Belatedly realizing that Sopek was a powerful and potentially dangerous creature, Beatrix edged away. He tilted his head at her, as if confused.
“Why are you scared of me now? I gave you a gift. Now you can enter a partnership with that vampire without being at such a disadvantage.”
“I know you’re trying to be generous, but you should really give a person a chance to say no before you act,” a young man standing next to the chair said.
“Oh, I didn’t think of that,” Sopek said, looking at the man. “Thank you for that knowledge, Tag.”
Sopek turned his attention back to her. “I’m sorry I didn’t ask first. Do you like books? I’d like to gift you some books as an apology.”
A small stack of books appeared in front of her. Reflexively she grabbed them. She reacted without thinking when she recognized the book on the top.
“I’ve been wanting to read this thriller!” she said, momentarily distracted from everything else.
Sopek gave her an approving grin. “Excellent. Enjoy. I’ll see you at the next book club, and we can discuss it.”
Suddenly she wasn’t at the Dapper Dog any longer. The books tumbled from her hands as she twirled in place and found Arthur and Titan standing behind her.
They were all at her apartment. Even though there wasn’t a single light on, she could see everything almost as if it was twilight instead of full night.
Titan picked Arthur up in a bone-crushing bear hug. She heard Arthur’s breath whoosh out of him, but Titan didn’t put him down.
“You tried to challenge a hobgoblin! Don’t ever do that again. That’s a guaranteed death sentence.”
Despite what had to be an incredibly uncomfortable, maybe even painful hold, Arthur didn’t struggle or demand to be set down. Although the last part might be because he couldn’t breathe well enough to talk. Beatrix was sure Arthur’s face didn’t normally look that way.
Beatrix moved close and put a hand on Titan's arm. “We’re safe. You can let him go.”
“Not until he promises never to do that again,” Titan said. She circled around until she could see the big man’s face. His eyes were shut tight and tears were pouring down his face.
“He can’t promise if he can’t breathe,” she pointed out, tugging at his arm.
Titan abruptly dropped Arthur but caught the vampire before he could go tumbling to the floor. Breathing hard, Arthur pulled her close and tucked them both against Titan.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered as Titan held them both against his giant chest. “I saw Beatrix’s aura change color and reacted without thinking.”
“She wasn’t in danger,” Titan said with a sniff. His tears had stopped, but his eyes were red and deep fear was etched on his face. “Sopek loves his book club. He’d never hurt anyone in it or their friends unless someone did something stupid, like attack him.”
Arthur let out a long sigh. “I reacted without thinking. I won’t do that again.”
Beatrix was realizing how close Arthur had come to dying. It made her scared for him and this new world she was thrust into.
But there was no going back. Now that she was in it, she couldn’t imagine giving up Titan, Arthur, and her new friends.
They remained holding each other in the middle of her apartment until Titan stopped sniffling. Arthur kept up a running monologue promising to be more careful and not let his emotions get the better of him.
Finally, Titan let go of them. “I never got to finish my beer,” he lamented, making Beatrix chuckle. He gave her an apologetic look. “I’m sorry about Sopek. I didn’t think he’d do anything to you.”
She shook her head. “It didn’t hurt.” She let her eyes focus on Titan so she could see the colors swirling around his frame. “I kinda like it. Your aura is really pretty.”
“You promise you’re not in pain or uncomfortable?” Arthur asked. “A bruja might be able to undo what Sopek did.”
“No, now that I have this, I want to keep it,” she said, looking him in the eyes. “Just like I want to keep both of you.”
A single tear dropped from Titan’s left eye. “Do you mean you want to soul bond with us?”
She reached up and wiped the tear away with her thumb. “Yes. I never want to live without either of you.”
He took her hand in his, then took Arthur's hand in his other. She finished the circle by slipping her free hand into Arthur’s.