Page 61 of The Wayward Sons & The Vampires of Fortune
“You don’t know what I live with.”
“What’s your primary emotion?” he asked. “Empaths usually have one emotion—”
“—that they feel more than the other, I know. Believe me,I know,” I cut him off. I didn’t tell him anything else. I wasn’t about to divulge that information to him.
“I’m sorry, Ryder,” he replied as if he’d figured it out. I didn’t say a word. “Besides, there’s not a damn person in the world that would do it. No one wants that death on their hands.”
That tiny little what-if was bound to stay in the back of my head.
What if I could find someone to do it?
What if I could survive a spell like that?
What if I didn’t have to feel everything all the time?
What if Gray and I could have a normal life?
“You good?”
“Yeah, I’m good. It was just a thought.”One I knew I couldn’t let go anytime soon.I hated my power. The idea of being free? Well, that taunted me.
“Here.” Sam reached under his shirt and pulled off his necklace—a golden cross. “Take this.”
“I don’t want that.”
“It helps me—helped me control my powers,” he told me. Grabbing my wrist, he dropped the trinket in my hand. I felt the weight of it immediately.The magical weight.“It’s technically calibrated to my power, but I’m sure it’ll help you a little bit. It’s not a perfect solution, but believe me, it helps.”
I couldn’t take it from him. Not when it was a tool he needed.
“But don’t you need it?” I stared at the trinket in my hand.
“I stopped being afraid of my power a long time ago,” he said.What was that like?“And don’t worry, you’re going to give it back to me. That thing means something to me. I’ll figure out how to get one made for you. Just take care of it for me in the meantime.”
“I can do that.” Guarding sentimental gifts for Sam wasn’t something I expected to do, but admittedly, I was curious if it’d work.
“I’ll find you the most douchey chain I can find,” Sam promised me with a grin. “Something that sparkles and weighs ten pounds around your neck. A real statement piece that’ll have everyone staring at you.”
“Asshole,” I retorted, making him laugh harder as he walked away. I slipped the necklace over my head. The cross settled heavily on my chest, and I felt the way its magic drifted over my skin like a warm blanket. The volume of emotions in the room deadened. They didn’t disappear completely, but the intensity turned down significantly.
I took a deep breath, exhaling slowly and letting myself revel in the ability to just breathe without the weight of everything bearing down on me.
CHAPTER 42
Welcome to my private jet,” Sam announced as we climbed inside the jet.
I was a happy little camper. We’d fucking won. There was nothing that could quite compare to the high of taking out the most powerful vampire organization out there. All that was left was to get out of there for a while—to lay low while the regular bounty hunters found something better to do with their time.
And that meant a trip on his fancy jet. I whistled as I took it in the expensive setup. The seating area was small and cozy, while the back portion of the plane was set up with a nice bedroom.Or stateroom, as Ryder informed me it was called.My smart and sexy man.
“Just how much money do you make?” I asked in awe. You had to make a hell of a lot of money to afford a private jet, especially one as nice as this one.
“A former client of mine was involved in human trafficking. After I got his case dismissed, he made sure I was paid well,” he said.Well, fuck. I didn’t like where that was going at all.“Granted, I stole all of his money and made sure something… classified happened to him and everyone he ever worked with.”
Well, then.
“Ryder snapped a guy’s neck once.”It was all my brain could think of.
“Why the hell would you tell him that?” Ryder demanded. I offered him a sheepish smile over my shoulder.
