Page 56 of The Vampire Kingpin

“Says who? Half the vampires there are gonna be with a thrall.”

“One they personally invited? One they took shopping for a dress and shoes?”

“It’s just a dance. And she had nothin’ to wear, alright? That’s why I took her shopping.”

And because Lark had sounded so sad when she’d explained why she didn’t want to wear the gold dress.

“Riiiiiight.” If you could hear an eyeroll, it would’ve sounded like Velma. “And how many other thralls have you taken clothes shopping? Or any other females, for that matter?”

We both knew the answer to that. I’d only taken one other woman shopping—Amina. Anyone else, I would’ve handed her a card and sent her out with one of my men.

I shot an irritated look at her over my shoulder. “Who made you my conscience?”

She shook her head. “Get a fucking clue, bro. You have feelings for her, don’t you?”

“Fine,” I muttered. “I do. Satisfied?”

“I like you, Lark—a lot. More than I have anyone for a long time.”

But that made it even more crucial to pull back. To protect her from Amina’s fate.

Velma sighed. “Lark’s not Amina, you know. She’s tougher. Amina was too sweet for her own good. The chick was the most human vampire I ever met.”

My throat closed up. “Yeah,” I said thickly.

“Hey. It’s okay.”

I slowed. “I knew it was a mistake,” I said without looking at Velma. “That Amina wasn’t going to last long in our world. Not at first, but by the end of that first year. That’s why…”

“You didn’t ask her to be your mate.”

“Yeah.” My chest heaved. “It felt…wrong.”

And ever since, I’d had to live with the guilt, to wonder if I’d somehow led Amina on. Because I’d been the vampire who’d turned her.

I sped up again. “And Lark knows the deal, by the way. I told her I liked her but that I wasn’t looking for a mate.”

“Oh, Spider.” She slipped past me and turned to face me, walking backward so I could see her pained expression. “You know that was an asshole thing to do, right?”

“I was being honest. You know, like women say they want.”

She shook her head. “D’you hear yourself?”

I flashed on Lark’s face, and the way her eyes had widened, her mouth turned down in a mix of sadness and shock.

My chest constricted. “Yeah.”

Because now I’d said it aloud, I understood how it must’ve sounded to Lark. Arrogant. Clueless. Like this was only about sex when it had become more for both of us.

My ‘honesty’ had hurt Lark, too. She was good at hiding it, but that shine she’d had after we’d left the shop had dimmed.

I met Velma’s eyes. “I fucked up, huh?”

“Depends.”

“On what?”

“If she actually is your mate.”