Page 76 of Love Lives

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Aldrich stopped me on the way to my Dad’s old room, where, apparently, Puck had taken up residence. “What?” I asked the vampire.

He pulled something out of his pocket. “Forgot to give this to you.”

“Forgot to give me what?” I took a step closer to get a better look at what he was holding. A marble? What was that?

“You didn’t come with us to that fairy’s place, but it’s the same kind of marble she stored Vlad’s memories in.”

Those words gave me pause. “Where did you get it?”

“Vlad had it on him.”

“You think he stole it back from her?”

“Possibly.” Aldrich studied the marble in his hand. “It didn’t look like this, though, when the fairy had it. It looks dead now.” He handed the orb to me, and even though I didn’t have much magical knowledge, I could sense what he was talking about. There was no magic resonating from this marble.

“You think it’s broken?”

“I don’t know. I’m only the delivery guy. You should get Puck to take a look at it.”

I nodded, so many questions swirling in my head that I almost forgot to say thank you. Almost.

Aldrich waved me off. “I would have taken more if I could have.”

“Thanks anyway. Not just for the marble but…” I gestured loosely. The vampire had saved my ass the night before, and though I’d shown him my appreciation, I’d never said the words.

“Just don’t do anything that fucking stupid again.”

“No promises.”

“Then I won’t promise that I’ll keep saving you,” Aldrich said. There was something in his tone, though, in the way he looked at me, that made me doubt his words. He might not make any promises, but he’d do it anyway.

An odd, bubbly warmth that spread from my chest to the rest of my body. When it reached my face, it made me want to smile. When it reached my feet, it made me want to walk closer to the vampire and kiss him.

Nope. Not going there.

Closing my fist around the marble in my palm, I walked away from Aldrich.

This feeling… I’d felt it before. Not in this body, but in my dreams. For that other vampire. I’d known what it was then. I knew what it was now.

But that didn’t mean I couldn’t still shake it off.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

I foundPuck sprawled out on my dad’s old bed. He was on his stomach, on top of the covers, and I thanked the stars that he had kept his clothes on. For a moment, I debated leaving him to his dreams for another hour or two, but I needed answers, damn it, so I shook him.

Puck didn't rouse like normal people did. He snapped awake, fully alert in an instant. The very next moment he was sitting up and eyeing me critically. "What?"

I showed him both the stone and the marble. “What do we do with these?”

As soon as Puck’s eyes landed on the marble, he grabbed it from me and held it close to his face, scrutinizing it. “Where did you get this?”

“Aldrich stole it from Vlad.”

Puck made a thoughtful sound, then waved his other hand in a circular motion over the magical object. It remained black. “Anti-theft protection,” he murmured. “I assume Vlad stole it from Sage.” He let both his hands sink. “It’s useless in this state.”

“So you’re saying it’s broken?” I was about ready to pull my hair out. Fuck this whole situation. Vlad would never remember who he had been, and even if he did… it had been about a thousand years since he’d been the man in my dreams. People changed.