Page 12 of Vampire Lee

“When I was working yesterday, Jala’s friend was there. He paid cash, so I didn’t get his real name.”

“His real name?”

“I asked him, and he said it was Aaron, but I’m not sure if he was telling the truth.”

Murrie pursed his lips. “It’s something. I’ll add it to the file.”

Lee nodded, not sure how he should put the rest. He bit into the bread and almost moaned. It was fantastic, and he’d only put butter on. The corner of Murrie’s mouth twitched as if he was trying not to smile.

“You eat like this every day?”

A rumbling chuckle left Murrie. “For the last seven or eight months. We used to take turns cooking. It was awful. Then one night, Devin couldn’t sleep, and I came back home late from an event. He made me some scrambled eggs. I begged him to make breakfast, and he hasn’t left the kitchen since. We’re blessed.”

Lee nodded.

“When I was pouring drinks right before Maybe-Aaron arrived, I was talking to Eli, a regular. He knew I’d been looking for Rei the other night and asked if I’d found him. I said yes, and he wondered if we’d hooked up again.” Lee grimaced, realizing too late he was telling Rei’s boss they’d fucked. Though he’d probably gotten that last time he was here. Or not since he hadn’t been by the door.

“I said no, and we threw some insults around, normal stuff, and right as Maybe-Aaron walked in, Eli said something along the lines of me wanting to live dangerously since I only wanted to fuck jaguars.” He pulled a face. “Nothing is going on between Rei and me, it was a one-time thing, a way to pass some time.”

Murrie grinned at him. “We’re all aware of Rei’s favorite pastime. Not in detail, though sometimes in more detail than we want to, but you don’t have to wince every time you mention him.”

Lee gave a nervous laugh. “Right. The thing is, I sort of let Maybe-Aaron believe we were lovers, or not lovers as in boyfriends, but I made it sound as if it was more than a one-time thing. He was interested in Rei, but not in Rei as a person, but in the fact that he’s a jaguar. He wanted me to introduce him, and all the while the hair on the back of my neck stood on end.”

The sound of a door opening startled Lee, then Rei and Faelan walked in from the other end of the kitchen. Lee looked in their direction. He hadn’t noted the patio door before.

“A few pallet collars for the garden?” Rei glared at Murrie. “I’ve never seen so many pallet collars in my life.”

Murrie grinned. “Devin wants a kitchen garden. I figured you could build it two or three collars high. He can tell you how he wants it, if he wants rows or more potager style or whatever it’s called.”

“There were a lot of yous in there, Murrie.” Faelan’s low rumble had Lee holding back a laugh.

“You caught that, huh? Good. Because there will be another truck with soil coming tomorrow, so as soon as Devin is up for it, have him tell you how he wants it.” Murrie turned his focus to Lee, but there was a sparkle in his eyes.

Faelan growled but stole a bread roll from the baking sheet. “What are you two talking about?”

* * * *

Dillon was looking out the window. Rei, Faelan, Mars, and Devin were placing pallet collars around the lawn. So far it looked like they were trying out different options. There was a lot of gesturing on Devin’s part and a lot of carrying and moving things around on the others.

He shuddered at the thought of being around Rei, Faelan, and Mars for any amount of time. And being outdoors? Part of him longed for it, but the outdoors was exposed. Anyone could grab him out there. It was safer to remain on the third floor behind closed doors.

He’d been on the patio the night before with Devin, and it had been equal parts terrifying and freeing. Fresh air. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d sat somewhere and breathed fresh air.

When they’d walked inside, Mars had been standing right inside the door. He’d given Dillon a small nod, which he believed was an acknowledgment of the text he’d sent.

He’d then spent the remainder of the night agonizing over said text. Mars must think him insane, believing someone would kidnap them. Not only believing it, but he’d also taken steps to protect Devin from the unseen monsters out there.

It wasn’t until he was halfway down the stairs after he was sure everyone had eaten their breakfast that it hit him—he’d reached out to a monster to help protect him from monsters. Was it the reason Devin was with Mars? Date a vampire to scare away other vampires?

It made sense. Sort of.

Mars loved Devin, of that he had no doubt, but what did Devin get out of it? Safety?

He looked out the window again. Devin was laughing at something, and Rei was grinning at him. It wasn’t often Rei grinned, but when he did, it was most often with Devin. Or Dillon shouldn’t make assumptions, he hadn’t seen enough of Rei to judge him fairly. Maybe he grinned all the time when he was working at his desk.

Dillon left the window to fill a bottle and water the pepper plants Devin had given him. The least he could do was to try to keep them alive now when it looked like they were getting a garden.

Riffling through the seed packs Devin had bought, he read the instructions. Several of these should’ve been sown already. Tomatoes and carrots and there were some packs of different flowers. Sweet peas.

---