Page 17 of Vampire Lee

“Let’s head to the house. You can crash there tonight.”

Lee didn’t argue, and they moved fast. Lee could’ve gone faster, but he kept the same pace as Rei, which was way faster than a human. Soon they reached the area where Rei and the others lived.

“What was Eli talking about?”

“Huh?” Lee looked over at Rei, who slowed to a normal walk. Lee followed suit.

“Eli, when he said goodbye. You gave me a look.”

Right. “Yeah, his work partner went missing during the day. Crossbreed. Eli’s boss didn’t care, but Eli claimed he’d never leave without telling him, and he tried calling him several times, but he didn’t pick up.”

“A missing person case?”

“Eli is worried.”

Rei frowned but didn’t speak for several seconds. Then he heaved a deep sigh. “It’s never good when crossbreeds go missing.”

No, of course not. It wasn’t good when anyone went missing, but was it worse when it was crossbreeds? “Why?”

“There is always some shit. A pack who doesn’t want them, a parent or other relative. It’s always a fucking mess, and there is always the question if the pack will claim them or not. If you kidnap a wolf, you know you have an entire pack to deal with. If you kidnap a crossbreed, you might not have to deal with anyone.”

Lee didn’t reply. Part of him wanted to argue, but he suspected Rei was right. Eli had said his boss hadn’t cared about Zain going missing. “Zain.”

“What?”

“Eli’s work partner’s name is Zain. I don’t know his last name. Crossbreed. Can partially shift, which means part human, right?”

Rei gave a short nod right as they reached the gate. Instead of pressing the button to be let in, Rei kept going until they reached a grid door a few steps away. He punched in a combination of digits on the code lock and unlocked it.

“When do you have to leave tomorrow?” Rei motioned for him to go in and closed the grid door behind them once he had.

“I was supposed to be off tomorrow, but Jala asked me to cover for Conan since he was unable to come in, and she was busy elsewhere.”

“Where?”

Lee frowned at him. “No idea.”

“If I set up a morning meeting with everyone, will you be able to attend?”

“Yeah, of course.” How early was morning?

Rei walked toward the house, unlocked the door with a code, and motioned for Lee to enter. Before he’d closed and locked the door, he had his phone up. “Murrie has a Zoom meeting with someone at eight, but it looks like everyone can do nine. That okay with you?”

“Yeah, sure.”

Rei tapped on the screen for a few seconds, pocketed it, and looked up at Lee. “There are rooms on the third floor.”

He strode toward a built-in closet underneath the stairs. “Everyone has their own sheets and towels and stuff in their rooms, but we have a few spare ones here.” He stacked what Lee assumed was a sheet, duvet cover, and pillowcases on his palm, then he reached farther in and pulled out a toothbrush and toothpaste, followed by a towel. Then he looked at Lee and pulled out a bath towel as well.

“It’s the best I can do.” He handed the pile over to Lee.

“Better than many hotels.”

Rei chuckled. “Wait until breakfast. I fucking love Devin.” He grinned at Lee. “Breakfast is served at seven, but Devin doesn’t start to clean it away until everyone has eaten. Apart from Dillon. He has his own schedule.”

Lee nodded. “Which room should I take?”

“Dillon’s is the first door you see when you step into the corridor. All the others are available.”

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