A Dawn of Strength (A Shade of Vampire #14)(49)

“Oh, I’m so happy for her.”

“Yeah,” she said. “She’s really fallen hard for him. I haven’t seen her so besotted with anyone since Hendrick. I should be feeling more excited for her… I suppose I’m just not used to the idea of living alone.”

Get in there, wolf boy.

There was a pause. I held my breath.

“I’m used to it,” Micah replied, his voice sounding more uneven by the syllable. “I like my own space. But if you feel your treehouse is too big for you, you’re always welcome to be my housemate.”

Boom.

Her eyelashes fluttered as she looked up at Micah. She gave him a coy smile. “Thanks, Micah. I might take you up on that offer.”

“In fact”—Micah cleared his throat—“I’d very much like you to be my housemate.”

Even from this distance, I could make out Kira blushing. She was so obviously attracted to him. I didn’t understand why Micah had waited so long to just ask her out. Boys.

He slowly reached for her hands, cupping them in his, as he took a step closer toward her and gazed down into her eyes. His voice dropped so quiet that I almost didn’t hear him say:

“I’d also very much like to tell you, Kira… that I’m in love with you.”

I could almost feel Micah’s nerves electrifying the atmosphere. Despite my confidence in what I thought I saw in Kira, even I found myself digging my fingers into the sand as we waited for her response.

“I wish you’d told me sooner, Micah,” she began in a small voice.

My stomach plummeted.

“Because there I was all this time,” she continued, “thinking that you didn’t love me… the way I love you.”

Cheers and wolf-whistles erupted in my head. Micah closed the distance between them and, running his hands through Kira’s hair, claimed her lips. They kissed chastely at first, then with abandon.

I shot a look back at Caleb and gave him a big thumbs up. He shook his head in rebuke, even as his chest vibrated from laughing.

Now I had no more excuses to be here. Remaining ducked below the boulders, I made my way back to Caleb.

“Shall we proceed?” he said, rolling his eyes.

“Yes,” I said, looping my arm through his. “Let’s.”

Chapter 40: Rose

I didn’t let myself get distracted again. Even when we passed Griffin with Becky, we continued walking. They appeared to be too wrapped up in each other anyway to notice us.

Gavin and Zinnia had considered Griffin too newly turned and unstable in his abilities to fight, so they’d insisted that he stayed in the mountains with the humans. Even though Griffin and Becky had just spent many hours together in the Black Heights, they couldn’t seem to get enough of each other. I still felt nothing but thrilled for him—it certainly helped to ease the guilt I felt whenever he looked my way.

Arriving outside the entrance to the Black Heights, I felt my palms begin to sweat. I moved to push open the door, but Caleb held me back—apparently sensing my discomfort. He looked down at me with concern.

“Do you want to take a moment?” he asked.

It was uncanny how he seemed to know me better than I knew myself sometimes.

I swallowed hard and nodded. “Yeah.”

I turned to face the clearing that had served as our battleground only hours ago. The dead witches and vampires had been scraped off the ground and disposed of—I didn’t know where. But the signs of the mighty struggle still remained etched on the charred grass.

I began to replay the last conversation I’d had with the fire breathers. Instead of stealing me away, they’d agreed to consider remaining on this island and finding mates from the human girls who lived here. But the more I thought about our discussion, the more I realized how many holes there were in my representation to my father of how “settled” things were with the dragons.

What exactly did they even mean by “needing females”? Were they looking for partners—lovers—or just… baby machines? I’d assumed at the time they’d meant the former—that they’d romance and fall in love with a girl. But I had no idea how these bizarre creatures’ minds worked. Consensual to them could hold an entirely different meaning to us.

My gut clenched. I should have used my brain before offering up the island’s entire population of single women.

And once the dragons had made their choices, would they take the girls back to their realm forever?

What was stopping them from stealing away all the girls and then swiping me as well? Were these noble creatures, or were they brutes? Given my recent escapades with Caleb, I didn’t exactly have a pleasant taste left over in my mouth when it came to the dealings of various types of supernaturals.

I realized I was ignoring Caleb’s advice to not dwell on what-ifs, but right now, I couldn’t help myself.

Doubt upon doubt assailed my mind, until I reached the point of being overwhelmed.

Caleb had meant for me to take a moment to gather my calm before stepping inside. I’d just gone and triggered the beginnings of a nervous breakdown.

But it was clear that waiting any longer before stepping inside would only make things worse. So I stopped pacing up and down and moved toward the door.

Caleb gripped the back of my shoulder blades, digging his fingers into my tense muscles. “Take a deep breath, Maiden of Fire.”