it now.”
“You get what?”
My eyes widened and I blurted, “You’re my viramore.”
He froze and the amusement of a moment ago was wiped clear off his face. “What did you say?”
“You’re my viramore. Holy shit, that’s why I can’t stay away from you, and why I can’t stop thinking about you, and—”
“I’m not your viramore.”
I stopped short. “What? Yes, you are. It’s the only thing that makes sense, and now that I’ve said it out loud, it’s like… it settled in my chest, and now I just… I just know. You’re my fucking viramore, Hiro Grimsby.”
“There’s no way I’m a viramore to a witch. No fuckin’ way.”
“But you are. I know you can feel it.”
“I’m human, Basil. We don’t have viramores.”
I rolled my eyes. “Humans do too, they just can’t recognize it as easily.” Pursing my lips, I narrowed my eyes at him. “Maybe that’s why you’re being weird right now, although you’re more than a simple human.”
“I’m human.”
“Whatever. Viramore can b—”
“I’m not your fuckin’ viramore!” he yelled.
I snapped my mouth shut with a frown and took him in. He was seething, anger brewing beneath the surface, his face turning red, his jaw clenched, his whole body tense. Blaze unstuffed his head from my collar, his entire body going tense and ready to pounce as he eyed Hiro. I pushed myself up against the car door to put more space between us and asked, “What’s wrong?”
He turned and leaned over, getting in my face. “What’s wrong? A fuckin’ witch just told me I was his viramore, that’s what’s fuckin’ wrong. Witches hate humans and only look out for themselves. A witch my viramore? You must think I’m stupid ‘cause there’s no way witches even have real souls. Witches don’t care about people. They use them and throw them away when they’re finished with ‘em.”
I jerked back as if he’d slapped me. “I don’t know what witches you’ve known before me, but not all of us are like that.” My voice was softer than I intended. It almost sounded a little hurt, but that couldn’t be right, I didn’t know him well enough for that yet—yeah, going with that for now.
He snorted and sneered. “Right. You just want to use my heart for some evil deed. Well guess what? I don’t fall for that shit, and I sure as hell ain’t fallin’ for some fuckin’ witch.” He sat back and turned to look out the windshield. “Now get out of my car.”
“Hiro—”
“Get the fuck out, witch.”
He seemed just as hurt as I felt, but I could tell that he’d lash out even more if I tried to force the issue. He needed some space to clear his head. So I got out of the truck and started shutting the door, but paused and said, “For the record, I’ve been wishing for a viramore my entire life. There’s no scenario where I’d hurt him, or anyone he cares about. I’d protect him and everything and everyone he loves, even… even if he hated me.” I shut the door before he had a chance to respond.
Then I moved into the shadows and watched with my heart in my throat as he drove away.
Chapter Ten
Hiro
“So you kicked him out of the car and left him there?” Jasmyn asked. It was unfortunate I’d had a dead body in the car and had to bring it in when I’d left Basil Ellwood on the side of the road because Jasmyn took one look at me and knew something was wrong.
“Yeah.”
She lifted a brow. “If he was as evil as you say he is, do you really think he’d let you kick him out and drive away?”
I opened my mouth, then snapped it shut and grunted. “It’s not like he can’t get home on his own.”
“True, but an evil person wouldn’t have reacted well to what you said to them.”
“So you’re on his side, then? Figures.”
She sighed. “I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again. Not all witches are the evil beings you’re used to. The Ellwoods in particular protected and saved many lives during the war here, not to mention the fact that three of them ended the war altogether.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’ve heard the stories.”
“But have you listened to them?”
“Witches manipulate people. There’s no way the stories are true.”
She shook her head. “But maybe if you’d listened, you’d know that Basil Ellwood was one of the witches that took on that dark magic and made it possible for the berserkers to be beat.”
I blinked at