She started forward a step, and he gripped the doorframe, blocking her. “Be aware,” he told her. “It may burn.”
Suspicion roused in her narrow-eyed gaze. “May?”
“May.”
“That’s very non-specific.”
“As are we all,” he reminded her.
“Oh, so you’re a hybrid, too?” A smirk flirted with her mouth. “Vampire and what?”
“Older.” It wasn’t the answer she wanted, and the perfect symmetry of her face coupled with the husky laughter as she shook her head teased him. There was just a hint of green circling her red irises. They had likely been the color of a forest in full spring. Green, rich, and verdant… The sound of his brothers approaching reached him. If he wanted to test the baby vamp’s survival skills, now was the time to do it before her erstwhile and self-appointed protectors arrived.
Removing his hand, he straightened and then motioned for her to precede him. He was fast enough to snatch her back inside if she began to burn. Unlike the ridiculous films Fin took him to see, they did not fall to ash in seconds. Burning someone alive took considerably more effort.
Most of them could survive it, even if it wasn’t pleasant. And only someone suicidal or an idiot stayed where they were on fire without trying to put it out.
Instead of rushing through the open door, she hesitated.
Smart.
His admiration climbed a notch.
“What’s the catch?”
Leaning against the open door, he folded his arms. “You wanted to know if you could see the sun. There it is.”
“But it may hurt.”
Another nod.
“You don’t know if it will burn me or not.”
He shook his head.
“You’re very not hyper-verbal.”
“I say what I need to say. Your lips are going to turn blue, are you going out or not?”
The shivers had been subtle at first, but she fisted her hands and folded her arms, hiding them. The cold air pouring in was not doing her any favors. She’d end up back in the bathing room until they chased away the chill.
“Wait,” Fin called.
“Too late,” Rogue murmured. “Your keepers are here.” It was an unkind jab, but instead of rushing out to flout the possessiveness of his assessment and acting predictably, she glanced from him to where Fin and Maddox had slowed only a few steps away. The pair had taken the time to find clothing, though Maddox skipped any boots and Fin had found his coat.
“Kitten,” Maddox said, almost placating. “We weren’t trying to hide anything from you. But everyone reacts to sunlight differently. It may do nothing. It might burn. It might just be uncomfortable.”
“But we don’t know,” Fin picked up the thread. “Throwing you out there without any idea is dangerous. You’re still in transition, and some people should remember how precarious that is.”
“I oversaw both of yours,” Rogue told him without taking his gaze off of Fiona. “I think I’m well aware.” They might want to patronize her, but they wouldn’t with him.
“We know,” Maddox growled. “You have to stop just taking her without waiting for us.”
“Or what?” Genuinely curious, he slanted a look toward him. Would Maddox truly challenge him over Fiona? That could almost be interesting.
“Stop running your heads together like bulls vying for her attention,” Fin stated dryly. “This isn’t about us.” And really, Rogue? You’re baiting Maddox right now?
Rogue didn’t have to bait the dragon. The dragon had already begun to stake its claim, and it would fight for its territory whether the man or the vampire realized it yet.
Trouble.
She might not fit with them the way they so clearly wanted her to, and no matter how much she intrigued him, Rogue couldn’t allow her to tear his brothers apart.
Still, she looked from them to the open door then back.
“Please, Kitten? If you get burned too badly…”
“I get burned,” she said with an almost careless shrug. “The fact that I’m half-vampire or whatever it is I’m becoming is not set in stone.”
No. She might yet die for real, and there would be nothing they could do to stop it. Her body either made the transition or it didn’t. The fact that she’d survived this long was a positive sign, but caution was the better choice.
“Also, I want real clothes.” She swept a hand down at herself. “I look like a reject from a redneck survivor convention.”
Rogue had no idea what that was, but the disgust in her tone suggested it wasn’t a good thing.
“You don’t have to wear the boots,” he offered, and she rolled her eyes. Then stepped outside. Rogue barely got his arm up in time to stop Maddox from snatching her back, but Fin vanished from inside to appear ahead of her near the thornier vines, cold and dark with winter’s frost.
The lack of smoking was a good sign. Pushing Maddox back a step, Rogue slipped through the door to follow her. The snow on the ground crunched beneath his bare feet. She held up her hand toward the sun, though the light of it already highlighted the glorious streaks of red in her hair. It wasn’t just one shade, but multiple hues of red.
If the garden’s roses were in bloom, she’d stand out amongst them as even more startling in color.
A sigh escaped her, and she tilted her head back, face up and eyes closed. Maddox came to an abrupt stop, and a muscle began to tick in Fin’s jaw. Rapture was the closest Rogue could come to describing her expression as the sun shone against her faintly golden-toned skin. Out in the light, he could see where she’d enjoyed sun the before, though her color had faded dramatically.
Dying and being hidden away in a prison would do that to a person. Still, she looked almost—happy.
More, her heart, which had been racing, began to slow as she took deeper and deeper breaths.
“It’s so fucking cold, but I don’t want to go back inside.”
Maddox brushed past him and slid right up behind her. Wrapping his arms around her, he settled his chin against her head. She seemed to melt into him, and Rogue didn’t comment on the curl of irritation working its way through his gut.
The dragon shed heat easily, and the faint blue around her lips receded to pink and plump again as she ran her tongue over it. “Okay, that’s really nice.”
“Glad I’m still around then, Kitten?” At his tease, she opened her eyes enough to roll them, and Fin snickered.
“She’s happy to have all of us around, she just hasn’t decided on it yet.” Confidence had never been Fin’s weakness. Though overconfidence could be a flaw.
Rogue said nothing, though she flicked a look at him.
She didn’t burn.
That was good.
They stood there for another ten minutes, saying nothing as she soaked in the sunlight.
“The library,” Rogue said abruptly. The sun hurt none of them, so they could open the shutters on that room. Like the bathing room, the library also boasted two large hearths. It could be warmed appropriately, and the windows on both sides allowed the most sunlight all day.
“I’ll take care of it.” Fin brushed his knuckles down her cheek. “Don’t linger out here too long, Beautiful. You still have clothes to try on.”