Page 16 of Vampire Lee

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Dillon looked around the room. It wasn’t his room, but one of the empty rooms on the third floor. Both windowsills were packed with tomato plants. Or they weren’t plants yet. He’d taken plastic cups, written on them with a permanent marker, and sown tomatoes.

He had filled his windowsills with sweet peas, had beans in the room across from him, marigolds and aster in the room next to it, kale and lettuce in the room next to that, and so on.

Faelan had gone to the store to get him more plastic cups and potting soil, but not before giving him a concerned look. He got it. For months, Dillon had done nothing, absolutely nothing, and now he was watering hundreds of cups at two in the morning.

Devin had come to check on him before heading to bed, so he suspected Faelan had told on him. It was okay. Devin hadn’t given him looks of concern like Faelan had, instead he’d smiled and talked about how awesome it was gonna be to have a garden, and how glad he was Dillon was willing to help.

Dillon wasn’t convinced about the helping part, but he wanted sweet peas. And if he was going to smell them, he’d have to be in the garden. Or he could bring some inside, but…

The house had fallen silent some time ago, and when he looked out the window, he could tell the lights had been turned off in the rooms below. He headed to the door and switched off the lamp before he exited the room. It was time for bed.

He hated when it was time for bed.

His body was heavy, his brain sluggish, but the moment he closed his eyes, the monsters were there. Several times a night, he woke up screaming and shaking. Sometimes only a few minutes apart. And he was so tired. So, so tired, and yet he couldn’t rest. He feared he’d never be able to rest again.

Brushing his teeth for several long minutes, he glanced out through the bathroom door to the bed. Maybe he’d sleep better if he moved it?

No. He’d already tried it. Several times.

His inability to rest had nothing to do with feng shui or whatever it was called. The sparse room held no personality whatsoever, but he didn’t know what to put in it. Murrie had told him he could order things or ask Devin to order things for him.

They’d taken a few hours to order clothes online. Devin hadn’t batted an eye when Dillon had told him he wanted long sleeves and full-length pants even for bed.

Devin made him feel like less of a freak, but it didn’t mean he wanted to spend time with him.

He was grateful. He truly was, but part of him wanted to tell Devin to fuck off. He wanted to snarl at Murrie for looking worried, wanted to punch Faelan for looking at him with concern in his eyes.

He wouldn’t. He was grateful. Part of him was so grateful he wanted to fling his arms around their necks and hug them so tightly they couldn’t breathe, wanted them to hug him back. Another part of him was freaking out at the mere thought of touching anyone.

They were strong. All of them, apart from maybe Devin, could hold him down.

Mars and Murrie had tried to find his parents without any luck. He’d been dumped outside a church when no more than a week or two old.

Murrie had asked for a blood sample, and then a couple of weeks later Rei had given him a toothy grin while congratulating him on having at least some good genes. Dillon hadn’t understood a word he’d said until Murrie, later in the day, had explained the DNA test had come back, and Dillon was twenty-five percent cat. They couldn’t say which type of cat, but there had been a felid shifter in his family tree.

It mattered little. Dillon had no traits, other than healing faster than humans. It wasn’t anything he’d noticed before but considering how many blood slaves had died during the time he’d been in the underground mansion, maybe Mars and Murrie were correct when they claimed he had enhanced healing.

He wished he’d had claws.

With a sigh, he climbed into bed. The ceiling lamp shone brightly when he closed his eyes.

* * * *

Rei stepped away from Lee the moment they entered the apartment building. “Is there another way out? Basement? Fire escape?” It was a low whisper, and Lee nodded a reply.

Instead of heading up the stairs toward his apartment, he tugged Rei in the direction of the basement. There was a laundry room and storage for bicycles for the tenants.

They moved quickly and soundlessly. Lee’s heart was thudding in his ears, but he ignored it. He heard the door to the stairway open and mentally cursed. They’d been followed. He’d suspected but had hoped it was paranoia.

As quietly as he could, he opened the door leading out into the parking lot behind the building. If they crossed it, they’d be in a small park with a swing set, some trees, and a concrete grill and some benches the tenants were allowed to use.

He steered toward the trees. “Who is it?”

“No scent I recognize, but they waited for us outside the bar and followed us all the way.”

Lee nodded. He couldn’t scent anyone, but he’d had the feeling of being followed.

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