Page 133 of Burn for Her

Mental Note: order mate a bullet proof vest and helmet.

He wanted her out in the field with him, but not at this cost. Fuck that bullshit, he was buying bubble wrap for her too. And a shield. And a tank.

“I’m okay,” she winced as she pulled up her shirt. “I barely felt it.”

“Atta girl,” Lucian clapped. “She’s tough stuff, Reaper.”

“Bet she gets tougher as her power forms,” Victoria winked at Dorian, “That’ll be fun in the bedroom.”

Hell yeah.

“So, I’m still not a full-blown vampire?” Lena frowned at Dorian. “What happened, did I mess it up?”

“Not at all.”

“It takes a little while for you to completely bloom.” Lucian beamed her a warm smile.

“How long?”

“Sometimes a few years.” Lucian shrugged. “Maybe less, maybe more. You transitioned super-fast, so I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”

“Years?” she whispered in terror. Swinging her gaze back to Dorian, her brow furrowed. “You don’t have that kind of time.”

“It’ll be okay,” he said, because right now wasn’t the time to discuss it.

Lucian snapped his fingers. “Bonding.” He shoved a finger at Dorian. “That’s it. You didn’t fully bond. That’s what’s wrong with you.”

“We did bond!” Lena raised her voice, completely insulted.

“Nope,” Lucian tucked his second blade away and walked off. “Chop, chop. Let’s see this done so Dorian can practice a little more follow through on his mating journey.”

Lena stayed back and took up the rear with Dorian. They walked slower than the rest on purpose to steal a moment for themselves. “How does he know so much about mates when he’s single?”

“He’s been obsessed with the blood curse for a long time.” Dorian said with a frown. “And now that Luke has died, I think he’s only going to get worse about it.”

“Who’s Luke?”

“That was his brother.”

“I sense something up ahead!” Xin called out. “Never mind, false alarm.”

“Spread out,” Lucian ordered. He turned to Dorian. “You good on your own back here?”

“Yeah.” Dorian said, unsure how true that really was. He felt like shit, but at least he had his focus and complete control. Everything just hurt and burned. Maybe his body was at a standstill with the curse?

Or maybe this was the calm before the storm.

Either way, “Do a quick check of the block and meet us at the next intersection.”

“Got it!” Lucian hollered back.

They watched as the other three vampires disappeared around the corner.

“I hate what this blood curse has done,” Lena whispered sadly.

Dorian didn’t bother to say there were worse curses. He was living proof of that.

“Fear Eater.”