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“No, I’ve gone on some dates.” I flipped the book over to read the back cover, but it was one of those annoying covers where the book only had general, vague quotes of praise that didn’t give any details on the book’s contents, leaving me clueless.

“Really?” Connor said, surprised. There was a wrinkle on his forehead and a slight furrow to his eyebrows that said the shock was real—which was a little hurtful.

“Yep.” I flipped the book open and scanned the table of contents. “Just a few casual dates and a few group dates, nothing serious.” Deciding I’d take this book, I rested it in the crook of my left arm and went back to perusing.

“Any reason why it didn’t work out?” Connor took my book from me, holding it on my behalf.

I froze.

The other dates had been with guys from other vampire slayer families—mostly ones I met in training as kids who were also family friends. It hadn’t worked out because we had fundamental differences in beliefs—I wanted to protect, while they were happy to be the assassins of the supernatural world.

But I couldn’t really tell Connorthat.

“We had very different views on the roles of supernaturals,” I summarized. Weighing out the issue, I felt honor bound to add, “And my social anxiety didn’t exactly win them over, even if I had no problem talking to them personally.”

My social anxiety didn’t stretch to other slayers, particularly ones I knew as well as the scant guys I’d gone on dates with. But it still made going out on public dates awkward beyond all belief.

A full scowl clouded Connor’s face. “Then clearly they were never worth your time. The ingrates.”

This was a rare opportunity to practice soothing a friend, so I patted Connor on the back. “Don’t worry about it. It was only a few dates, and mostly group dates at that, with my brothers along for the ride. None of the dates were ever serious, and I wasn’t sad that none of them worked out,” I truthfully said.

I had zero hard feelings about all the endings. None of the guys had trained as much as they should and they had sloppy weapon safety, so if we ended up in a battle I’d have to carry the brunt of the fight, and I didn’t feel great about having someone careless with weapons at my back.

Anyone I seriously dated would have to be reliable backup.

“Well, my moment of what was supposed to be good fun fell flat,” Connor grumbled. “But I hope, at least, it hasn’t turned you off the idea of romance? Humans seem to be very attached to the idea that it’s necessary for life. What a bunch of optimists.”

“Romantic relationships are important.” I crouched down to look at the bottom shelf of self-help books. “But having good relationships—with friends, family, whatever makes up your support network—is more important.”

“What makes you so fun is that you genuinely mean that.” Connor said. “I don’t know if I should admire you for your maturity, or pity you for your general lack of romanticism.”

I set my shoulders with determination. “I don’t understand social interactions, but I know my limits. Come on. Let’s go ask Ms. Booker about self-defense books.”

“A fantastic idea, Meal.”

* * *

“Nope, no sign of fae.”Brody scented the air one last time, then sneezed so hard he folded in half.

“It’s been quiet since we caught the boar last week.” Tetiana fussed with the sleeve of her dark blue uniform—she’d swapped over to the long-sleeved version given that the nights were getting chilly. “Whoever was playing Noah’s Ark with fae creatures might have moved on.”

“Or they’re waiting for things to quiet down,” Brody pointed out. “We never figured out a motive, much less a perp.”

I stood behind the pair, silent as I did another careful scan of the street.

Brody is right. We never uncovered anything additional—although we’re fairly certain the mantasps and the boars were released by the same person, and it seems like the location was deliberate given they were on the same street.

The open end bothered me—I liked closure in my work. But open cases were something I was learning to grapple with, as it came with the job. (Unlike my vampire slayer upbringing, where if we didn’t get the target on the first try, you just tracked them until you got them. Persistence was a key trait for all career vampire slayers.)

The presence of the blonde-haired man I’d briefly seen in the human neighborhood we’d slain the loose boar in still bothered me, but my paranoia aside, not even security cameras on Goldstein Street had picked up signs of whoever had dumped the creatures, so it’s not like he matched a profile we were looking for. If I was going to be suspicious of every presence I felt, I’d have to consider if Ruin was behind the monsters—something I was sure he emphatically wasn’t.

“We should keep moving,” Tetiana stretched her arms above her head. “Sarge said all teams needed to keep Goldstein Street on patrol, but we have to go cover downtown.”

She glanced at me for confirmation. I nodded, then realized I should practice verbally responding and a gurgled “Yes,” croaked from my throat.

“Sounds good,” Brody agreed as he started to saunter down the street. “Binx, Clarence, and April are set to check Goldstein Street in half an hour. Let’s get a move on.”

Tetiana unhooked her radio. “I’ll report our movements.”