Page 36 of Alaska Lights

“Damn, losing your vision already? That sucks.” A dining room chair grinds across the floor, and I whip around, noticing a cloaked figure sitting in my chair.

“Who the fuck are you, and who invited you into my fucking house?” I sneer, charging up to him to kill him, but with one swift motion of his index finger, I’m sitting in the chair across from him.

“You have a mouth on you. Jeez. Do you have any tea? Kentucky’s mate makes me the best tea and coffee.” He gets up and scurries around the kitchen, making himself right at home.

Wait a minute.

I think I know this guy. “Kentucky? So you probably know Oklahoma? You must be Lorcan.”

He spins around and gasps, holding a boney hand to his chest. “They talk about me?”

“I hear you’re pretty annoying.”

He squeals, tapping his fingers together, the bones clinking. “So, they think I’m pretty?” He fake-tucks a long piece of hair behind his ear.

I lean back in the seat and cross my arms. “Oh, I’m already sick of you. I can see what they are talking about now.” I yawn, checking the clock to see it’s three in the morning.

Damn, it’s been an entire hour of me tossing and turning on the couch?

“You’re so sweet. Stop it.” He bats a hand at me. “I’m blushing.” He isn’t. He literally can’t blush.

I roll my eyes, making a mental note to call Oklahoma to tell him about my break-in. I’m too tired to fight him right now, especially with how painful my eyes are and how weak my body feels. It’s odd. I didn’t feel that way when Leo was around me earlier. I felt strong. Invincible. The strongest I’ve ever felt. I know it’s because of Leo.

He’s not even that far away from me. He’s only down the hall behind a closed bedroom door, and the ache in my broken body has reminded my bones just how close we are to turning to ash.

“I’m Alaska.” I hold out my hand, forgetting about the blood on it.

He doesn’t seem to care. He meets my handshake with a big, bright smile that doesn’t seem to fit his appearance. If Leo came down the hall right now and saw him, I have no doubt I’d have to catch my mate as he passed out.

Lorcan is a Void, if I remember what Oklahoma said to me when he was explaining his exasperation over him. The Void works for Death, the original Grim Reaper and one of the Four Horsemen, who created the Voids to help him reap souls. Seems like a terrifyingly horrible job if you ask me.

“I know who you are. I know everyone.” He fills the mug with water, then blows on it, steam immediately coming from the surface, then drops a tea bag in it.

“Let’s cut to the chase. What are you doing here? How did you get in my house?”

He spins his finger above the mug, stirring the tea with magic instead of a spoon. “I’m a Void. I don’t need a key. I can show up wherever I want, whenever I want.” He takes his first sip, and I watch the liquid drip down his skeleton and drip right onto my fucking floor.

Asshole.

I point. “You’re cleaning that up.”

“Don’t get your fangs in a twist, Al.” In a blink, he’s in the chair next to me, lowering his hood so I can see him.

He peeks down the hall at the closed door, and I lean against the table, growling in warning.

“Don’t even think about it,” I warn, my claws scratching against the table.

“What?” He points to where my mate is. “Oh, you think I want your mate? No. Congratulations, by the way.”

“Thank you.”

“Unless you aren’t happy about it.”

“I’m happy about it,” I sputter, wanting to defend myself. “I just…it takes adjusting, okay? And we are getting off topic. What the hell do you want? I want to get some sleep.”

“You aren’t mated yet, and it’s been a day,” he points out, pouting what would be his lips. “So sad. I don’t get you sad cowboy vampires. So boo-fucking-hoo all the time. ‘Poor me. I’m a strong paranormal creature, but I’ve self-tortured myself for my entire life so I’ve convinced myself I don’t deserve anything, not even my mate.’ Blah, blah, same tune, different cowboy. Don’t you guys get so tired of the self-deprecation?”

I open my mouth to answer, then frown. When he puts it like that, it does sound dumb, but it’s more intricate. There are more variables.