Evans, Gabrielle - Firestorm [Fatefully Yours 3] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever ManLove) by Gabrielle Evans Page B

“Fuck,” he breathed. “You’re like an ice cube. I don’t know much about vampires, but are you always this temperature?”
    Syn shrugged, and Echo wanted to smack him again. “No,” he growled. “I’ve touched him before, and he’s never been this cold.” Releasing Syn’s arm, Echo faced the vampire and fisted his hands on his hips. “Why are you acting this way?”
    “What’s going on?” Jinx asked as he entered the kitchen from the opposite side of the room.
    Echo rounded on him, pointing a finger in the man’s face. “You!”
    Jinx stumbled back a step, his mouth forming a little O . “Me? What did I do?”
    “Why didn’t you tell us it’s so damn cold down there?”
    “Oh.” Jinx bit his lip and stared down at the floor, mirroring Syn’s pose. “It’s a soft bed and roof over our head. Who are we to complain?”
    Another thought occurred to Echo, and he whirled around to look at Syx. “You never got the blood did you?”
    Syx winced and shook his head. “The storm blew in, and we couldn’t get to town. They didn’t clear the roads out this far until just yesterday, and by then, I’d honestly forgotten about it.”
    “When’s the last time you fed?” Echo asked the vampire without removing his narrowed gaze from Syx.
    “We’re fine,” Jinx replied immediately.
    “When is the last time you fed?” Echo asked again, his voice as hard as cold steel.
    “The night we arrived,” Syn said with a sigh. “It’s not so bad, though.”
    Echo studied the vampires, really looked at them, and felt his heart constrict inside his chest. They looked sallow and pinched, their faces drawn and hollow. Dark circles marred the skin under their eyes, and even their lips had lost color. As much as he wanted to be mad at Syx and Vapre and blame this entire mess on them, he knew he was just as at fault as anyone.
    “Out,” he ordered.
    Jinx and Syn turned to leave, and Echo huffed. “Not you two. Everyone else, get out.”
    “What are you doing?” Fiero asked dangerously. Judging by the look on his face, he already knew the answer.
    “I’m going to feed them.”
    “Over my dead body,” Hex growled. “Look, I don’t have a problem with them, and they’re more than welcome here. I’m not about to let them snack on you, though.”
    “Do you have a better idea?” Echo snapped. “They look like they’re about to fall over dead…re-dead…whatever.” He had no idea about vampire physiology. He’d heard the legends of the undead, but Syn and Jinx looked as alive as anyone. “Are you dead?”
    Syn snorted, and Jinx rolled his eyes. “No, we’re not dead. Our hearts beat, we breathe, and we need food to eat. We’re very much alive, just different from you.”
    “Okay.” Echo shrugged. Well, at least that answered one of his questions. “Now, you know I adore you all, but get the fuck out.”
    “I’m not leaving.” Fiero crossed his arms over his massive chest, looking mutinous.
    “Why do we have to leave?” Myst asked. Echo guessed it was supposed to come out as casual, but the slight growl in his lover’s voice kind of ruined it.
    “Because I don’t want you to hurt them.” The duh was implied. “They need to feed. I’m not just going to let them fucking starve, but I don’t want you guys freaking out.”
    “Then let one of us do it,” Syx suggested. “We are…” He trailed off, his brow furrowing as he searched for the right word.
    “Bigger? Stronger? Possess too much machismo for your own good?” Echo lifted both eyebrows and smirked. “Jinx,” he said casually, “whose blood would give you the most strength?”
    “Hex,” Jinx whispered.
    Echo’s chin nearly hit the floor. “How?” He’d assumed that as a human, his blood would be the most alluring, the most powerful to a vampire. He didn’t know why he’d thought that, but now, he guessed it made sense that another preternatural’s blood would sustain them longer.
    “He is a healer, yes?”
    Echo