Page 73 of Property of Crypt Keeper

The thought hit so hard it nearly knocked the air from my lungs.

Mine.

The word echoed through me.

Not just Katalina. Zara too—and that thought scared the hell out of me. I’d known the kid less than a month.

Less than a month.

Yet every instinct I had looked at them and saw something that felt frighteningly close to family. Hack’s DNA results replayed through my head. Close relation. Not child. Not sibling. Not niece. Not anything that made sense.

So how?

How the hell did she share my blood?

“You’re staring.”

Katalina’s voice pulled me back, and I blinked.

“You look ridiculous.”

Zara gasped. “That’s what I told her!”

Traitor. Both of them. Still… my mouth twitched.

Katalina pointed a finger at me. “Don’t,” she repeated.

“I didn’t say anything.” I pressed my lips together.

“You were thinking it.” She glowered at me.

Fair. I shrugged. “Sue me.”

“Sue you? To get what? That thing you call a motorcycle?” she scoffed. Then a breeze drifted across my face, quickly followed by a thunk.

Slowly, I turned my head to see one of her elaborate daggers sticking out of the wood pillar next to my head. My jaw dropped. I hadn’t seen her move an inch.

“You could’ve taken my eye out!” I shouted.

It was her turn to smirk. “Not a chance. If I had wanted to hit you, I promise I would have.”

Zara snickered, and I pointed a finger at her. “Don’t you start either.”

After shooting a stern glare at both of them, I joined Mako at the bar. He was staring straight ahead as he appeared to be hiding a grin behind his glass. The thick, dark liquid ran into his mouth as the tips of his fangs clinked on the glass.

“Why don’t you just get that from the source?” I asked as I stared at him in confusion.

He grimaced as he glanced down into the deep red contents. “I promised Lyra I would refrain from that.”

I snorted a laugh. “Why the fuck would you do that?”

“She’s having a hard time with the whole vampire thing,” he quietly muttered as he massaged his temple.

“How is that working for you?” I raised one brow as I waited for his answer.

“The alcoholic blood in a glass thing? Or her not being happy about the vampire thing?” He leaned back on his bar stool.

“Both.”