Page 34 of By the Pint

That vampirism and human unaliving went hand in cold, dead hand.

And yet, he still wanted immortality …

In time. I said it into his mind. I wasn’t sure his human ears would've heard me over the bubbles.

I would show him. I’d show him everything, I realised. But not right away. Because the other reason I was withholding the information was that I wanted to spend more time with him.

Was that wrong? Probably.

Strong creeper vibes? Yep, most definitely.

But how often did a gorgeous, grumpy, ex-athlete human mind-reader who wanted to get to know me come along? I may have stretched the definition of get to know me, but still.

Oh, I forgot to add totally horny for me. That was a big one. Literally. I snorted a laugh out loud.

“In time? What the fuck does that mean? A week? A year? A decade? You vampires always seem to forget that you operate on a completely different time scale than everyone else.”

Right, he was still pissed about Killian and his five-now-thirteen-year plan.

I didn’t go all the way into Casey’s mind, but I’d seen enough. His dominant thoughts bubbled just below the surface. I saw my blood-brother’s shattered promise at the very forefront, and Casey’s panic about the sands of time ticking away.

I’m not Killian. I know how to keep my word.

Casey whipped his head round to me. How was anyone supposed to concentrate on what they were doing when presented with a face like that? He stomped over to the tub and crouched next to it. I heaved myself out of the water, hit the off button, and sat opposite him.

Don’t look at his junk,Casey told himself.

I caught my smile between my teeth. “You can look, Moonflower.”

He rolled his eyes, and laughter burst from me.

“How do you know Killian?” he said without thinking the question through beforehand.

My smile vanished.

Bingo, Casey said.

I didn’t know what to tell him. Mention Killian and I were blood-brothers? Twins even. That we were turned on the same night? That we were somehow acquainted with each other before we were turned but neither of us remembered how? Thatafter two hundred years of being inseparable, Killian betrayed me? And left me to rot in gaol for a fucking crime I didn’t commit?

Completely obliterate how Casey thought of his master. Shatter his perception of him.

Currently, Casey viewed Killian as a rowdy, randy teenager that needed governing, rather than the all-powerful vampiric lord boss of his life. From what I glimpsed into Casey’s thoughts, they had an … interesting relationship. Far from what was generally expected of a master/familiar dynamic. It also told me that after four-hundred years, Killian had not changed one modicum.

So maybe I didn’t mention how I knew Killian. Not right away, at least.

“How about we make a deal?” I said.

Casey’s eyebrows jumped upwards, but he kept silent.

“I’ll tell you. Everything. I’ll let you into my mind. For as long as you want. Scrape around in there. Get whatever business info you need. Though I find it implausible your master wants my business secrets. But you can have them. I’ll give you unfettered access to every one of my secrets. Every one of my thoughts. My desires.”

Casey wetted his lips. “And what do you want from me?” His voice was breathy. He shifted his weight to his knees, not noticing at first that he was kneeling in the hot tub runoff. He brushed the thought aside as soon as he realised. Interesting.

“I want you to learn to block your thoughts,” I said. “From me. And Killian. And from hackers.”

The name hackers was a relatively new term. Before computery … things existed, they were macemen or spearmen. Macemen, hackers, whatever you wanted to call them, were vampires employed (see also conscripted) and trained by theAssembly of the Undead. Their jobs were to penetrate minds and harvest useful information.

They were highly regulated, and lived uber-controlled un-lives, in strict military-like conditions.

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