Page 66 of Love Bites
"Elena told me about that," I cut in. "But I'm not scared."
"I know you're not. But I am," Talon admitted as his hand moved from my wrist to intertwine our fingers. "I'm scared for you. I could have lost you last night. You and your family need to be somewhere safe. Zenon setthreevampires on you last night. He knows there's a couple of you."
I swallowed hard. Three vampires? I'd only seen two... but never mind that now. "How did they find us?"
"Honestly? The question should be why they hadn't found you until now."
"Dad," I whispered. He must have found some way to keep us hidden all this time. And we'd disregarded all his instructions once he'd died. After that, Talon was right, it had really only been a matter of time. "The blood crystal!" The answer suddenly came to me. Dad had shown me how to perform that stupid ritual so many times, but had I ever really listened? Had my siblings?
Probably not.
"Yes," Talon said. "Remy mentioned that. Your brother is a quick-thinker. He grabbed it from the office before we left."
"I know how the ritual works! I think." If we performed it now... "Dad always said it was to protect our family from the attention of anything evil."
"It's lost its magic," Talon informed me. "We can look for ways to recharge it in the future, but for now, I'm afraid we can't rely on it. I'd like you to stay at your sister's house, at least until the baby is born. She will host you and Remy and Luke. I hear your other brother will ward his own apartment, which is a good idea. The only thing better would be to leave the state altogether."
"Can’t we just do that?”
Talon gave me a smile that was almost wistful. "Believe me, if I could leave with you, I'd do so in a second, but my sire has ways of finding me. You could go without me, but—"
"Not happening!"
"I assumed you would say that." Talon squeezed my hand. "I'll see how I can go about fixing that problem, but for now, you should return to Elena."
"Want to get rid of me so soon?"
Talon sighed. "I want to know you safe. Did you hear what happened to Luke’s friend last night?”
"What are you talking about?"
Talon’s lips turned down as he realized he was going to have to be the one to break this news to me. My stomach churned as I waited for him to begin talking. "Remember how I said there were three vampires who attacked your family last night?"
I nodded.
"One of them left before we arrived, and it seems he's taken Luke's friend with him."
Oh God..."Damian?" Suddenly I understood the meaning behind all that blood in the den. "They took him? Why?" My mouth went dry. Luke must be devastated if they took his friend.
Talon shook his head. "They might have been thinking he was one of you. But I can't say why they took him instead of..." Talon trailed off as if suddenly realizing he was talking to someone who cared about Damian rather than a fellow vampire. "Aldrich is trying to find out what happened."
"Your partner?"
Talon nodded. "I hadn't intended to drag him into this, but you didn't leave me a lot of time to make other plans when you called."
"I didn't exactly schedule that attack in my planner either," I gave back. I was never going to apologize for rushing to my family's help when they were in danger. "You said your family was taken from you once. Well, I've lost my family once before too. My siblings and I, we were all orphans. We're all we've got."
"I understand," Talon said. "But I don't want to see you put yourself in danger."
"I don't like it either, but sometimes it's necessary."
"Let's try to keep it to a minimum, okay?"
I agreed, because in a way, it was sweet that Talon wanted to know that I was safe. But I wasn't going to be coddled either. "How will I see you if I'm supposed to be staying at Elena's?"
"We can meet here every now and then if you'd like. I'll still have to bring you blood too."
"Here?" I looked around myself, taking in the pub with its dim lighting and vintage style decorations. An old juke box stood in the corner to our side. Idly, I wondered if it still worked. Then I focused back on Talon, dropping my voice. "It's a little too public for all the things I want to do to you, and all the things I want you to do to me."
