“Are you sure?” Maya asked through a choking sob. She knew it was against the law to feed from a werewolf, but with the amount of silver in his body, Shane could die without it, and saving him was all that mattered.
“It’s the least I can do,” Killian said somberly. “After all the trouble my brother has caused.”
“Thank you,” she whispered.
Maya took Killian’s wrist in her hand and made a small incision before holding it to Shane’s mouth. Eyes closed and starving once the blood touched his lips, Shane grabbed Killian’s arm and drank ferociously. Maya watched with fascination when the three bullets emerged and tumbled to the ground, the bleeding slowed, and the wounds closed. After a few minutes, Maya gently pulled Killian’s arm from Shane’s grasp and licked the wound on his wrist closed.
“Am I dreaming?” Shane’s eyes fluttered open and he locked gazes with Maya. He reached up and cradled her face in his hand. “Or have I died and gone to heaven?”
“Nope. But that’s a really cheesy pickup line. Sure sounds like New York to me.” Smiling, she leaned down and captured his lips with hers, kissing him tenderly. When she broke the kiss, she ran her thumb over the beard scruff on his cheek as he sat up slowly to face her. “So, I thought you couldn’t love me.”
“I’ve been a fool, Maya,” Shane said flatly. He winced, leaning one hand on the roof to keep himself in a sitting position. “But I promise that for the rest of eternity, I will make it my full-time job to make it up to you. I do love you, Maya. I am hopelessly, uncontrollably, irrevocably in love with you. Can you forgive an old vampire for his foolishness?”
“I knew it.” She leaned in and kissed him again, reveling in the taste of him. Her hand fluttered over his shoulder, and Maya stilled when she realized that they were bathed in the bright, warm, golden light of the morning sun. “Shane,” she whispered in awe, holding her up hand in a ray of sunshine. “We’re daywalkers.”
“Bloodmate legend or not…” Shane murmured. He placed a kiss at the corner of her mouth and rested his forehead against hers. “Walking in the sun or an eternity of darkness, if I have you by my side…I will walk anywhere.”
“I was wondering when you two were going to notice that,” Doug said from the doorway of the stairwell. “Looks like this pesky bloodmate legend is more than just some fluke. Welcome to the club, kids.”
“Two more daywalkers are now in the vampire ranks.” Sitting on the ledge, Killian was staring at his brother’s body with an expression that Maya couldn’t quite decipher. He flicked his serious gaze to Maya. “I will have to let my father know about the latest…developments.”
Maya scrambled to her feet with Shane at her side and snuggled against him, looking from Killian to Doug. Killian may have dealt the deathblow, but Maya was the one who took Horace’s wolf and rendered him mortal. She recalled what the king had done to the necklace, and studying Horace’s broken body, Maya wondered if a similar fate awaited her.
“I would never use my power except in self-defense, Killian,” Maya said adamantly. “I swear it!”
“What power?” Killian rose to his feet and looked at his brother’s dead body before giving Maya a sad smile. “My brother challenged me to a fight, and when an alpha is challenged, it is a fight to the death. That is what I will be reporting. That and nothing else.”
“How can we be sure that you won’t suddenly regain your memory?” Doug asked. He came out into the sunlight and stood next to Shane and Maya. “Not to sound ungrateful or anything but you know…shit happens.”
“He can be trusted,” Shane murmured with a steady stare at Killian. Maya looked between the two men and saw a glimmer of respect for Killian in Shane’s eyes, one she hadn’t seen before. He bowed his head in deference to the werewolf prince. “Thank you, Your Highness. You are a man of duty and honor. If you are ever in need of my assistance, you need only ask.”
“I thought you were gonna be in Europe protecting the Eurotrash,” Doug said with a pointed glance at Shane.
“I will remain here in New York—if you have no objections, that is.”
“Me?” Doug shrugged. “I got no objections, but now Olivia is gonna have to redo a bunch of paperwork, and that is a bitch. So in exchange, you and Maya owe us some babysitting time.”
Shane opened his mouth to protest, but Maya wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed the thought right out of him.
Emily gurgled happily in Shane’s lap, and Maya could swear her ovaries actually buzzed with excitement. What was it about the sight of a big, strong man going gaga over a baby that was such a turn-on? Emily had one pudgy hand wrapped around Shane’s index finger while he bounced her on his knee and sang her “This Is the Way the Horses Ride” for the eight hundredth time. Her big blue eyes smiled at him, and her soft, red curls bounced while he pretended to gallop with her.
The Christmas tree in the corner was decorated with red bows and twinkling lights, and though Christmas was still a few days away, presents were piled high underneath. Most were for her and Shane, but there were several for baby Emily too. Other than spending time with Shane, there was nothing Maya enjoyed more than spoiling that cute little girl. Though Emily was only a year old, Maya had a hard time remembering what life was like without her…or Shane.
She knew the likelihood of getting pregnant like Olivia did probably was nonexistent but, hey, a girl could dream. Olivia and Doug were under the impression that Doug’s angel bloodline was the key to Emily’s conception. She could eat both human food and vampire fare, but she seemed to be partial to human food—Cheerios in particular.
Maya finished cleaning the dishes in the sink of their newly renovated apartment. Gone was the tapestry of pink. It had been replaced with cool tones of green and blue. Now that they were daywalkers, she and Shane could have found an apartment in a regular apartment building but Maya liked being here—with her family.
She smiled wistfully. Funny how just a year ago she was crawling the walls, and now there was nowhere else on earth she would rather be.
Life had changed significantly over the past year. Not only were she and Shane fully bonded and daywalkers, but her power had grown significantly. So much so that she could sense a werewolf within two miles. The only reason she’d figured that out was because Killian and some of his pack had moved to New York.
Killian told Olivia and Doug he wanted to expand his business on the East Coast, but they were convinced he wanted to keep an eye on Maya. Killian may not have told anyone else about Maya’s power, but the knowledge of it clearly haunted him. Maya wondered if he secretly blamed her for his brother’s death.
A few minutes later, Olivia and Doug swept into the apartment, both dressed elegantly from a night out at the theater. Emily laughed and clapped when Olivia gathered her daughter up in a flurry of hugs and kisses. That left Shane looking mildly dejected. He rose to his feet and shook hands with Doug before walking them to the door. After a few minutes of chitchat—all about Emily, of course—the czars left with their tiny charge giggling all the way out the door.
Maya waved and let out a sound of contentment as she went back to the sink. Shane’s arms linked around her waist, preventing her from doing more work, and he nibbled kisses down the length of her neck. She let out a sound of pleasure when he ran his hands down her arms and tangled their fingers together.
“Just what do you think you’re doing?” Maya murmured.