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“Except me,” I stated.

He pressed his lips together. “Except you,” he agreed.

“Will they come back?” The idea had been in the back of my mind, and I’d been paranoid ever since Kiam had disappeared, thinking the redheaded Fae was going to pop up somewhere and grab me. “Leander hurt my crow. He left to go nurse his wounds, but he said he’d recover and be fine.”

Kiam’s brows furrowed. “I’m surprised he didn’t kill the bird.”

I huffed. “Me too but it's a good thing he didn’t.” I had no idea why he hadn’t sliced the bird in half like the table, but I was thankful.

“I’m going to add that to my information about them. It could be a weakness,” Kiam said, clicking on the computer mouse and moving the cursor between screens.

He was checking to make sure the Fae were truly gone and that they had returned to their own Realm, he told me. We exchanged stories of what happened when we were separated, and I asked to drink more of his blood, which he told me wasn’t strictly necessary, but he happily indulged me. Apparently, for me, the act staved off aging and provided a direct tie between the two of us so he could always find me. I didn’t know what I would have done if he had truly been trapped in the First Realm and couldn’t find his way back. But I knew I would have done everything humanly and magically possible to try and locate him. I liked to think I would have been successful, at some point.

“So, what do we do now?” I asked as we finally sat back and relaxed.

We’d moved to his bedroom, and we both took showers and cleaned ourselves up. I laid back on his bed, dressed in fresh leggings and a hoodie—but still with no undergarments. I requested some and his reply was a noncommittal, “Mm.”

Even vampires have kinks, I suppose.

Kiam perched on the edge of the bed and ran his hand up and down my thigh. “I have nothing pressing here. No jobs to complete. It appears the Fae left, and I wouldn’t expect them to return. It's unheard of for them to leave their Realm to begin with.”

I sat up. “I don’t know about letting my guard down. I keep thinking Leander is coming for me. I don’t know how I’ll ever relax again.”

“They got what they wanted, they got their diamond back.” Kiam’s voice was tinged with regret. I could only imagine how it felt to have acquired and then lost such a significant item. “I have dust left at the other house, and some of their blood. That is enough. I’ll keep you safe.”

There was no way I was going to point out that I hadn’t exactly been safe, just hours ago. “And I have this dagger and my crow, if he ever comes back,” I added.

It was almost like he knew what I was thinking when he looked me directly in the eye and said, “I am glad I gave you my dagger.”

My face heated. “Me too. It came in handy.” I smiled. “I stabbed Leander right in his thigh.”

“That’s my girl,” he said, squeezing my thigh.

He let go and stood. “Would you like to return to the Third and find your grandfather’s jewelry?”

My blood rushed in my ears and my brain buzzed. He remembered. “Are you serious?” I’d given up hoping to ever find it. “How can I go back? Aren’t I dead? Like a ghost or something?”

Kiam laughed. “You’re not a ghost.”

What? “So, I can’t go hang out in cemeteries moaning and shit?” White wasn’t my color, anyway. I’d never owned a white bed sheet.

His gaze heated. “Oh, I can think of ways to get you moaning in cemeteries.”

I felt my cheeks reddening but the thought wasn’t unappealing. “I’m not averse to that but how can I go back if I’m dead? Can I even touch stuff?”

He grinned and licked his lips. “I meant, like jewelry, furniture, things like that,” I insisted. “Get your mind out of the gutter. We’ll fuck in a cemetery later.”

“I don’t know how it works but if you can traverse the Realms, even if you’re dead, you function properly.” He added as an afterthought, “Nobody knows why, though I’ve tried extensively to figure it out.”

Shoving myself off the bed, I stood beside him. “Mysteries of the universe, I guess. Let’s go find grandpa’s stuff.”

Kiam took my hands by the wrists and the next thing I knew, we were back inside his other home. Immediately, I was surprised at how the air felt different. It was heavier and my body felt weightier, too. He told me it was due to atmospheric differences, oxygen, and other chemicals.

It took some adjusting, but I reacclimated before slowly wandering around the mansion while Kiam went off to make sure the home was secure. As I waited, I perused the different artifacts and paged through some books.

Out of curiosity, I really wanted to head to the woods and take a peek inside the pit to see what my decomposing body looked like. I’d collected many decayed or decaying animal corpses, and I owned copies of photos of my grandpa’s burnt-up body, but I wasn’t sure how I'd feel about seeing my own.

It was probably dumb of me, but I retrieved my neglected cellphone from my pocket and powered it on. Interestingly, the only notifications I had were a couple from Vance, and then one from Matilda said, “You’ve been replaced.”