“No, not gods.” Rogue chuckled under his breath. “More like superpowered mages, but their magic is older, deeper. Some say they’re connected to the very roots of the supernatural world.”
That sounded a hell of a lot like a god to him.
“They’re immortal, and essentially indestructible,” Rogue continued, his tone softening with a sort of reverence. “Yes, Dominic is dangerous, but he isn’t evil.” He paused and huffed out a quiet laugh. “Although, some in the Ministry would consider him anecessary evil.”
“Meaning?” Dylan insisted when he didn’t elaborate.
Rogue laughed again and tapped a knuckle under his mate’s chin. “I’ll tell you when you’re older.”
“Asshole,” Dylan responded, his tone playful and full of affection.
Sammy averted his eyes, feeling like an intruder to a private moment.
While he also wanted to know what Rogue meant by the cryptic statement, he recognized that the conversation had reached its end. Since he had learned more in the last three minutes than he had in the previous three days, he bit his tongue and didn’t press the issue.
The vampire had given him a lot to think about, yet nothing he’d said sounded like a deterrent. If anything, it had further strengthened his conviction that Dominic was the only one who could help him.
“Why do you want to know about him?” Rogue asked as he passed his credit card across the counter.
Sammy took it with a strained smile and swiped it through the reader. “Just curious.”
That was at least partially true.
“Where did you even hear his name?”
“Around.” Vague, but again, not an outright lie.
“Sammy?” Dylan asked, cocking his head to study him.
He hitched his smile so bright that he probably looked deranged. Then he passed the card back and pushed the boxes to the edge of the counter.
“Have fun in New Orleans! If you’re not going to eat the tarts tonight, be sure to refrigerate them.”
“Sammy,” Dylan repeated, his tone sharper, more insistent. “Are you in some kind of trouble?”
Thankfully, Rogue stepped in, saving him from having to invent a reason to retreat to the kitchen.
“Come on,bello. We’re going to be late.”
Dylan searched Sammy’s face, and whatever he found must have convinced him because he sighed deeply and nodded. “Thanks for the desserts.”
Sammy gripped the edge of the countertop to stop his hands from shaking. “Anytime. I hope your friends like them.”
The couple turned to leave then, and he had just started to relax when Dylan whirled back around to face him.
“Look, it’s obvious something is going on with you, and if you don’t want to tell me…well, that sucks, but I get it. If you change your mind, call me, okay? That’s it. That’s all I wanted to say.”
He felt simultaneously touched and racked with guilt by Dylan’s concern. While he considered himself friendly with most of the town, he hadn’t made too many real connections since relocating to Hunters Hollow. As such, the relationships hehadformed meant everything to him.
If he asked, he knew Dylan would draw a line in the sand and add his flag to Sammy’s, and that was exactly why he couldn’t tell him. His mother could be unpredictable at the best of times, but cornered, she became downright feral.
He wouldn’t drag someone he cared about into her crosshairs.
“Thank you.”
They stared at each other for a few seconds longer before Dylan finally dipped his head and turned away.
Sammy took a deep breath and forced himself to unclench as he watched them disappear through the door. For a moment, he let himself imagine what it would be like to have someone by his side, someone who knew the whole story and still chose to face the threat with him.