Page 29 of Radiant Shadows

“It’s not just that,” I snapped, gingerly holding up my glass. “This is thirty-five-year-old scotch! You could’ve at least waited till I wasn’t holding it.”

“Then stop clucking and take it already,” he teased, lifting his own glass to his lips and tossing the contents into his mouth.

I ignored his bird joke and followed suit, hissing and wincing as the burn moved slowly down my throat.

“Why are you drinking that anyway?” I asked, still squinting and swallowing against the sting. “You’re a vampire. Can your system even digest alcohol?”

He shrugged, seeming completely unfazed by the burn of the stiff and potent liquid. “As a matter of fact, alcohol bypasses our digestive system entirely, going directly from our stomachs into our bloodstream. But it doesn’t affect us as strongly as it does humans. I’m guessing, with your natural ability to heal more quickly, the same is true for you shifters.”

I nodded, wondering how much longer we could get away with avoiding the elephant in the room.

He refilled both glasses, then held his aloft above the table. I chuckled dryly and leaned forward to pick up mine.

“What are we cheering to?” I asked in a sardonic voice, holding my glass up next to his.

“To burying the hatchet,” he suggested.

In silent agreement, I clinked my glass against his, and we both downed our shots.

The swallow burned less this time, and I could feel the familiar buzz settling in my head and chest, the haze creeping in on the edges of my peripheral vision.

“Well, I guess I’ll start,” he said, leaning forward and bracing his elbows on his knees. “When I first met Shea, I had no idea she had ever met you. She’s a witch, so naturally, the thought that she might be in a relationship with any shifter never occurred to me.”

“We weren’t,” I interrupted.

He cocked his head.

“In a relationship, I mean,” I clarified. “Not then. I had only met her twice at that point. The first time was when I found Arya; thesecond was when she snuck into the school, and I was called to ‘handle’ her.”

Julian laughed. “That doesn’t surprise me at all. When Shea wants something, not even advanced shifter technology will stop her.”

The memory of that afternoon flashed into my mind, and I couldn’t fight the amusement it triggered, or the laugh that burst from my lips. “Apparently, neither will clothes.”

“What?” Julian asked, a confused frown on his face.

My smile grew. “She had apparently tried to convince us she belonged there by drinking a potion that turned her into an animal. By the time I got there, she had turned back and was standing in the anteroom completely naked.”

I had been struggling to speak while a snicker trembled in my throat, and by the time I finished my story, I was squawking with laughter and slapping my knee, which was only made worse when Julian joined in.

“Are you serious?” he asked through his own laughter.

All I could do was nod as I began to tear up, clutching my aching ribs.

He stifled his laughter and leaned forward again. “What animal did she turn herself into?”

The hilarity of the answer made my throat constrict, my laughter peeling out of me and making it hard to breathe.

“A kitten!” I finally managed to squeeze out, and he roared a laugh so booming that it made the frame on the wall rattle.

We carried on like that for several minutes, surrendering to our mirth until it had run its course. When we had mostly recovered, he poured us another round.

“Well, after seeing her naked, I can absolutely understand how difficult she would be to resist,” Julian mused, sipping his scotch now.

“Especially after I’d had a few drinks,” I added, tipping my glass toward him before drinking the whole thing. “I was at a local pub, enjoying an afternoon away from responsibility, when who should stroll in but the vexing witch. She went right up to the bar and used magic to trick the bartender into serving her a drink.”

Julian hummed a laugh. “Classic Shea.”

I pushed my back away from the chair and leaned forward, feeling uncomfortable admitting this out loud. “That was the first time anything happened between us.”

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