I didn’t see other inked vampires. It might be a big problem that they got tattooed someday, but it wasn’t going to affect my guys. It was their message from beyond the grave. They existed, and they were here.
Finally, we were back in Rowan’s room, their healing tattoos covered up. I didn’t know what was going to happen to that newly inked skin. Would it drain off when they died? How did it work for vampires?
I wasn’t going to ask them. They didn’t need to be thinking about their dead skin. I really shouldn’t be going there in my own head either. It was yucky. Gross. It was like each day, I had to get a little more used to things that might have made me gag just weeks earlier. Blood in general had never been something I’d been all that comfortable around. Now I’d been bit by a bloodsucker, yet it was the least concerning thing I had going on at the moment.
“Time to get changed.” Rowan rocked back on his heels. “Maci, can you give us a minute?” He stroked his thumb down my cheek. “Don’t be hurt. Just a minute. It’s easier if we all just get it done.”
“Oh!” It hadn’t occurred to me, but they’d all have to change in the bathroom if I stayed, because they weren’t going to get fully naked with me in the room. “Of course. Sorry.”
Tanner shook his head. “Don’t be sorry. If we had more time, maybe that would be something that would have happened.”
“In smaller doses.” Griffin laughed. “I was so not going to have sex with her with all of your asses watching.”
I balked at them. This was new. A touch of this kind of talk right before the end. I grinned at them. “What makes you think I’d be into the group thing?”
“Maybe we know your kinks better than you do?” Ace winked at me. “And yes, I just said that. Ugh. Sorry. Being ridiculous.”
I tapped his arm as I passed by him. “It was funny. It’s just not a funny night.”
“It can be.” Caesar grinned. “Seems like the perfect time for the dark kind.”
“Well…let me know if you come up with any jokes.” I went into the hall and leaned against the wall. Okay. I can do this. They were setting the tone for how it would go, and I had to follow suit. It wasn’t my death day. Or maybe it was? I hadn’t really let myself consider the idea they could kill me tonight too.
But I supposed they could. Rowan said they wouldn’t because he wouldn’t let them, but he would be dead.
I rubbed my eyes. He said to trust him. What did that mean at this point?
If things went askew, I was getting away. He’d understand. Or at least this version of him would.
They all would.
Minutes seemed to drag, but I didn’t move from my spot. Where would I go? That was the overall question for both now and later. I’d grab Ace’s car and go… That’s where I drew the blank.
No fucking idea.
“Hey.” Caesar leaned against the door. “Come on back in.”
He was wearing a blazer over his jeans and a black T-shirt. I followed him back inside. They were all dressed that way, the same black blazers over the rest of their outfits. White T-shirt on Tanner, red on Rowan. Light blue on Griffin. Ace matched Caesar—black on black.
“You guys look so nice. I didn’t know it was a dress-up thing.” I wished I hadn’t spoken the second I did. That was pretty much the stupidest thing to say ever.
Tanner pulled me into a hug. “Thank you, Maci.”
I took a deep breath, bringing the scent of Tanner into my senses. He was clean, and he always had the aroma of cinnamon on him. I’d no sooner thought that than I got passed to Caesar. It startled me, but I hugged him back.
He kissed the edge of my neck. “Miss me sometimes, but not all of the time. Okay?”
Tears flooded my eyes, but I didn’t get to cry, because it was Ace’s turn to hold me. “I swear it would have been the best date ever, but I liked the few minutes we got.”
“I…” Whatever I would have said, I didn’t get to finish, because Griffin was there.
He stared into my eyes before he smoothed the hair off my forehead. “So we agreed, past lives, right? That means we’ll get to do this again sometime. In some life when I won’t have to die at eighteen. You’ll get to have this life, live to be an old woman, have eight kids or some shit. And then the next go-round, we’ll be on a path that keeps us together. That’s how it works.”
Was it? “Griffin…”
“Sorry, I have to have my hug.” Rowan gave me a strong embrace. “I don’t have enough time to let you answer what Griff just said, or for any of us to digest it really. We have to go now. You need to come, and you need to stand behind me. The whole time. Okay? Until I get in the coffin, you have to stay behind me. Promise me?”
It didn’t seem a hard thing to agree to. “Sure.” I was certainly not looking to be out front.
“Guys… I… This was the best…”
“Don’t,” Rowan whispered in my ear. “Thank you for talking to us. This was not the way I’d pictured the last week of our lives. It was so much better.”
Really, he had no idea how true that was for me too.
The reality of what was happening struck me the closer we got to the coffin room. It had another name, but I couldn’t think of it at all. The crickets sang. That was such a strange thought, especially while every vampire in the town stood outside the area. The moon was huge, not quite full, but bright and almost there.
I shivered and rubbed my arms. Across the way, Charlotte nodded at me, then smiled. She was happy about this. It was hard to come to terms with the fact that everyone wanted this to happen except for the six of us.
So much so, that they’d been looking forward to it. I swallowed. Rowan turned to look over his shoulder at me. “Don’t run. I know you want to. I don’t blame you, but almost everyone here is a predator. If you run, they will chase you because they get so little chance to do that.”
It made sense, even if I hated it.
“Dad,” Rowan called out, shooting a look I couldn’t decipher at Caesar before he said it. Ace changed his stance, broadening how he stood, while Tanner shoved his hands in his pockets. I couldn’t decipher Griffin at all.
His father stepped toward them. “The ceremony takes place inside. You know this. You’ve seen it many times. I’m glad to see you’re not just on time but you’re early.”
Rowan took a deep breath. “We still have things to talk about.”
They stood just far enough from their fathers that they had to shout to be heard and their vampire dads had to do the same. I blinked. That was odd…wasn’t it? What were they doing?
“I don’t think so. Come.”
Rowan barely let his father finish speaking before he answered him. “We understand you intend to kill our friend. Now that you have us here, her usefulness to you is over. That’s true, yes? You never lie, so I’d like an honest answer.”
Rowan’s father didn’t answer, but Ace’s did. “I think that was always the intention.”
“Not acceptable,” Ace answered his own father. “She has to be protected. No one is going to kill her.”