Page 119 of Grave Beginnings

“Together, if you want.”

“That’s the most romantic threat I’ve ever heard. Don’t you dare spoil me this much, I’ll get used to it.”

Angel snorted, shifting his grip to help me sit up. “Come on, then. Time to get you home.”

I let out a dramatic sigh but allowed him to haul me to my feet. The room spun for a few seconds as I blinked through the vertigo. Angel held tight, steering me toward the door. He peeked out, then dragged me into the bright hallway, which made me wince and cover my eyes.

A set of dark glasses were adjusted over my ears, and I opened my eyes carefully to find darkening shades. Angel tucked my hair down over the sides to block out some of the light at the edges, but I could see Victor lingering a few feet away. He only glanced at me, his gaze lingering on Angel a few seconds longer before heading down the hall.

“Are these Victor’s?” I hissed, not wanting to borrow anything from the grumpy vampire who had a thing for my boyfriend. Was Angel my boyfriend? Holy fuck, everything was spinning again.

“Up,” Angel warned a half second before he lifted me in a bridal carry. “Tuck your face against my shirt to block out the light.”

If my gut hadn’t been twisting in knots, I might have protested. The cold night air bit into my skin as we stepped outside. Where had the day gone? Right, talking to dead people. I was going to have to get used to that.

“You drive,” I grumbled.

“I was going to anyway,” Angel said, walking to my car. “Idon’t trust you not to fall asleep mid-turn or cruise through a red.”

“My confidence is soaring,” I deadpanned as he belted me into the passenger seat.

“You did amazing today. Five stars. Do you want gold stickers or cake?”

“Cake, duh.” Who would pick stickers over cake? Though, I could imagine Angel covered in stickers. That might be fun.

Angel shut my door, got in on his side, and started the car. Linkin’ Park filtered through the radio, barely above the sound of the purring engine, but I closed my eyes, relaxing into the familiar alt-rock ballad. I must have fallen asleep fast because the sudden buzz of my phone jolted me awake. I blinked groggily at the glare of headlights streaking past as Angel navigated through rush-hour traffic. My brain felt foggy, my limbs heavy, but something important nagged at me.

With a lot of uncoordinated fumbling, I wrestled my phone out of my back pocket, nearly dropping it in the process. When I finally got a look at the screen, my stomach lurched.

Ivan.

“Oh, fuck,” I muttered.

Angel shot me a quick, alarmed glance. “What?”

“I forgot about Ivan.”

His shoulders relaxed a little, the tension easing as he processed my anxiety. “One of Xavier’s guys can bring him home.”

But the text wasn’t from one of Xavier’s guys, it was from Ivan himself:

Staying with Xavier tonight. That okay?

Was it? Ivan was still a kid. Should he be staying the night with Xavier, who was basically a supernatural powerhouse?

“Is Xavier safe?” I asked, frowning at my phone.

Angel made a thoughtful noise. “Depends on what you mean by ‘safe.’”

I turned to him, my concern growing. “Safe, as in… he’s not some kind of creep that I shouldn’t trust with my baby brother overnight, right?”

Angel snorted. “Oh, he’s definitely a creep, but not that kind of creep. Ivan’s fine with him, I promise. If it makes you feel better, I can have Wade check in on him.”

That helped a little. I exhaled, then typed out a quick reply to Ivan:

Call if you need me. Be safe.

A moment later, my phone buzzed again. Ivan had responded with a cat face emoji.