Vampire Debt - Supernatural Battle (Vampire Towers #2) - Kelly St. Clare Page 0,102

keys over my head, and Kyros caught them with ease.

“There’s a new set of wheels in the garage,” Neelan murmured.

Rory smirked. “We didn’t let Gerome choose the car.”

“Thank fuck for that,” Kyros replied.

He smiled at the keys, and I studied his confusion. Yeah, Kyros out of his tower was a strange concept, even for me.

“Thank you. I look forward to seeing it,” he said.

The queen beamed down the table. “Maybe during our next weekend off, we could meet there.”

“That’s next weekend,” Lalitta said, bouncing. The two shared an excited glance.

Wow.

It was hard to remember how dangerous these people were when they were relaxed and joyful like this. A sadness entered my heart—none of it from me. I didn’t need to peek at Kyros to know he was wondering how many days like this he had left with his family. His longing was intense.

I squeezed his hand under the table. He shouldn’t be morose on his birthday—no matter how many of the fuckers he’d already had.

When I made to slide away, he tightened his grip.

“We filled your wardrobe with new suits,” Safina announced, gesturing to her sisters.

I fixed my attention on her. “You didn’t take the old ones away, did you?”

She cut off. “Yes, we do it each year—”

“Did you leave the air-force blue suit?” I said, frowning.

She blinked and peered at Deirdre.

“Chucked ’em all,” she answered.

I pressed my lips together.

Not happy.

“Maybe it’s best if you relocated it,” the queen murmured to her daughter.

Deirdre stopped picking her teeth. “I’ll try.”

They were in the bad books until it was back. Kyros’s amusement tightened around me, and I pinned him with a glare, daring him to laugh.

The king was watching.

Yikes.

Why couldn’t we sit down the queen’s end?

“The boys got you a little something for the house,” Rory said, grinning widely as he glanced at me. “Probably best if you see it when you get there.”

I ignored the bait, taking another sip of water as I contemplated my stupid present under the table. Turned out my gift idea was totally inappropriate for this occasion. Thank fuck I’d shoved it out of sight. Talk about mortifying.

“Shall I call for dinner then?” the queen asked.

Lionel glanced at me. “Didn’t you have something when you walked in?”

I widened my eyes at him. “No. I didn’t have time to—”

“There’s a bag under the table by your feet,” Francesca said, popping her head above the table.

Fucking. Francesca.

My cheeks heated and I pulled free of Kyros’s hand to draw the gift bag out. Great, now I looked extra idiotic for trying to hide it.

“I already had a present for Kyros, but I didn’t realise what a big deal this birthday was.” Embarrassment poured through me in thick waves.

Kyros pried the rope handles from my grasp and placed the bag on the table. He studied my burning face for a second before drawing out the small and flat wrapped parcel.

Ugh, kill me now.

“It’s stupid,” I whispered at him.

They were going to laugh at me.

“Hush,” he said. “I’ll be the judge of that.”

Sliding a massive finger under the wrapping, he worked the bindings free along one edge. Then he did the same on both ends.

Gerome grumbled loudly. “And now you know why we never give him wrapped presents.” He jabbed an angry finger at me. “This is on you.”

Sure, but he didn’t have front row seats to how much his elder brother enjoyed unwrapping the gift.

Kyros pushed the paper off and turned the photo frame around.

I fidgeted in my seat as he stared at the picture of him and his siblings from earlier this morning. They were trying to pull him in different ways, smirks on their faces, and he grinned in the middle as though he hadn’t carried a terrible burden on his shoulders.

“Well, show us,” Francesca huffed.

Kyros ignored her, stroking a large finger down the side of the wooden frame. I tried to dissect what he was feeling, but whatever was going through his head, I’d never experienced before.

It was like he didn’t know what to feel.

I flushed anew.

Was there any viable excuse to get me the fuck out of here? I glanced over my shoulder.

“Show me,” the king ordered.

Kyros blinked and lifted his head. “What?”

The king held out a hand and—begrudgingly—Kyros passed it over. The queen blurred around the table to peer over her husband’s shoulder. That apparently gave everyone else permission to do the same.

Their faces blanked one by one.

I got to my feet, pretty sure my entire body was red from utter mortification. I glanced back the