“Don’t!”
A few humans nearby slowed, glancing over at them curiously.
“You’re attracting attention,” he murmured.
“I don’t care,” Blade shot back, yanking slightly but not pulling free. “You shouldn’t have followed me like that. You could’ve waited for me to come down.”
“I’m sorry,” he said pulling Blade closer to his side. “I was worried about you. That’s all.”
Blade huffed. “I can take care of myself.”
“I know,” Alexander said, meeting his gaze. “But that doesn’t stop me from worrying.”
Blade sighed. “It’s fine. Just don’t do that again.”
“I won’t,” Alexander promised.
They reached a pedestrian crossing just as the light flicked red, forcing them to stop at the curb.
Across the road, three turned vampires stood, watching him. Intently.
“Who are they?” Alexander asked quietly.
Blade followed his gaze, his expression blank as he acknowledged the three vampires with a tilt of his head
“They’re the elders of the families here,” he said.
The light turned green.
Blade stepped forward, continuing across the street. Alexander glance back over his shoulder.
They were still there, staring at him.
Like they’d seen a ghost.
A flicker of unease slid down his spine as he caught up with Blade.
“Why are they staring at me?”
Blade shrugged. “They’re probably shocked to see you. The war affected everyone… even them.”
Alexander frowned. “Why would they be affected? It’s not like they recognized me as their king before the war.”
“I know,” Blade said with another dismissive shrug. “Who knows what’s going on with them? The families are… strange. They act like they own the whole town. They’ve been giving us a hard time every time we come here.” He gestured loosely behind them. “So we stay on this side… and they stay on that side.”
Alexander followed the motion of his hand, his gaze drifting over the flashing neon lights, dark alleyways and brooding figures in long coats.
“But I don’t care if they have a problem or not,” Blade went on. “This is my town. I go wherever I please. They don’t get to decide that for me.”
Alexander fell into step behind him, but his attention was still on the three vampires. Every few seconds, he glanced over his shoulder toward the other side of the street.
Blade, on the other hand, seemed entirely unaffected.
He drifted from shop-to-shop window shopping. He ran his fingers over coats, lifted shirts from racks, occasionally holding something up with a thoughtful hum before moving on again.
Alexander followed him because he had nothing else to do. Nothing except think.
And he didn’t want to do that. So, he trailed behind Blade. But the moment they returned home and he was alone. Alexander couldn’t stop his mind from reliving every second of their moment at the lake. The heat of Boaz’s body. The water lapping against their skin and his fucking scent. The scent that seemed to get thicker, the more aroused he got.