He shot me a confused look. “I know you can.”
I scowled. “I meant, give me my bag.”
He cocked his head, the same way his wolf form did, as though he didn’t understand what I was saying. “Your bag weighs nothing.”
Folding my arms, I gritted my teeth and said, “For you, it might not feel heavy, but it’s still fully packed, and it presses against your wound.”
To my surprise, he suddenly grinned, a twinkle entering his eyes. “You’re quite the worrywart, aren’t you?”
My cheeks heated under his gaze, which did things to me I refused to acknowledge. “Your wound is refusing to heal,” I insisted, ignoring my far-too-visceral reaction to him. “You can barely lean against a seat without it opening, and yet you’re willingly pressing a heavy bag against it. Are youtryingto kill yourself?”
His grin disappeared, and he looked away. “I’m fine,” he said flatly.
It felt like he’d suddenly erected a wall between us, and it made my heart sink. “Lucien,” I said softly, letting my arms fall and taking a step toward him, “Iamworried. I always thought the supernatural had better healing abilities than humans, but it seems to be a lie, and your adamant refusal to admit it is going to make you bleed to death.”
His face darkened, and he turned to me, opening his mouth. But before Lucien could reply, a car horn cut through the air like an annoyingly loud trumpet. Cursing internally at the interruption, I would’ve attempted to ignore it if Lucien hadn’t turned toward the road, where a car came to a screeching stop right next to us.
And for the thousandth time today, I was absolutely dumbstruck.
I had never seen a Rolls-Royce up close before.
Out of the Rolls-Royce emerged a man. He was almost as tall as Lucien at over six feet, with the body of a swimmer—broad shoulders and a narrow waist. His hair was light brown with just as many curls as Lucien’s, and his eyes were almost as blue, too, though a few shades darker and far less piercing.
He was gorgeous, and there was no way in hell the two men weren’t related.
When the man saw Lucien, he smiled, and two dimples appeared in his cheeks. “Bonsoir, cousin blessé,” the man said in French.
Lucien smiled back, shoulders relaxing in evident relief. “Petit gars,” he said in French, too, and the way his voice lowered when he spoke his native tongue made me want to lick my lips like a pervert.
The two men did the handshake with half a hug men always did, and at that moment, it was hard to remember that Lucien was a werewolf. He acted like every human did, and so did the other man. As if they weren’t actually mythological creatures.
The discrepancy was a little disorienting at times.
“Drew.” Lucien’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts, and I fought a blush as he looked at me with certain fondness, the darkness in his expression from before completely gone now. “This is my cousin, Rémi. Rémi, this is the woman who saved my life.”
Well, now I had no choice but to blush profusely. “Nice to meet you,” I told his cousin with a stiff nod.
Remi smiled in return. “Thank you for saving my dear cousin’s life,” he said with no French accent in his voice, as if he was born and raised in the US, before returning his gaze to Lucien. “The key’s inside. And I printed the files you asked for.”
Lucien’s eyes, which had been lit up when he saw his cousin, dimmed a little now. “Thank you,” he said, adjusting the duffel bag on his shoulder. “Have you told them?”
Glancing briefly at me, Remi nonetheless nodded. “Most of them seemed to believe it.”
“That’s good enough.” Lucien sighed. “Let’s just hope the ones I need will take the bait.”
Remi snorted. “They probably will. But, Lucien ...” He grew serious. “Are you sure you don’t need my help?” He hesitantly glanced at me again. “I mean, taking ahumanis risky, and the ASS won’t be happy once they find out ...”
“Drew is under my care now,” Lucien replied with resolution that made my chest expand a little with a sense of importance. It also made me wonder whether his cousin knew Lucien advocated the exposure of his kind to the human world. “Also,” he added, “the ASS could go fuck themselves.”
This didn’t seem to sit well with Remi, which made my suspicion grow, but to my surprise, he let it go. “All right, then. Good luck. It was nice meeting you, Drew,” he told me.
I gave him a strained smile and said, “It was nice meeting you too. And don’t worry,” I added, pulling my baggy shirt aside to reveal the holster attached to my jeans. “I can take care of myself.”
Both Lucien and Remi seemed stunned by the sight. Lucien especially, since his eyes snapped to mine, wide with shock. “You didn’t tell me you owned a gun,” he said somewhat accusingly.
Hottest man alive or not, I didn’t like his tone. Letting my shirt go, I folded my arms and arched a brow. “You really thought I would leave my place without my pistol?”
Remi barked out a laugh. “I like her already,” he told Lucien, grabbing his shoulder and squeezing it.