“As long as he’s good enough to deserve you,” Aida said.
“He is.”
Aida squeezed her arm and rested her head against Cassidy’s arm. “Good, because you deserve the best.”
Cassidy dropped her head on top of Aida’s and smiled. Not for the first time, she found herself extremely grateful Aida had turned out to be Julian’s mate. Now, not only was her best friend also her sister-in-law, but they had many years to spend together.
Cassidy sighed when they arrived at the top of the stairs and she saw the door to their apartment was open. She felt like she was walking to the guillotine as she and Aida approached the doorway.
She wanted them to like Dante. Her family was her life, and their opinions mattered to her, but she wasn’t sure how they were going to react after they learned what happened tonight. And she couldn’t keep it from them or lie to them about it.
Julian was sitting on the couch when they entered, but Kyle stood in the kitchen with his hands clasped behind his back while he stared out the window. Last year, before Julian moved in with them, the couch and TV were the only newer things they owned.
Now that Julian was helping to pay the bills, they’d upgraded the kitchen table to a pretty oak one with matching chairs. A trunk that slid open to reveal the video games Julian and Kyle stashed inside had replaced their battered coffee table. A larger TV hung on the wall above a new entertainment center.
Cassidy closed the door behind her and waited for the barrage of questions to start, but no one spoke.
“So, how was your night?” she asked to break the silence.
“I’m guessing it was a lot less interesting than yours,” Julian replied.
“I bet it was,” she agreed. Then she took a deep breath and focused on Kyle. “You can never go back to Lavender Moon.”
Kyle turned to face her. “What did you do?”
“I tried to help.” And with that, she filled them in on most of the details of her night.
She left out what she’d learned about Dante and his sister, but she told them almost everything else. Dante’s story was his own to reveal, and if he decided to share it with her brothers one day, then so be it. Until then, it wasn’t any of their business.
Kyle and Julian weren’t happy she went with him to a vamp bar, but they didn’t harass her too much about it. She suspected the nervous looks they kept exchanging with each other had something to do with that.
“Do you think he’s your mate?” Kyle asked when she finished her story.
Cassidy walked over and collapsed onto the couch. Aida strolled over to sit on Julian’s lap and draped her arms around his neck.
“I don’t know,” Cassidy said.
“But you think there’s something different about him,” Julian stated.
“I do.”
That was the only reason they weren’t jumping down her throat about going to a vamp bar and why they weren’t vowing to beat Dante to death. They’d been around enough mated vampires and knew the rules; if they hurt him, they hurt her, and they would never do that.
Besides, no one wanted to drive someone’s mate away. Now was a tricky time, and if she didn’t navigate it carefully, she could lose everything, including her life. Her brothers weren’t willing to risk that.
“Do you want me to come with you?” Kyle asked from where he sat beside her on the couch.
“About as much as I want a hole in the head.” And then, to soften her words, Cassidy paused in tying her boots to smile at him. “I know you’re worried about me, but I can take care of myself.”
Kyle’s deep blue eyes, the same color as hers, revealed his apprehension as he smiled at her. “I know you can, but I could charm this girl into telling you every one of her secrets.”
“If anyone could, it would be you, but I prefer to go alone.”
“Just don’t go into any more vamp bars alone, okay?”
“I didn’t go in alone last night.”
Kyle tugged at his wheat blond hair as he gave her an exasperated look. “How about, no more vamp bars without Julian or me.”
Cassidy finished tying her boot and sat back. “So, if I have to take you, does that mean you’ll take me the next time you go to one?”
Kyle grimaced before covering up his reaction. “It’s not the same.”
She knew that, but it was the principle of the matter. However, she didn’t want to be anywhere near a bar where her brother was hanging out instead of working. She had fully matured, but Kyle hadn’t. When he did, his already heightened need for sex would strengthen.
Cassidy dreaded the day it happened. There were times Kyle felt a little out of control now; she couldn’t imagine what it would be like when his purebred instincts fully kicked into hyperdrive. If he couldn’t control it, she could lose him, and that would devastate her.
They’d been together since conception; Kyle knew her better than anyone, was her best friend, and the idea of losing him caused a sob to lodge in her throat. He would stop aging soon, and once he did, things would change.
“No, it’s not the same,” she agreed. “I don’t plan on entering any vamp bars anytime soon. Besides, Opal told us she only has one party still going.”
“Opal’s only one of the players in town,” he told her.
“There’s more?”
“There’s money to make in it, so there will always be more. Opal’s parties are the best run and the safest.”
“Have you been to any of the others?”
He hesitated before answering. “Yes.”
“Why is it okay for you to put yourself in danger but not me?”
“We’re different, Cassidy.”
“And how is that? And if you say it’s because you’re a guy and I’m a girl, I’m going to punch you.”
At least he was smart enough to look embarrassed as he glanced away. He was also smart enough not to answer. She
