Page 46 of Kentucky Nights
“Ow.” He rubs the spot I intentionally annoyed. “And if I did have cheeks, that would have actually hurt, thank you very much.”
Dissipating into smoke, he emerges on the couch with his legs crossed. “How can I help ease your curious mind, Dru?”
“You’re too comfortable here.” I pick up my coffee, checking the glowing time on the stove. I need to leave soon to finish the chores on the ranch. “I only have a few minutes before I need to go.”
Dru takes Lorcan in stride, practically skipping from the kitchen to the living room to sit next to him.
I don’t like that.
“Are you from Hell? What’s it like? Is Lucifer, you know, real? And if he is, is he mean? And?—”
“—I thought you had questions about vampires?” Lorcan interrupts her excited curiosity.
“Excuse you. You owe the lady an apology for cutting her off like that, Lorcan. She’s been very calm and collected about the paranormal world so far, minus being kidnapped by shifters andtwo different vampires. Cut her some damn slack before I have one of my barn kittens scratch your skull.” I take the open spot next to Dru, setting my mug on my knee while keeping a firm grip on the handle.
I can already tell my coffee is cold. “Lorcan.” I hand him the mug.
“I swear, sometimes I feel so used.” He touches the mug, warming it in an instant.
Steam billows from the top just how I like. Bringing it to my mouth, I sip. “Ah, thank you, buddy. See? Such a good friend.”
“You’re welcome.” He turns to Dru. “I’m sorry for being so rude and cutting you off. Your interest in me took me by surprise. Hell is real, so is Luci, but he hates to be called that, so don’t do it. He isn’t anything like humans have turned him into. He’s a cool dude. I’m created by Death, the number one grim reaper, and we are his junior reapers, I guess? I’m trying to figure out how to explain it to a human—no offense or anything.” He winces. “Can we change the subject? I hate talking about myself.”
“I never would have guessed that,” I mutter into the mug, earning myself an elbow jab from Dru.
In a move I haven’t done since I was a teenager, I stretch my arm to the ceiling and drop it across the back of the couch. When Dru doesn’t catch on, I slide down, draping my arm across her shoulders.
She nestles against me, getting comfortable by pressing her back against the nook of my shoulder and chest.
Is this what peace is? I glance up at Daphne, noticing for the first time that the glass of her picture frame is cracked. I wait for rage, for resentment, or even guilt. With my fated mate so close, I don’t feel any of those emotions.
Daphne was another time, another life, and I know this is exactly what she wanted for me. She is, after all, the reason Ilived long enough to meet Dru. She made sure I never missed an opportunity to find happiness.
“Kentucky,” Dru asks. “Why do you do all the ranch work alone? And why don’t you do your zippy blurry thing to get it done faster?” She moves her hands as fast as she can to show what she means by ‘zippy blurry thing’.
“Well, the more energy I use, the hungrier I become. Plus, I’ve always liked honest work. That’s what life is all about. I enjoy what I do. There’s no reason to get it done quicker.”
“Why can you go out in the sun without burning?” She’s fast with her next question, staring at me with those big, curious hazel eyes.
“He doesn’t know this one,” Lorcan inserts. “Vampires can walk in the sun. The fact that they can’t is a myth, except when a vampire gets bitten by a werewolf. Then, that vampire is cursed to a coma until their beloved finds them. If they awaken, they become creatures of the night, and if they step into the sun, they will burn. I know a coven like that. The Master is waiting for his coven witch, who is also his beloved, to find a spell to reverse it. The spell is in the hands of an evil warlock though. It’s a big, long story for another time.”
“Wow, that is so terrible.” Dru places her hand on her heart. “I can’t imagine how awful that is. I would hate not to feel the sun.”
“Me too. Watching the sunset and sunrise is the best part of the day,” I add a fact about myself, hoping she likes what she hears.
She smiles at me, and that happiness proves I will do anything to have her look at me like that.
“Garlic?” she questions.
“Nope. I love it. I put it on almost everything,” I answer.
“Holy water?”
“No,” Lorcan answers, conjuring a cup of tea in his hand and stirring it by rotating a finger above the rim. “Demons hate it though.”
“Silver? Crosses?” She tries again, becoming more and more excited with each question she thinks of.
“Silver burns like a hot iron poker searing your skin. It’s the most painful.” My thoughts fall to the silver locket hanging from Daphne’s picture frame, remembering how the silver felt the other morning before I got a whiff of Dru’s blood. “And crosses don’t do anything.”
