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“That’s what I call her!” I nearly shouted, but managed to soften my voice halfway through. “I mean, she’s nothing but sass like, all the time.”

“All the time,” he agreed with a gentle grin. “It’s what I love about her.”

“Love?” I teased.

His lips thinned, and I instantly quieted. “Not like that. But I will say she’s a woman who never holds back. She says what she wants. She does what she wants. I admire her greatly.” His light-eyed gaze tracked back over to me with his tattooed hands woven together on open knees. “You remind me a lot of her when she was a young Hunter.”

Some may find it a weird compliment to give to someone, but I was beyond honored by the correlation between my grandmother and I. She was someone I aspired to be when I was older, and the thought of being anything like her made me genuinely excited.

When I had more time to pick his brain, I planned to ask Phillip about when Grams was younger. Tonight, though, I had another thing weighing on my mind.

I held the phone in my hand, staring at the screen. “I’m going to call him, so I’ll just step out for a bit. Then we can head back. Hey, maybe I can drive that beast you call a car.”

Despite my light-humored comment meant to tease the other vampire hunter, Phillip’s expression was dark. He didn’t smile or react like he normally did. Instead, he shifted on the couch and set his jaw enough that the muscle strained along his cheeks.

“He’s a Shifter. Worse, a werewolf. They move in packs. I found it interesting that he was alone. From what Rose tells me, he does have one. A pack, that is. Shifters have rules, same as we do. Rules against Hunters. Rules that keep them from being around us in a way that could be misconstrued. And the laws of that world are just as harsh as the laws of ours.”

My shoulders tensed, and I looked up from the screen. “Would it put him in danger?”

Phillip’s look was grim. “I can guarantee it. But when he started to protect you, he’d already made his choice.”

Cradling the phone tighter, I stared at the Austrian. “What do you mean?”

“He broke rules staying here with you the way he did. Rose knew it, which is why she made him promise not to do more. Consequences are severe for more than that. Protection in exchange for saving his life could be forgiven, but not anything more. Attachment beyond that could put a target on his back by his own kind, especially if they knew he’d attached himself to a Hunter. And with how important you are to the Organization, he’d be hunted by both sides.”

Phillip visibly sympathized, and it made me immediately uncomfortable. “That’s the entire reason I wanted to perpetuate the rumor about us at school. It’s better for you if we do—for Nigel.”

Another text came in.

“Please respond to me. I need to know you’re okay.”

Jaw clenched, I quickly texted back that I was fine. Then I stared at Phillip, heart in my throat. “He’ll be hunted?”

“With certainty, yes.” The Austrian’s hand touched mine, stroking white knuckles. “It’ll make what we want to do harder. But it’s your choice. I won’t tell you what to do.”

His chest strained under fabric, depicting a struggle to say more. But what, I couldn’t be certain. The dude was a seriously old, well-trained Hunter. I’d be lucky to figure out anything he didn’t want me to.

“If I remember correctly, you did say you’d have it all. Just watch you.” His devilish smirk got a laugh out of me.

“I did say that.”

“Do you love him?” he asked, catching me off guard.

I struggled to answer. “Love him?”

“Yeah. Do you love him?”

Love was a strong word. I had intense feelings for Nigel. I’d been his faithful crush for years, but I never really knew him well enough to put a word as strong as love to it. I did feel deeply enough that I wanted to be with him, that much I knew.

“It’s too soon to use words like that,” I finally admitted. “I do feel strongly enough about Nigel to fight to be with him.”

“But not strong enough that it’d be hard to walk away right now?”

I opened my mouth to answer, but I couldn’t say anything.

Words failed me.

I wanted desperately to argue I couldn’t walk away, but I nearly had. When he cut me off, with time, I would’ve moved on. I may have begrudged the way it ended, but I couldn’t argue I wouldn’t be able to move on from our relationship.