Page 70 of Love Bites

He looks so healthy, Blair

You’re my new favorite sibling <3

Zora snorted, and I swiped the messages off the screen before Damian could read them.

So, he plucked my phone from my hand and typed the code in to open the messages himself.

“Who told you my password?” I asked.

“I watched you type it in one day. You’re not sneaky,” he said, going back through my messages with Kara and Lou and shaking his head as he did. “I should tear into them.”

“But you won’t.” I let him have my phone, figuring he couldn’t do any real damage as I finally started to eat.

He gave it back a minute later, relaxing in his chair as Zora asked him,

“Any updates on the Curtis situation?”

“Nothing concrete. I’m trying to get in touch with an old friend who could help, but he hasn’t gotten back to me yet. Curtis still wants Clementine, but the rest of the leaders are on our side. Publicly and politically, there’s nothing he can do to get her back.”

“But…” Zora prodded.

“But our people have found far too many of his wolves around the grounds of our wing of the Manor to think he’s given up. He’swaiting for an opportunity to strike. We have to move against him first.”

“He definitely didn’t seem like he was going to give up yesterday,” I agreed.

Zora asked what I meant, and I gave her a rundown of my meeting with the rest of the leaders.

As we were finishing up breakfast, Clementine finally made it into the room, bleary-eyed but smiling. She plopped down in the seat beside Zora’s and leaned over.

“Are we feeding on people in the dining hall now?” she teased, showing me a picture someone had sent in the Homies group.

“If we’re the strongest vampire in the room, we are,” Damian said, glancing at the photo. He looked a little annoyed, but I knew he didn’t appreciate the group conversation or whoever ran it.

Though he didn’t like it, even I had realized that it changed the vibes in Vamp Manor. People could talk without hiding that they were gossiping, and it made everyone feel more comfortable.

AndBig Daddy Halewasn’t the most respectful of names, but it was overwhelmingly clear that everyone who lived there did respect him.

“What if you’re the strongest siren in the room?” Zora countered.

“You’d have to have a way to prove it,” Damian said with a shrug. “And something tells me you’re not about to fight each other for the top ranking.”

Zora eyed us like she was considering it, and I snorted. Clementine laughed.

Damian’s food arrived, and Clem eyed it hungrily.

He noticed, and after a moment, pushed it across the table for her. “I’ll take yours.”

“If Blair hadn’t already taken you off the market, I’d totally mate you for this,” she promised, cutting into the food immediately.

I rolled my eyes, and Zora snorted.

Damian’s hand lingered on my thigh as Zora told Clem about my meeting with the leaders.

I listened a little, but mostly, I focused on fighting like hell not to let myself feel way too good about how our morning was going.

I wasnotgoing to develop feelings for my vampire.

Wakingup with Damian the following day wasn’t nearly as weird as I’d imagined. It was actually nice.

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