Keaton's Lessons [Brac Village 6] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove), Lynn Hagen [readnow txt] 📗

suffered so much because of the monster who had fathered Oliver. The snow leopard had lost a good portion of his life, and Oliver would never forget the debt he owed the man.

What he was feeling now wasn’t sadness that his father was dead. He was mourning the loss of what the man should have been to him and Blair, of what their relationship should have been.

Sliding his arm around Micah, Oliver leaned in, taking comfort from his one steady rock through all these years. Micah was quiet, patient, and never let him hurt, not even when the dreams of his past sometimes haunted him.

Micah was always there.

He had stayed on his feet, although in the beginning, there were days when it felt like he was crawling. With all the new problems and all the new pain, he was glad he didn’t have to walk this alone.

Because in his heart and mind and soul, he knew that he would never be alone. Not when he had Micah.

His mate leaned in, giving him a touch, a smile, and a kiss on the cheek. Yeah, Oliver was going to be okay.

* * * *

Keaton stared at the dark streets, terrified as he watched a vampire move in on a human. He wanted to shout for the human to run, but Kade had told him the vampires were here to wipe the humans’ memory of what had happened earlier today.

It was still some scary shit. Keaton stood rooted to the spot as a vampire walked casually down the street, lifting his hand as he passed the human, swiping his palm across the human’s head, never breaking his stride. The human looked dazed, smiled, and then began to walk again.

Super creepy.

“Can we get home now?” Keaton asked, wanting to be as far away from the undead as he could possibly get. He still hadn’t forgotten the night he was attacked. Kade had told him that the vampire had been a rogue. That didn’t matter to Keaton. Fangs were fangs.

They had gone to Maverick earlier and cleared the whole fight thing up with the cops. No charges were pressed so they let it go. Keaton was extremely thankful they hadn’t been locked up.

“Just stay close to me,” Kade said as he curled his arm around Keaton’s shoulder. “They know who to touch and who to leave alone.”

It was still a surreal sight. He knew what those men were—“Kevin,” Keaton said with a gasp. “What about Kevin?”

“The kid from the art festival?” Kade asked, his brows rising inquiringly. “What about him?”

Keaton swallowed, but his mouth had gone bone-dry. Panic and alarm washed over him. “We can’t let the vampires touch him. He has this gift, Kade. He can see people for what they truly are. He saw your leopard today at the festival.” An oddly primitive warning sounded in his brain, telling him that the vampires couldn’t, shouldn’t be allowed to touch the gifted young man.

Kade drew his lips in thoughtfully. “He did?”

“We have to stop them.”

His mate inclined his head in compliance. “I’ll call—”

Keaton leaned back his head back and gazed into Kade’s eyes. “There’s no time. We have to help him.”

“But, Keaton, we don’t even know where he lives.”

Kade was right. Keaton wasn’t thinking clearly right now. If they were going to stop Kevin’s mind from being messed with, then they needed help. Taking a deep, unsteady breath, he took a step back. “Make the call. Do whatever you have to do in order to save Kevin from getting his mind messed with.”

Kade’s fingers wrapped around the dark, sleek cell phone and called for help. Meanwhile, Keaton worked off his excess energy by pacing manically and with deep thought. When Kade got off the phone, his eyes held Keaton’s, bleak with understanding. “Maverick said he’ll try his best to get to Kevin before the vampires. But he did tell me where the young man lives.”

“Then let’s go!” Keaton spun around and began to race back to building that was going to house Kade’s business. He had left his car there early this morning. The thought of vampires was no longer on his mind as far as them coming after him. Keaton had to get to Kevin.

“Let me drive,” Kade said when they reached Keaton’s car. “I can get us there faster.”

Keaton’s steps slowed as he asked, “Have you driven since you’ve been out?”

“It’s like riding a bike,” Kade replied.

“Have you ever ridden a bike before?”

Kade inclined his handsome head. “Once.”

He bit his lip to stifle a grin at the way Kade had stated that fact proudly. He was standing there looking at Keaton like the question was utterly pointless. “Give me the keys.”

Tossing the keys at his mate, Keaton slipped into the passenger’s side and buckled himself in…and then pulled the belt tight for good measure.

“Will you stop,” Kade said, emphasizing each word. “You act like I’ve never driven a car in my life.”

“And how am I supposed to know what you did before I met you?” Keaton asked as Kade climbed into the driver side. Wait, Keaton didn’t know what Kade had done before they met. Did he know how to drive?

Before he could ask, Kade started the car and pulled out of the drive that led to the back of the shop. His fingers curled around his seat belt and Keaton sent up a prayer as Kade took the corner too sharply, the tire running over the curb.

“Sorry about that,” Kade said as he settled back in his seat. “I’m a little rusty. But I have it now.”

Keaton sure as shit hoped so. He was more concerned with bodily injury than Kade putting a dent in the car. It already had enough dents. A few more weren’t going to matter. “Do you know the way?”

Kade gave him a droll stare. “I grew up in this town. I could navigate these back roads in my sleep.”

“Let’s hurry up and get to Kevin’s before it’s too late.” Anxiety balled up in Keaton’s