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“At the last second. You could’ve died,” I say.

He nods slowly. “I know, but I’m here. With you. Feeling things I’ve never felt before. Feeling free, in the scariest way possible, butfree.”

I brush my fingers over his knuckles. “I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

“What about my friends? Nathan. Lena. Are they in any danger?” he asks.

I frown. “Maybe. They want to hurt me, so they came after you. But I’m not sure your…friends…are on their radar.”

“I feel like I should tell them, though,” he insists. “I don’t want to keep them in the dark.”

I take a breath. “I ain’t gonna keep you from that, but the more they know, the more danger they’ll be in.”

“What should I say, then?”

I grab both of our empty plates and stand up to take them to the garbage.

“That someone is targeting you, and might target them, so they should keep an eye out,” I reply.

“That’s incredibly fucking vague, Dante. I think they should know who,” Ethan says, his voice laced with frustration.

“I don’t know them. I don’t know if they can be trusted,” I say as I throw the plates away and toss the forks in the sink.

“You don’t knowme,” he huffs. “Other than what you found out by stalking me.”

I turn to him, my chest tight. “I wanna know you, Ethan. This is a complicated situation. Anyone who knows about this is in danger. Anyone who doesn’t know is also in danger. They could be in more or less based on what they know; I can’t know for sure.”

Ethan stands up as well and steps closer to me. “Fine. I’ll figure it out later, but Nathan texted me asking why I wasn’t at my morning class today. I’m not sure what to tell him.”

I sigh and run my fingers through my hair. “I can’t keep you here forever, but I need to keep an eye on you. You can go to the rest of your classes today, but there are gonna be guards tailing you.”

“Guards?” he asks.

“Bodyguards. They usually tail me during jobs, and when things are sketchy. I’ll have a couple assigned to you,” I explain. “They won’t bother you or get in your way unless someone poses a danger to you.”

“You can’t just…come with me?” he asks.

I shake my head. “No. I gotta talk to my family about what happened, and there’s a ritual tomorrow that we’re preparing for.”

He stares at me. “Ritual?” he asks. “Like…witches?”

I chuckle. “Not quite. It’s a ritual of loyalty. Anyone who joins the family, on their own or through marriage, has to pledge a blood oath.”

His eyes go wide. “Holy shit, that’s…wow. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.”

My eyes stay locked on his, seeing the confusion and fear there, but also curiosity.

“Why don’t you come with me tomorrow?” I suggest.

“To the ritual?”

I nod. “Yeah. We wanna know each other, right? I want you to see firsthand what my family is like. What you have in store.”

He nearly chokes. “What I have in store?”

I step closer to him and hold his chin between my fingers. “If you plan on staying mine.”

“Right now, I can’t imagine anything else,” he whispers.