Page 74 of Accidental Vampire

But she can’t. She can’t because I fucked up.

My heart jacked a little. I knew we were alone, but I quick glanced around the room to make sure. I pressed my lips against her forehead.

“I think… I love you,” came out on a ragged breath. I had to say it, once, at least. To test it out. See how it felt. To know if it was possible. A coolness washed over me, steadied my breath, made me feel… different.

Tiffany snuggled in, a light smile playing on her lips. If I wasn’t a vampire, I might never have heard it. “You too,” slipped out on a sigh.

I got up and paced around. I wiped my hand across the back of my mouth.

We shouldn’t be here. We should be out in the country somewhere. Somewhere quiet. Fewer people. I never should have listened to Aurora. I should have just run. Juliette would have found me regardless and snagged me right back to sit at Veronica’s feet. But I could have bought time. Time for Tiffany to settle and be right.

Slipping into the hall, I had to get my foul emotions away from Tiffany before they clung to her and suffocated her.

Murmurs from the Rec Room pulled me there. I didn’t want to be around people, but I needed to smooth out all the sharp emotions abusing me. They were all there, this mismatched band of outcasts. People too damaged, too rebellious that society couldn’t beat down. Zinnia with her bitch tongue. Gonzales who barely had enough brain cells to keep his body functioning. He had an arm flung over Aurora’s shoulders.

And Shahid, “Shaw” all superior with no call to be. He fucked up his position and status so disastrously he needed Patron permission just to step on the isle of Manhattan.

I clenched my fist to ease some tension as I opened a battered armoire that served as a supply closet. I rifled through, having no idea what I was looking for. There was a short stack of 100% cacao bars, cheap drug store candy, not even the good stuff. I sent my fingers walking through various medication bottles, turning them to read the names. Doxycycline, Cholecalciferol, Phytonadione. The only one I could pronounce was Novolog. That was a clear liquid in a little glass vial.

“Those are not the drugs you’re looking for,” Gonzo said in a cartoon voice that made everyone laugh. I jutted my chin out and pushed around some more bottles. Aurora was then at my elbow. She fished out an amber bottle with “dextroam-something” on it. I slipped it into my pocket. Swallowing drugs left something to be desired. I pulled it back out of my pocket, my finger tapping on the white plastic lid.

I’m not an addict. Tiffany wouldn’t like… I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to will that sense of calm back to me.

“So, when we hit the…” I turned around just in time to see Shaw making a throat slice to cut off whatever Zinnia was saying. She gave me a dark look before going back to her phone. Aurora shrugged. She knew what they were talking about.

“So, are you moving in now or what?” A smack echoed through the empty space. “What was that for, Dick?” Gonzo practically squealed, rubbing his cheek. Richard was settling back down. Guess he had wielded the smack.

“Look, it’s a fair question. And you pussies,” he threw an accusing finger at Zinnia, “are all tiptoeing around His Highness. It’s a drag babysitting these two. Three if you count Aurora wanting to fuck every five minutes.” The second smack was from Aurora.

“Fuck you.” Gonzales got up and pulled a soda from the fridge that was plastered with crime scene tape. “Fuck all of you.”

I settled against the wall, crossing my arms. No one seemed inclined to comment. He held the can loosely and waved it to ensnare the entire room.

“Nah, you know, I’m not down with the “no questions” thing anymore.”

“G.” Richard darted glances between Gonzales and Shaw.

“Ay, seriously? What is he gonna do? Demean himself by staying here with the peasants? We’re lucky that Juliet hasn’t rappelled though the skylights commando style to drag him by the ear back to Veronica. We all know it’s only a matter of time before that Scion bullshit comes knocking on our door. Our door.” Gonzales thumped his chest. “What does Shaw always say? “possession is nine tenths of the law.” Well, we are possessing him, fuckers.”

Zinnia put her head in her hands and rubbed her temples. Richard perched on the edge of the sofa, shaking his head at his feet, like he was already mourning his friend who had gone too far. Shaw seemed unimpressed with both the outburst and the conversation, and the breaking of the no questions thing.

“Oh ho, you all think he’s gonna pull off the impossible and slip out of that ton of bricks Veronica has hanging over his head?” He slapped his knee like it was a good ole boy joke. Then he got serious, his eyes went wide, face pure Eureka.

He waggled a finger between Zinnia and Shaw. “Oh, you dumb motherfuckers. You’re hoping he knocks The Big V right off her little throne. Walks right into Ruelle and says, “Daddy’s home. Who wants a bite?” His broken ass can even decide what drugs he wants to take.”

Shaw and Zinnia were carefully still, like even a twitch would set off energy in the room. Aurora caught my eye. Breathing heavy, her lips curled in greed, a lust for things that would satisfy more than her sex drive. Every damn person in this room knew it was impossible to unseat a Patron. Once initiated, a Patron bond can’t be broken, it can only be taken by another Patron. I sure as hell would not whore myself out to Messman or Halberd.

“Unless he has some vast fortune tucked away somewhere, keeping just himself in fresh blood is big bucks. But Miss Thang, with her delusions about “going home”,” he air quoted with his free hand, “and her absolute refusal to deal with her blood lust. River in Egypt, people. River. In. Egypt. If she wasn’t such a piece of…”

I pushed off the wall, pulling myself to my full height. Instinct had me ripping into my bond with Veronica, like I was a Scion again, her Scion. It was muscle memory, not magic now, the remembrance of filling myself with someone else’s power gave me power, or close enough. It stretched to the edges of my being with all the terror the myths whisper in the dark. Vampires are death walking. I took a step towards Gonzales. He matched me with a step backwards, then another.

I stalked him across the room until he tumbled over the arm of the sofa. Flat on his back, soda can bleeding puddles on the floor, one leg in the air, both hands up, placating.

“Alright, I get it.”

Shaw found his feet. The space between us crackled, energy itself echoed in the steel and concrete enclosing us. The room emptied. Gonzales practically evaporated. Brief, terse words between Zinnia and Aurora rippled down the hall as they retreated.

I tilted my head toward Shahid Helios, the rest of me melted into a perfect stilled calm. Helios was an ancient name. Patrons before patrons existed. From a time when mortals feared the gods that walked among them. His eyes flickered around me, hunting flaw or opportunity. Dominance was a werewolf game. No dogs here to tuck tail and snarl over bones. This wasn’t about dominance. It was influence.

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