Boaz almost shook his head but stopped.
Maybe Manlius should be worried. He was. He hadn’t even bothered to get dressed since he got back, hadn’t even thoughtabout it. He’d been too keyed up, his instincts screaming at him to keep the vampire in his line of sight. There was something about him he just didn’t trust. Maybe the vampire was still infected.
But Alexander wasn’t behaving the way he had back then. And the black veins that had twisted beneath Alexander’s skin as if something monstrous lived inside him weren’t there.
He looked normal. Except—
He bit me.
Boaz resisted the urge to reach up and touch the aching mark on his neck. The skin there still throbbed faintly. It had happened so fast he barely had time to react. One second, they were talking and the next…Boaz swallowed hard, heat burning down his spine.
Fuck, that never should have happened.
“Boaz?” Manlius asked, pulling him out of his thoughts. The sorcerer stepped closer, his voice lowering to a whisper. “Are you expecting him to attack?”
Boaz tore his gaze away from Alexander across the clearing and forced himself to look at Manlius instead.
“No,” he said slowly. Then he rubbed the back of his neck. “I just… I don’t know. Maybe you can check with your magic. Make sure everyone is safe.”
“My magic doesn’t work that way. We’d need a healer to examine him for something like that.”
“Do you know anyone?” Boaz asked.
“Yes,” Manlius said, swirling the wine lazily in his glass. “I’ll arrange a meeting.”
“Okay,” Boaz replied. “I’m sure he’d want to know whether he’s fully healed or not.”
“Fuck. I really hope he did heal himself,” Manlius said. “I don’t want to fight him again. We barely managed to subdue him last time.”
“Yeah,” Boaz agreed quietly. His gaze drifted back to Alexander despite himself.
And froze. The vampire was standing directly in front of Lyla now. Boaz watched as Alexander reached for her hand and lifted it to his lips.
The gesture was smooth. Intimate. Possessive.
“What the hell?” Boaz muttered under his breath.
“What’s wrong?” Manlius asked, following the direction of his gaze. The warlock’s brows lifted in amusement. “Oh,” he said lightly. “Looks like you have competition.”
“How…?” Boaz started, but he trailed off when Manlius turned toward him with a knowing smile.
“My magic feeds off strong emotions,” the sorcerer said calmly. “And you, my friend, are radiating some very strong feelings right now. And they are…”
Before he could finish, Hansel suddenly came barreling toward them. He had a wine glass clutched in one hand, the dark red liquid sloshing dangerously close to the rim as he rushed forward.
“Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” Hansel demanded breathlessly. Boaz barely had time to answer before his brother was speaking again. “He’s making moves on Lyla!” Hansel hissed, jerking his chin toward the couple in the clearing. “You should go over there and put a stop to it.”
Boaz hesitated.
A knot tightened in his chest. He didn’t have a claim on Lyla. He hadn’t even told her how he felt yet.
“Go,” Hansel said, giving him a hard shove between the shoulders. Boaz stumbled forward before he could protest, his feet skidding slightly in the dirt as he was pushed straight into the middle of the clearing. Instantly, every head turned towards him.
Boaz felt heat crawl up the back of his neck. Suddenly, he was painfully aware of the fact that he was standing there in nothing but his damn underwear. Werewolves didn’t care much about nudity. They shifted in front of each other all the time. But tonight, the clearing wasn’t just full of werewolves, there were vampires too. And they were all staring at him.
Damn it, Hansel.
Boaz felt completely out of his depth. He could barely talk to Lyla when it was just the two of them alone. What the hell was he supposed to say now?