“Jason.” Dara brought her hands to her mouth.
Jessica nudged Dara with her elbow. “Well at least you know the gym membership money’s going to good use.”
“It is the vampire bite,” Nathan said, as if anyone doubted it.
Jason said, “I’ve just been feeling a lot stronger since I woke up. Like I could pick up anything I wanted and toss it around. I wanted to see if it was just in my head, or if I could really do it.”
Lucy turned to Aaron. “What about you? Do you feel any different?”
“Not especially. But here, let me try.”
Jason obliged, dropping Theo back into the chair. Aaron went over and curled his fingers around Theo’s collar. He yanked, but Theo hardly moved. Aaron tried again, and almost tipped the guy onto the floor. “Sorry, man,” he mumbled, righting him. Theo, however, didn’t even seem to notice, much less care, he was being manhandled. His eyes fluttered open, but only for a second, and then he went right back to snoring. Aaron looked sheepishly at the others. “Guess I didn’t get the whole super-strength thing.”
“Are you sure?” Jason asked. “Here, try to hit me.” He spread his arms, offering his torso as a target.
Aaron’s brow wrinkled. “Dude, I’m not going to hit you.”
“Come on, it’s okay. I can take it.”
“Naw.”
“Come on.” Jason grinned and shoved Aaron’s shoulder to motivate him. Lucy could tell it had been a playful tap with no real momentum behind it, but Aaron barreled over backward anyway, toppling a stack of chairs before colliding with the wall.
Lucy gasped and darted over to him.
Jason cursed and covered his mouth. He scrambled over to help Lucy get Aaron back on his feet. “I am so sorry, dude,” he said, straightening Aaron’s shirt. “I did not mean to do that. For real. I don’t even know what happened, I just…”
Aaron glowered at him, but only for a second. Then he burst out laughing. “Did you see that?” he cried, his eyes glowing with excitement. “That was insane.”
Jason laughed, too, the sound colored with relief. “You should definitely try to hit me now,” he urged. “If nothing else, as payback for—”
He’d hardly gotten the words out before Aaron shoved him in the chest with both fists. Jason exhaled in surprise but didn’t budge. Aaron, on the other hand, folded over, clutching his hands against his stomach.
“Aughh,” he wailed, glaring up at Jason. “What the-? It’s like you’re made of iron or something!”
Jason looked distraught over having injured Aaron again, however unintentionally. But then he turned to Dara, and his grin resurfaced. “Did you hear that, Babe? I’m like iron.”
Kiefer, who’d been watching the goings-on with amusement, stepped over and patted Aaron’s back. “You think that’s bad, buddy, you should try hitting Nathan. He’s like a cinderblock wall. With steel reinforcements. Don’t ask me how I know. Let’s just say I’ve learned not to get drunk and try trading licks with him anymore. Never ends well for me.”
Lucy glanced at Nathan, half expecting him to step in and put an end to these shenanigans, but instead he looked at Jason and Aaron and asked, “What about speed? Can either of you do this?” Lucy felt a breeze swat at her, and she saw a blur of movement as Nathan raced around the perimeter of the room in two seconds. He stopped beside her again, not even mussed for his efforts.
Jason’s face lit up. “Let me try it.” He accomplished the feat with no fuss, zooming around the room twice before stopping behind Dara, wrapping his arms around her, and kissing her neck until she giggled.
Aaron frowned. “I’m pretty sure I can’t do that, either.”
“Try,” Jessica urged and, despite herself, Lucy nodded.
Aaron sighed and took off, loping around the donut shop as quickly as he could. He completed the circuit rapidly, but probably no faster than most healthy men his age could if they pushed themselves to top speed.
“Well, this is just awesome,” he said, resting his hands on his hips. His color was high, and his hair tousled in that adorable way Lucy loved. He wasn’t out of breath, thanks to his undead lungs, but she guessed he wouldn’t have been, anyway. He might not pass the vampire physical fitness test, but he was in excellent shape by any human standard. Lucy’s heart gave a leap as she eyed him.
“You get speed and strength,” Aaron continued to Jason, “and all I get are killer migraines and a mind-window into Celia’s creepy head? How is that fair?” He pointed at Nathan. “And if you say it’s because the bite affects different people in different ways one more time, I’m going to call you something really nasty.”
Nathan grinned. “It is possible your powers will manifest at a later time, Aaron.”
“Yeah?” Aaron stared at him incredulously. “Or maybe I just got nothin’.”
“That is also possible.”
“Okay, is the Testosterone Competition of the Undead over?” Jessica was standing by the door. “Can we go now? Or do I need to remind you all that there’s an insane master vampire probably ripping apart my bookstore as we speak?” Her words were softened by a bantering tone, but Lucy could tell she was really worried. She couldn’t fault her. She knew her friend was in a hurry to get to Book of Love and assess the damage there, even if she wasn’t eager to confront Celia. Lucy guessed none of them were too excited about that part.
Still, Kiefer said, “Yeah, we’re coming.” He shifted his gaze to Lucy. “Hey, Booth, yours is the only car here with a real trunk, so we’re going to have to stick Theo in there for the ride over to the bookstore, okay?”
“Oh.” Lucy felt her stomach drop. “Sure, that’s um…that’s just great.”
Chapter Seventeen
“Please, don’t,” Theo pleaded when he saw Lucy’s trunk gaping open in front of him. He’d shaken awake when Nathan tried lowering him into it, and now he was rebelling. Lucy saw beads of sweat pop up on
