Page 58 of Taming His Vampire Mate

Thierry glared murder at me. “I hate you.”

I beamed back and tapped my temple. “No, you don’t.”

* * *

“This isn’t what I pictured for our first date,” I said an hour later, from behind the wheel of Lindsey’s car. The corners of my mouth kept tipping upward. “Usually, bodies in the trunk are a later-in-the-relationship adventure.”

“This isn’t a date, it’s not a relationship, and I sincerely hopeyou’re joking,” Thierry replied. His silent telepathic addition was clear as day:though it wouldn’t surprise me if he wasn’t.

I smiled, my heart lighter than it had been in ages, despite his fury over my display back in Rookwood. Apparently, Sadie was a very well-connected vampire. Thierry suspected she’d tell Pierce. And Pierce would tell everyone else Thierry had ever met.

But was that really so bad?

After all, I’d just saved every vampire in the town. Once Thierry’s witch pal enchanted them, they could be people again. Funny how easily I’d accepted that vampires were people, every bit as much as humans or wolves.

He shot me a glare. “Eyes on the road. It’d be a shame if something awful and extremely violent happened to you.”

I obeyed, though with my supernatural reflexes, I was a safer driver than most. Besides, even most crashes wouldn’t endanger us. We’d recover. And any wounds my body couldn’t heal, Thierry’s blood could.

Weird, to think he’d given me his blood. Weirder still that I owed him my life.

Still, it was hard not to look at him—soft golden hair, pale blue eyes, sharp features… he was like crushed velvet over steel. Now that I’d stopped convincing myself he was a monster, it was impossible not toseehim.

And I didn’t want to look away.

I’d been right before. Now I was certain: he wasn’t just a person, he was agoodperson. A heroic one. Someone who cared about every life around him, even while pretending not to. Underneath the anger at me, I knew he was relieved we still had a shot at saving Rookwood’s victims.

And even if I didn’t deserve him, he was mine. I was going to keep him.

But he didn’t need to know that yet.

Not until he’d had the same revelation I had: that I wasn’t the person he thought me to be.

“What’s the plan? We’ve got a vampire tied up in the trunk.”

It turned out that, in total, there were eighty-seven vampires in Rookwood. Well, eighty-six now, since we had taken Quinn with us.

“I’ll bring him down to the dungeon beneath Nathaniel’s bar,” Thierry said. “We will bind him with silver. And tomorrow, Poppy will perform her spell. Then we’ll see.”

“Nathaniel has a dungeon? He doesn’t seem like the type.”

“He’s not. But sometimes we need a place for exceptionally dangerous vampires until we decide what must be done with them.”

I felt it through the bond as the emotional equivalent of a shadow crossed over him.

“You’re involved in those decisions. And what comes after.”

“Stay out of my head, wolf.”

I kept my tone mild. “How do you guys feed, if you’re not supposed to hurt anyone?”

“We have a network of donors. And arrangements with local blood banks.”

“Donors?”

“Humans who get housing, health insurance, and a handsome living stipend. If they want to go to school, we pay for it. If they want to start a business, we give them seed money. We ensure they are taken care of. In exchange, they allow us to feed from them.”

I frowned. “Are they allowed to say no? What if they don’t feel up to it when one of you comes knocking?”