âIâm guessing they donât have any effect, do they?â
âNo silver chains or bullets either,â he added helpfully.
âI thought silver was only for werewolves.â
He scratched his chin, thinking. âSo I have also been told, but I never met anyone who killed a werewolf, so I donât know if such a thing is true.â
The kitchen tilted slightly. Not enough to disturb anything. The cabinet doors didnât swing open, and my mug didnât try to slide into my lap, but it was enough of a nudge to tell me my reality had just slipped a little further.
âAre you saying . . . werewolves are real?â
âOf course.â The corner of Alekseiâs mouth twitched as he tried to suppress a grin. âAnd Iâll tell you something else humans have wrongâthey donât change because of moon.â
Was this something I absolutely had to know? Of course it was. âSo, why do they change?â
âBad temper.â
The grin heâd been trying to contain refused to be held back. Do vampires ever need to floss? I pondered as the impressive display of his teeth dazzled me. I doubted they went to the dentist, but hey, you never know.
âAll werewolves have bad temper,â Aleksei continued, his voice bringing me back to the here and now. âActually, now I think about it, all shape-shifters have bad tempers.â
âYou would too if changing broke every bone in your body,â Anasztaizia interjected.
I stared at her. âAll . . . shape-shifters . . .â I muttered, gripping the edge of the table with both hands.
âSure.â Aleksei nodded and seemed very pleased with himself. âWerewolves are just one kind.â
Of course they are. Silly me.
I told myself he was only giving me information he thought would be beneficial to my overall well-being. Unfortunately, I wasnât sure how to categorize this particular brand of helpfulness. The only way I could control a sudden attack of the shakes was to sit on my hands. The last thing I needed was for Aleksei to see just how badly I was rattled. It was hard enough accepting the existence of vampires. Other supernatural creatures were going to have to wait their turn.
I had the dismal realization I would be no match for Katja in a physical fight. In truth, Iâd known that after seeing her take on Gabriel, but Iâd been optimistic that Aleksei might reveal a possible vampire weakness. Anything that would give me an edge if I ever needed it. Now I realized that if Katja was truly determined to get to me, there was nothing I could do to stop her. Except stay in my house. Suddenly the idea of Aleksei being able to cross my threshold was rather comforting.
âI guess itâs safe to assume that youâre not immortal, then?â
âNothing is immortal, Rowan,â Anasztaizia said in a soft voice. âEverything will die. Even vampires.â
âThen I donât get it. I thought the whole attraction of being a vampire was the chance to live forever.â
âIs that what you would want to do?â Aleksei asked, giving me an unfathomable look. âLive forever?â
âI donât know,â I backpedaled hastily. âItâs not something Iâve spent much time thinking about.â
âWell, itâs not something a vampire can give you.â
Somewhere close to midnight I managed to persuade Aleksei he needed to take Anasztaizia home. I promised him, cross my heart and hope to die, that I would be perfectly all right by myself. As long as the rule about vampires crossing thresholds was true, then I was safe. Katja had never been invited inside my house, and couldnât cross any threshold, front or back, uninvited.
âDonât underestimate her, Rowan,â Aleksei warned as he helped Anasztaizia put her coat on. âIf she comes here, she will try to get you to let her in. Like most females, she is very
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