Page 99 of Bound in Blood
Logan let himself melt into it, let himselfhavethis.
Across the room, Alexei and August pulled apart, not enough that Alexei didn’t still have his arm around his mate, but enough that they could comfortably walk out of the cooler and shut the door.
Alexei’s eyes darted around the room, landing on Logan and the twins like he’d temporarily forgotten they were there. His eyes focused on Logan, and he smiled,really smiled.Logan hadn’t even realized that the old ones weren’t genuine until just now. “Thank you,” Alexei said, “For making sure no harm came to my????????.I am forever in your debt.”
Logan shook his head, still pressed into Marco’s chest, Mateo’s hand curled around the back of his neck. “You don’t owe me anything,” Logan replied earnestly. “I knew there was someone still in there. I couldn’t let him die.”
Alexei’s expression softened, something deep and raw flickering in his eyes. “You have a big heart,??????.Don’t let immortality rip it away from you.”
August looked up at Alexei, then over at Logan, before looking back up at Alexei. “Heißt er wirklich ‘??????‘??*” he asked, in a tone Logan could only describe as incredulous.
Alexei chuckled, shaking his head. “Nein, nur ein Spitzname.?*”
Logan tilted his head in confusion. These vampires and their multilingual tendencies. “What did he?—?”
“He asked if‘??????‘is your actual name,” Alexei translated, “Which, maybe it should be. You are small and cute and skittish.”
Before Logan could even process… that… August turned to Alexei, and with all the solemnity in the world, said, “Ich brauche ein Bad.”
Alexei barked a laugh, pressing a hand over his mouth like he couldn’t believe his luck. “He says he needs a bath.” Alexei tightened an arm around his shoulders. “Which means we will be taking our leave.”
Logan nodded. “Will you two be okay?” He wasn’t sure what happened to separate them, but hedidknow being a feral for at least ninety years couldn’t be easy to simply… recover from.
Alexei paused for a moment, looking at August before back toward Logan. “Maybe not at first. But eventually, yes. I have many things to atone for,??????.”He turned to head for the door, but Mateo stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.
“Just know we’re here for you,” Mateo said, “If you or August need anything while he’s readjusting.”
Alexei met Mateo’s gaze, something unreadable flickering behind his eyes before giving a short nod. “I appreciate that.” His voice was steady, but there was weight to it, like he wasn’t used to accepting help. Logan wondered if Alexei and Mateo had ever been so vulnerable around each other in the past.
Alexei exhaled, giving August’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze before putting a hand on the door, “We’ll be in touch soon.”
Logan nodded. “Goodnight, Alexei.” He turned to August, and although he was pretty sure he didn’t speak any English, Logan added, “Nice to meet you.”
August blinked at Logan, something curious flickering in his gaze. He didn’t respond, but he looked like hewantedto. And that was enough for Logan.
With one last ‘thank you’ to Logan and the twins, Alexei nudged August out the door and into the night, leaving only Logan, Marco, and Mateo inside the bar.
Except… wait.
“Where’s Vik?” Logan asked, walking back behind the bar. No Vik. He didn’t say he was leaving, did he?
Logan mentally went over the last hour, trying to figure out when he’d last seen the sullen vampire hunter. It was weird, during the entire reunion of Alexei and August, that there was no commentary from Vik. No muttered sarcasm or unimpressed sighs… no presence at all.
Hm.
“Didn’t he get bitten by August?” Mateo asked. “I bet he went to go take care of the wound.”
Logan frowned. “Without saying anything?” He leaned against the bar, scanning the open space like he might materialize out of nowhere if Logan looked hard enough. “That’s not like him.”
Marco exhaled, scanning the room before motioning toward the door. “I’m sure we just didn’t hear him say anything. You can call him when we get home,amore mio,but I’m certain he’s fine.”
Logan nodded, joining Marco and Mateo at the door. “All right. Let’s go. It smells like dead bodies in here.”
Mateo snickered, opening the door and ushering Marco and Logan out,. “Yeah, when August said he needed a bath I was thinking it was the understatement of the century.”
Logan huffed a quiet laugh, the tension in his chest loosening a little. The night still felt heavy with the weight of everything that had happened, but as Marco drove the three of them home, and Mateo argued about being stuck in the backseat and Logan teased him for being too tall, he thought maybe, justmaybe,things would be okay.
* Sunshine, I’m here
