"Yeah, in the cryogenic chamber they must have been keeping Henri in. Here."
He dug a white piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to me. My fingers shook as I unfolded it
Thank you for helping me find my friend. Sorry I cannot offer what you are searching for. If we had but met centuries ago... Take care. Quinn.
My heart sunk, and I met my brother's gaze. "It's hardly a declaration of intent."
He grinned. "To have written that much means the man at least feels something more than a sexual attraction, especially since he added 'if we had met sooner'."
I glanced down at the note again. "If I do what Jack wants me to do, I can take this" - I raised the note, scrunched it into a ball, and tossed it away - "and do that."
"Give him time, Riley. You haven't known each other very long, and he's had a rough time with wolves."
"I know." I forced a smile. "But I am a wolf, and he's a vampire with some very human hangups. I don't think there's a whole lot of common ground between us."
"But a wolf never gives up once the scent of a chase is on."
I gave him a wry smile. "Especially when the scent leads to great sex."
"Precisely. Great sex is something one can never give up on."
"Is that why you're still with Davern?"
"Hell, yeah." He gave me a cheeky grin, then twined his fingers through mine and squeezed them lightly. "Why don't we go home, get cleaned up, then go out and get blindly, stinkingly, drunk?"
I smiled. "That's seems like the perfect ending to a perfectly wretched week."
And it was.