Page 53 of Smoke and Mirrors
“Me neither,” I whispered. “Thembi never mentioned it. But I see it as a good thing. We can still talk while you’re in shifter form.”
He nodded his agreement but still looked apprehensive.
“What? Is there something else?”
“Steluta, could you… see anything?” His face hardened, his sharp eyes on mine. “If you can talk to me with your mind, can you alsoseewhat’s in my mind? Or know what I’m thinking or feeling that’s not in words?”
“I— I don’t think so,” I rubbed my forehead. “When you were laying in bed, and I touched the tattoo on your back, I could feel like your dragon was in the room with me. I felt his fire, his scales, and like his body wrapped around me. But just now, it was the opposite. I feltyou, Razvan, like the human part of you was with me.”
He nodded again as he listened, then grabbed my hand as we walked together toward the hospital.
“Forgive me for mentioning it, but there are things about me I’m not ready to talk about.” He brought my palm to his lips and kissed it. “You’ll probably find out eventually but now isn’t the time.”
“It’s okay. There’s stuff in my past you don’t know about, either,” I slid my arm through his, wanting to touch more of him. “Although you do know a big chunk of it.”
“As you do of mine,” he said with a kiss to my temple.
We walked on in comfortable silence until we came around the front of the hospital, where we met Hunter and the kids already in human form. Hunter nodded at us, the barest of greetings before turning to head inside with his family.
Raz muttered some insult under his breath and I rubbed his arm as we followed the wolf family inside. This late at night, most of the lights were off and the hospital was nearly empty. Only a single security guard took notice of us as we headed toward the elevators.
“Excuse me, can I help y’all?” he asked, lumbering toward us.
“We know where we’re going, thank you,” I flashed him a smile as I hurried into the elevator, standing closer to Hunter than I intended.
“Folks, there are no visitors at this hour. You’ll have to come back—”
Razvan turned and placed a hand on the man’s chest, a final warning for him to stop.
“We’ll be quick. And we won’t steal anything. Promise.” He flashed a smile, then jumped in the elevator as the man blinked dumbfoundedly.
“What was that?” I asked him on our way up.
“Old trick my grandmother taught me,” he answered. “A type of hypnosis. Supposedly a talent unique to Romanian people.”
“I knew it. You’re a vampire, too,” I teased.
He snorted with laughter while the kids giggled and playfully bit each other. Hunter remained still as a stone.
Connor’s floor was equally empty and dark as the ground floor of the hospital.
“I think I want to talk to him alone,” I whispered. “At first.”
“We’ll still come in and back you up,” Raz answered. “There’s probably night shift nurses who will try to stop you. Right, Hunter?”
The wolf grunted an affirmative and I fought back the urge to snap at him. I did not need his moodiness right now, especially when I was about to be dealing with Connor’s.
Sure enough, two nurses looked up the moment we opened the door from the waiting room.
“Excuse me, there’s no visitors—”
“Ah, Marni! So good to see you again.” Razvan squeezed my hand before shooting a charming smile at the nurse. “I’ve been thinking about you ever since that night. Why haven’t you called?”
“Um, it’s Elena. I’m sorry, but do I know you…”
I was already down the hall and rolled my eyes when I turned the corner to Connor’s room. To my own surprise, I didn’t feel an ounce of jealousy at Raz flirting with the nurse. He was doing nothing more than causing a distraction, and that man knew well how distracting he could be.
My feet slowed to a stop outside Connor’s room. His main light was off but he was awake. He laid back on his pillows, eyes open and bluish light flickering on his face. It took me a moment to realize it was a TV.
