Page 101 of Taming His Vampire Mate

“I have to get to work,” he said glumly. He shot Quinn a wounded look, as though disappointed the vampire hadn’t triedto kill him. “But definitely invite me back if youdodecide to push the envelope.”

With that, he stood and then left.

“Maybe we could have two or three other humans in the room next time,” Derek suggested. “And fewer chaperones.”

Sadie sighed, frowning at him—but Derek was one of the few she seemed to like. She pursed her lips, then nodded. “Fine. Tomorrow’s test, then. But very soon, we must know the boundaries. That will inform our strategy with the others.”

Quinn gave Derek a wobbly smile. “I guess this is goodbye. But we can hang out tomorrow.” He shot Sadie a sharp look. “Right? Tomorrow?”

She nodded.

“Fuck that,” Derek said. “I’m staying with you tonight.”

Quinn’s whole face lit up. “Really?”

“No. Thatispushing the envelope,” Sadie said flatly, fixing Quinn with a warning look. “You don’t know enough about your abilities yet. You might try to forge a bond with him through feeding, and not know how to stop. You could kill him.”

“He probably wouldn’t be able to do that,” Poppy mused.

“We can’t chance it,” Sadie said, wary now for the first time. She cast Derek a nervous glance. “Not with his life. Not yet. They must be supervised.”

“What happened to ‘we have to know what the boundaries are’?” Poppy demanded.

“I wouldn’t feed on him,” Quinn said. Then he winced, giving Derek a sheepish look. “But… we might want to take things slow. This is all new to me. I don’t know what I can do yet. What if I vamp out and hurt you?”

“Then I’ll sleep right outside the dungeon door,” Derek said firmly. He gave Sadie a hard look. “Get me a cot and a pillow. Because there’s no way in hell I’m leaving him to go through this alone.”

While they argued, Thierry quietly slipped away.

I glanced up and caught him leaving through the back entrance.

Simone met my gaze, suspicion sharp in her eyes. And I understood that she knew Thierry was lying too, even if the others didn’t. Maybe it was some weird elder-vampire-goddess mind-reading power. Or maybe she just knew him that well.

Still holding my gaze, she raised her eyebrows. A question, clear as day:Are you going after him?

I gave her a sharp nod and slipped away.

“Naturally, we can set Derek up with a cot and whatever else he requires,” Simone cut in as I reached the door. “But the question is, do we need someone in the dungeon with Quinn to keep him from breaking out of it?”

I grinned at that, pulling open the door. Simone was covering for us, distracting the others to give us privacy. I slipped into the hallway after Thierry.

He was in trouble, and he knew it. Whoever this Godric was, he wasn’t nearly as dead as Thierry claimed. And he was someone my mate feared—which meant he was dangerous. And he was after my vampire.

No way in hell would I let him get to Thierry. Even if I had to lay down my life to protect him, that’s exactly what I’d do.

* * *

“How did I know you would follow me?” Thierry asked when I caught up with him in the alley between the buildings. He stopped dead, his back still to me, but shot a dark look over his shoulder. “You’re like a bad penny.”

“I’ve been called worse.”

“Go home,” Thierry said softly. “This was fun while it lasted, but I need you to leave now.”

I expected him to say that, but it still landed like a physical blow.

“No.”

He turned, his eyes widening with disbelief. “No?”