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I needed only to hear that and then I ran at him, barreling through his midsection. We both fell onto the floor in a tangle of limbs.
“Jesus fuck, Simon,” Luca growled, pushing me from him.
I slid across the floor and looked up, anger still pulsing through me. When I looked up though, Luca had his hands in the air and a smile on his face. “What’s up, man?”
I pulled myself to a standing position and went to pull Luca to his feet. When he gave me his hand to help hoist him up, I shoved him back down again instead. “Not yours to play with,” I told him.
Then, we both chuckled. “Alright, I got the point,” Luca said. “Maybe just put a sign on her next time saying, ‘Simon’s property’ to avoid any confusion.”
“Fucking vampires,” Kayleigh said, shaking her head.
I looked up to find Galen right behind her, shielding her while Kayleigh shielded Delilah simultaneously. Delilah was pale, frozen in terror. I pushed away from Luca and went to her, my heart in my throat. “You okay?”
“Fucker tried to bite her,” Kayleigh snapped.
I whipped around to pierce Luca with another stare. He held his hands in the air again.
“It’s not as if you don’t have enough food around here with Simon gone,” Kayleigh said, chastising as if she’d taken on the mothering role to all of us with her new position as Galen’s mate.
“She looked too delectable to pass up,” Luca drawled, his voice sounding off from behind me.
That she did. Always had, and it wouldn’t change.
She looked me straight in the eyes as if I had tried to bite her myself. “How many of you are there?”
“Here? A few.”
“What abouteverywhere?” she asked, her heart still fluttering in her chest.
“More than you want to know,” Galen said menacingly.
It was true. If humans knew how many of us there were, there would be widespread panic before the fighting began. Some humans already knew about us and fought back when they could. Most other humans just thought they were crazy, which was a good thing for us. Crisis avoided. But who knew what would happen in the future.
Delilah took in a deep, shaky breath. It sawed out of her before she did it again and again. She swayed on her feet and Kayleigh slowly lowered her to the couch. She sat next to her. “I know. It’s a lot to take in.”
“You’re all vampires,” she said, as if she were losing it. She knew we would all be vampires. Well, except for the feeders, possibly, but what did she expect?
Kayleigh tried to calm her, but Delilah forced herself into the couch to try to get away from her.
“Simon…? Simon!” a high voice rang out from behind us. I turned just in time to see one of the new feeders fly across the room. She launched herself into my arms and I caught her.
“I’ve missed you,” she said, practically purring as she slid down my body.
“Hey now,” Luca said. “I thought I was keeping you company enough.”
The girl chuckled. “But of course, but you know how I like my different flavors.” She gave Luca a wink and then looked around me, finally seeing Delilah on the couch. “Who’s this?”
“Delilah,” Delilah answered, eyeing me the entire time.
Red hot jealousy rose inside her. It made me furious. Not at her, but at me for letting this happen. I’d felt similarly when I’d invited the railway worker into our room. I’d done it plenty of times before and had never been overcome by something so insipid as jealousy, but Delilah was different.
She stuck out at her chin. “Who are you?”
“Sasha.”
“You’re a Feeder?” she asked, struggling to get the word out.
“Feeder. Lover,” she shrugged as if this was just another casual conversation. It kind of was in this house.