Page 28 of High Stakes and Soulmates
“I know. The more I get to know him, the more I know that’s true. It’s just… after that, I had an extreme dislike of vampires.”
Julian rubs his neck where he has scars from a vampire tearing it open. “Ha… trust me, I know. Even after all of this, it still makes me nervous being around vampires who aren’t Ezio or Casimir… and I guess Yorick, which is funny. I feel like I should be concerned by him but I also think he’s like a child who just wants someone to give him attention.”
“I agree with that,” I say.
“I know it doesn’t fix anything, but Ezio really does care for you. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to give him a chance to show you that not all vampires are monsters. It’s the same with weres and humans. There’s always someone out there who’s more than happy to destroy a life. Just like whatever is going on here.”
I look back at the house. “Yeah, very true.”
“So you never found out who did it?”
“No.”
“Why don’t you talk to Casimir and Ezio about it? Maybe they can help.”
I slowly nod. “Yeah… I’ll think about it.”
“Alright, well, you know I’m always here to talk if you need to. I would love to help, but like… I know my sniffer is good but I’m actually just an art professor and know absolutely nothing about crime. Ooh, I do like the occasional crime drama, though. Or psychological thriller. Those are fun.”
I grin. “Let’s hope this isn’t a psychological thriller.”
“If it is… the killer is the least likely person… so it must be… Steve!”
That makes me laugh. “Casimir would love it if it was Steve. Or Ezio would love it if it was Zach.”
“Poor heartbroken Zach,” Julian says with a grin.
“I guess we should get back there.”
“Yeah?” Julian waggles his eyebrows. “You don’t like our one-on-ones with me in the nude and you holding my leash? I feel almost… upset.” He twirls the leash I’m at least not holding this time.
“I really should have offered you clothes again, shouldn’t I?” I ask.
“At this point, I have to assume you just like to see me naked,” Julian says. “I appreciate it, but I’m a taken man.”
“I don’t want your taken ass.”
He laughs before shifting and trotting off without me. I realize I should probably follow him, so I find him over with Ezio lapping out of his coffee cup. I guess that’s one way to get rid of it.
“You two were behind the fence for a while. And… are your clothes a bit ruffled?” Ezio asks as he scrutinizes me like the two of us might have been having a tussle behind the fence.
“That would have to do with you chucking me over the fence,” I say, stifling a yawn. Even with everything going on, I feel like I could lie down and take a nap right here. I’m tired of being so tired all the time.
“Ah, understandable,” he replies as I hear the noise of someone coming. Ezio pulls the cup away from Julian who doesn’t seem prepared to let it go—it is pretty good coffee.
Zach approaches us. “So I got ahold of the son who lives out of town. He tried their phone number, but no one answered. And he told us where a key is and insisted someone check in on them because they should have answered the door. He said he doesn’t speak to his parents much, so he hadn’t contacted them in a couple of weeks, but insisted we let ourselves in to make sure they’re alright.”
“It’s not looking good,” Maeve comments as I see a police car pull up. They were probably alerted by Zach when he started his hunt. The group of us go to the door and unlock it, but I don’t even have to go inside before I’m hit with the smell of decay.
“Well fuck,” Zach says when the lights show us our third set of victims, an elderly couple killed in the same way as the rest, though the decomposition indicates they were killed earlier than the others.
The question now is… if the others were involved in their deaths… how did they end up dying later?
CHAPTER EIGHT
EZIO
Past
