Page 44 of Claim of Blood
“To do anything useful. To learn the situation. To plan.” Leo shook his head, frowning. “They had an entire operation prepared. You don’t just abandon that overnight. Not unless…”
“Unless they had a different operation planned,” Adam finished softly.
Leo’s breath caught. The implication felt like a physical blow. “You think they knew? That they planned for this?”
“I think,” Adam said, voice even, “they planned something. I have a known preference. The blood compatibility was chance, but putting you in my path again and again? That was deliberate.”
“My cousins gave me so much shit for getting caught,” Leo whispered, his voice hollow.
“Maybe it was an act. Or maybe they didn’t know the whole plan.” Adam’s thumbs began to trace slow circles into Leo’s hips. “But you don’t place a beautiful man in front of someone like me without reason.”
“Then why…” Leo’s voice cracked. “Why did they pull me off the coffee shop surveillance?” Even as he asked, dread pooled in his chest.
Adam’s hands slid down to his thighs, massaging tense muscles. “You already know, beauty.”
“No,” Leo whispered, but Adam kept going, gentle and unflinching.
“They put you in my Court’s territory. At night.” His smile was kind, so much so that it somehow made everything worse. “It was only a matter of time before I found you.”
“Then what?” Leo’s voice broke. Tears spilled over as the betrayal cracked him open. He felt raw, exposed—so hollow it was as though he’d been scooped out. And god help him, he still wanted Adam to fill the emptiness, to soothe it, to take it away.
Adam sighed, brushing a tear from his cheek with his thumb. “That, I don’t know. Did they expect me to take you captive? Bring you into the heart of my Court?” His mouth twisted in wry irony. “Which, of course, I did. Is that why they put the tracker on you? I can’t say, my hunter.”
“Were there trackers in all of them?” Adam mused, almost to himself. His fingers traced a slow path up Leo’s spine. “Or just you? Vampires live a long time, and hunters have long memories. Was this set in motion generations ago?” He paused, letting the question settle. “Do your cousins have chips? Or were you… special? And why don’t you remember when it was implanted?”
Leo’s composure crumbled. A choked sob tore free, and he pressed his face against Adam’s chest, shaking. “I don’t know. I don’t know anything anymore.” He didn’t know who he was—hunter, weapon, claimed. None of it felt real anymore. Not when the only thing steady in his world was the vampire holding him like something precious.
It was too much. All of it was too much.
Adam held him until the sobs quieted, then gently shifted Leo off his lap. “Go shower, beauty. I’ll change the sheets.”
Leo nodded, numb. He let Adam guide him to the bathroom. He was still staring blankly at the tiled wall when Adam stepped in behind him.
They washed in silence, the only sounds the rush of water and Leo’s uneven breaths. When Adam tilted his head back to rinse the soap, Leo didn’t flinch. That scared him more than the roughest fuck—how safe he felt in the hands of a vampire.
When they were clean, Adam dried him carefully and dressed him in familiar clothes: Leo’s own worn sweats and a soft T-shirt. At his questioning look, Adam’s expression gentled.
“Your family left everything behind. Nathaniel’s enforcers sorted through it. Most of it was destroyed. Anything that looked personal or wasn’t hunter gear, they cleansed and checked with magic before bringing it here.”
Leo looked down at his favorite sweatpants, at the shirt he’d had since college. His family hadn’t just abandoned him—they’d discarded his life like it meant nothing. The realization cracked something fresh, and he folded into Adam’s arms, tears soaking his shoulder.
When the sobs finally subsided, Adam led him to the closet, showing where the salvaged clothes had been neatly arranged. Leo hadn’t packed much civilian clothing to begin with, but seeing his life reduced to so little made his chest ache. A thought rose, sharp and panicked.
“Did you find a jewelry box?” he asked hoarsely. “I kept it hidden in an air vent.”
Adam raised an eyebrow but walked to the walk-in closet. He knelt by the floor safe, typed in a six-digit code, and pulled out a small, worn wooden box. Relief poured through Leo when Adam handed it over.
“Beautiful puzzle box,” Adam said. “I only allowed Emilia’s coven to inspect it for tracking magic. Nothing more.”
Leo’s hands moved automatically—flicking a corner panel, turning the carved flower, sliding three hidden nodules. The lid popped open with a quiet click, revealing two rings nestled in faded velvet.
“This was my grandmother Sophia’s engagement ring,” Leo murmured, touching the delicate band. The instant his skin met the metal, it pulsed with a faint warmth, like a heartbeat against his fingertips. He blinked, startled, certain he’d imagined it.
Adam’s head tilted slightly, nostrils flaring, as if catching an unfamiliar scent.
“And the signet ring…” Leo’s throat tightened. He set down the engagement ring and picked up the heavier band. “Von Rothenburg family ring. They gave it to me when I graduated high school.” His voice turned bitter. “Doesn’t feel like it means much now.”
Adam’s gaze kept drifting back to the engagement ring, something thoughtful in his expression.
