Page 107 of By the Pint

We always knew the Skewerer was our sire, but nobody ever told us how we escaped him and conscription to his undead army during those first few years. Vlad the Wholesome saved us. Apparently. He was aware the Skewerer had his sights set on us, and he tried to protect us, but he couldn’t stop the turning. When it was safe, he flew us east, and hid us.

How … how do you know? I mean, do you trust him? Did you see into his mind?It was too much. I had so many questions and I needed all the answers at once.So, we knew each other as humans? Like you always suspected?

Killian nodded, and despite everything, a smile blossomed over his cheeks.Bestie, we …He grabbed my bicepsin each hand.We were brothers. Real brothers. Sort of real brothers. We had the same father. He was like some sort of lord, and my mother was, like, the lordess—

The lady?

Yes! The lady of the manor. And your mother was a seamstress. A seamstress, Dima! It’s so cute. And perfect. But she died when you were like fifteen or something, and you came to live with me in this big house as my father’s ward. Though, I’m pretty sure everyone knew you were his bastard son.

I searched his face, looking for the lie, feeling the tears swelling again behind my eyes, feeling my throat constrict. I had no idea why. They weren’t happy tears, or sad ones. Perhaps they were simply emotional overwhelm.

A seamstress. That would explain so much. And yet, it tore open a new chasm of questions on immortality and vampirism and what we remembered after turning.

So, I’m a bastard, huh?

Killian laughed.I know! It’s awesome. Here.From the inside pocket of his leather coat, he pulled out a manilla folder. How big were his pockets? It was covered in doodles and sticky notes and scribbled strings of numbers.It’s everything I found out about you. And us. Family trees, genealogy reports, census copies, newspaper articles on our father, our birth father I mean, housekeeper reports from the manor we lived in, receipts for gowns, an invitation to a ball that you were invited to when you were eighteen, but I was still too young for. Everything. Everything I could get my hands on.

I opened the folder, peered inside, flipped through the loose pages.Oh my gods,I whimpered before the tears began free-falling.

Hey, don’t get them all wet. Took me fucking ages to compile all those things.Killian pushed the file out of the splash zone.

We were quiet for a few moments. I wanted to pore over every bit of paper in the folder, set them all out on the floor and study each one in detail, but the man in the bed through the mirror was commanding ninety-nine percent of my attention.

What does this all have to do with Casey?I asked.I still haven’t forgotten your words. My forgive-you gift.

Killian gave an affected sigh.So, Casey taught me how to use the internet, right? But before then, I had to visit public libraries and interview people and whatnot. One day my friend Claus and I went to the big central library in Bordalis. Anyway, Claus is a sucker for scrumpy — he’s a centaur — and there was this national apple festival on, so we went to a cider bar, and I saw this guy. He was a kid, like early twenties. Twenty-four, five? Tall, built to fuck, cute, and guess what? A mind reader! A fucking human mind reader in downtown Bordalis. Just hanging out.

He had the whole crowd wrapped around his finger, because of course he did. It was Casey. Everyone was desperate to get his attention. He spotted me, and all night his eyes didn’t leave mine. Like he was trying to read my thoughts. He couldn’t. Obviously. But I could read his. I saw what he craved.

My stomach gave a weird flip at these words. My heartbeat kicked up a few gears.

I started going to his games. And every time, even in the middle of playing, no matter where I sat, his eyes found me. Then, I started going to the after parties, because damn, athletes can party. And the women. Wing bunnies, they call ‘em.Killian whistled out loud.So fucking horny.

Get this story back onto Casey,I said, watching Casey’s prone, lifeless body spasming in his restraints.

He flipped his hair again.Do you know why I kept going back? Because he was perfect for you.

I snapped my head to Killian again.

Here was a guy so perfect for Dima. The Dima I knew so well. Such a nicer gift than a bunch of ephemeral crap from the past. I couldn’t let the opportunity pass. He was exactly your type. And don’t pretend you don’t have a type. We were besties for two centuries. I know what you like. Tall …He began ticking things off on his fingers.Gorgeous. Packing.Killian winked.Emotionally unavailable. You always loved a fixer upper. You weren’t answering my calls. An idea popped into my head. I sacked my familiar and told Casey I needed help. Which I did—do. Place is fucking huge, and I don’t have the kind of wheelhouse to figure out, like, laundry and shit.

“Killian,” I said, in the tone a parent might adopt to get a kid’s story back on track.

So anyway, you know what happened next. Casey said yes. And I’ve been waiting for the perfect moment to present him to you.

Your entire plan was to give me a man? Wrap him up in a nice little parcel with a bow? And I forgive you? For abandoning me?

Killian’s face split into a nervous grin.Kind of.He scuffed his shoe against the skirting.I mean, I never intended for you to forgive me. That wasn’t part of the plan—Still isn’t,he added hastily.And I never meant for this to happen, either.He motioned to the unmoving Casey beyond the mirror.

But you knew, all along, that this was what he wanted. How could you not assume this would happen?

I don’t know!Even inside my head his voice sounded desperate.I just thought that after a while you’d convince him to stay human. I figured that if he spent long enough with me, he’d realise that being undead wasn’t all it’s cracked up to be. But the boy is fucking persistent, and persuasive, and nagging. So, we started filling out the application forms. All that was left to do was pay the fees. We would go halves. He had—has somuch money tucked away, but it would have cleared him out. Me too. All the time I kept thinking I needed to get him to you, but …Killian licked his lips and eyed the ceiling.I really liked having him around. Like, the house was tidy, he hired cleaners, he made sure I didn’t run out of supplies, he found us fun things to do, and I enjoyed chatting to him.

Having him around,he said,another mind-reader, who understood what it was to be a mind-reader, well, it reminded me of what we’d had. Casey and I spent so many evenings on the sofas in the library talking about everything. He spoke about you a lot.

My heart jumped into my throat.He did?

Bestie, the boy was obsessed with you. You were this unattainable icon to him. Everything he wanted, and everything he wanted to be. And I would let him go off about you because I got to hear about my brother.

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