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Thierry could go to hell if he thought for even an instant that I would willingly leave Danny’s side for even a day, much less months, while he worked through the single worst thing that had ever happened to him. Over my dead body. I wouldn’t abandon him like that. Never. No, I wasn’t going anywhere.

* * *

Danny looked beaten when I walked back into the kitchen. He was no longer on his knees. Instead, he had shoved his back against the cupboard below the sink, his legs splayed out before him. Thierry stood over him, his lips pursed with disapproval.

“Seattle is a safe haven for vampires. You’ll be amongst friends. You’ll be with people who are experienced in dealing with your situation. You’ll—”

I could tell that Danny was barely listening to him. His mind was locked up with numb disbelief. I saw my own face echoing in his mind through the bond, how I had stared at him with wide, horrified eyes. It was seared into his brain. The scene was playing on a loop, over and over again. And I couldn’t quite catch the exact words of his thoughts, but I caught their shape well enough: I had seen what he was now—what hereallywas—and now it was only a matter of time before I rejected him. Before I left him behind. Just like everyone else had.

Guilt tore through me. I had caused that. I had caused him to doubt me.

“I assume you’ve come to your senses,” Thierry remarked, when I paused in the doorway.

Danny didn’t look up at me, but his body went more rigid. A muscle flexed in his jaw. And I could sense the way he steeled himself for my rejection.

Not on your fucking life, buddy.

“Yeah, I have,” I said shortly, staring Thierry down. “Give us some privacy.”

Thierry blinked at me, looking more puzzled than anything else. “I may have misheard you. There’s little chance you were asking to be alone with him. That would be ridiculous. Not after you just saw—”

“I. Don’t. Care.” My words came out flat and with just the barest hint of menace. Danny looked up at me then, his eyebrows rising and his eyes going a little wide. His lips parted and he looked almost afraid to believe. I met his gaze and held it. “I needed a minute. It was totally my bad. But I’m not going anywhere again.Ever.”

“Stupid hunter,” Thierry breathed, though he almost sounded more impressed than annoyed.

“That’s right,” I said shortly. “Iama hunter. I’m not some innocent bystander off the street. Whatever happens next is on me. Which means that you can give us some space. Now, please.”

“And when he attacks you, tears out your throat, and loses any trace of what makes him Danny? What then?”

Danny let out a miserable sound at that. I was reasonably confident that he hadn’t meant to make it, either. I wrenched my gaze away from my mate to glare daggers at Thierry. I had to fight not to reach for my Glock and make the blond vampire regret his words. It might have been fun, but it wouldn’t have helped anything. Besides, he wasn’t there to do us any harm, even if he did have the bedside manner of a razor-wire fence.

“He won’t.”

“You don’t know that.” Thierry frowned at me. But he did take a step away from Danny, moving in the direction of the door. “Look, Michael, I understand that something has taken place between the two of you, and I can admit that perhaps I have come across as less…patient… than I would have liked. But you don’t know that he won’t hurt you. You want to believe it, but you don’tknow.”

I supposed I understood well enough. Thierry didn’t understand Danny like I did. And he probably didn’t have much experience with newborn vampires who had already found their destined mate. He didn’t understand us. He didn’t have my rock-solid inner certainty.

“No. I do know. He won’t. He wouldn’t be able to. And he wouldn’twantto, either.” I met Danny’s gaze again.I’m sorry I left you. I won’t do it again. I swear it.

Something crumpled in Danny’s expression and his eyes went abruptly wet. He nodded back at me, but he couldn’t seem to bring himself to speak.

Thierry froze, clearly catching the non-verbal communication. His eyes went wide as he stared at us. “Did you and Danny happen to exchange blood?”

I couldn’t force myself to raise my gaze from Danny’s, but I nodded. “Yeah. We did.”

“And are you—”

“Yeah. We are.”

“Keep your gun close at hand, hunter.” He heaved the world’s most dramatic sigh, and I would’ve bet good money that he’d rolled his eyes too, though I wasn’t watching him, so I couldn’t be sure. But he turned on his heel and headed for the door. I heard his footsteps recede into the living room. And I was fairly certain I heard him mutter under his breath, “Fated mates. Every fucking time. They’re supposed to berare.”

When it was just us, I dropped down beside Danny.

He flinched a little and turned his face away from mine. But I was pretty sure his eyes were just as wet as before.

“I’m sorry,” I told him. It sounded useless. Hollow. Empty. Just words.

It was anything but.