Page 84 of High Stakes and Soulmates
Casimir smiles. “That is… ridiculously cute.”
“It’s cute your dog took the blanket and pillows from the wounded person?” Ezio asks. “Isthat cute?”
“Your friends are quite evil. It’s apparent why you like them,” Atticus says to Yorick.
“If you’re in here, you are actually not allowed to speak,” Yorick retorts. “Speaking is prohibited.”
“Johnny, the wounded one looks parched,” Atticus says. “Yorick cares so deeply about him that he didn’t notice.”
“I will get him some water,” Johnny says.
“No! I will!” Yorick insists as he races after Johnny, which seems to have been Atticus’s plan all along since he smiles, quite pleased with himself. They both come rushing back with water in hand, and suddenly I’m double-fisting two waters for some odd reason. One feels like warm tap water and the other actually has ice in it, so it’s easy to tell which one I’d prefer.
Ezio glances up from his phone. “Maeve said she’s unable to reach Phil at this moment…”
Casimir’s body stiffens from where he’s been taking pictures of his dog. “What does that mean?”
“You know as much as I do.”
“I know where he was staying,” Casimir says. “He better not be pulling any shit. I will drag him out myself and I will drown him lightly.” He stares at me before hesitating. “I will see if someone else can drag him out. I don’t think I should leave.”
I want to tell him I’m fine here, but I really don’t know whether I am or not. Who’s to say that Louis isn’t waiting for the moment that I’m not surrounded by vampires? I feel uneasy, but I really shouldn’t be. It’s foolish to be uneasy.
“You okay?” Ezio asks.
“Perfectly fine,” I assure him.
“You… sure?”
But I’m not… I’m on edge. If it wasn’t bad enough being afraid of vampires after the attack on my family, I now have werewolves to fear, my family’s killer is coming for my head, and to top it all off, Ezio is acting distant from me. How have I never noticed how much I appreciate how close he is to me?
“Can you tell me more about Louis?” I ask.
Ezio looks at me in surprise. “I… the only stories I have about him are not good ones.”
“I don’t care. I want to know everything you know about him. I’ve spent so many years looking for information on the person who killed my family, and it would mean a lot to know about him.”
He watches me for a long moment, and I realize that maybe he thinks I want him to tell me about how Arturo died. And that’s not what I meant. I’m sure he doesn’t want to relive that, especially with everyone watching.
“Yeah. Sure.”
“I don’t want you to talk about something that bothers you,” I say. “Just… something about this Louis. It doesn’t even have to be much.”
“No, it’s fine. You’re right that it would be best to know what you’re dealing with. Atticus has been around for a while, but he said he doesn’t recognize the name and neither does Casimir.”
Atticus clarifies, “I don’t recognize the name, but like you said, who knows if the name you were given was his true name. When you live for hundreds of years, you pick up a lot of identities.”
“I’m sure all of yours have been shitty,” Yorick says as Atticus sinks into a chair. Johnny smacks some dog toys off the footrest and slides it forward for Atticus’s feet. He kicks them up while he turns his broody stare onto us. It’s… a weirdly impressive pose. It’s a chair that has sat in Casimir’s living room since I met him, but Atticus makes it look like a throne. And when he holds his hand out, Johnny slips a glass of blood into it.
Like… where the fuck did the wineglass of blood come from? Casimir isn’t that fancy over here. Hell, he’s the kind of guy who doesn’t even know how to make popcorn!
Yorick, refusing to be one-upped by him, slides onto the couch across from him and unbuttons the top button of his shirtas he lets his hair fall down. He does tuck a lock behind his ear, though, like he thinks making sure his earrings are on display will win this.
“Would you like to talk privately?” I ask, in case he isn’t prepared to lay it all out in front of the others. “I could have Casimir throw those two in the shed and see which comes out alive?”
Ezio laughs as he slides into a chair. “Nah, it’s okay. Maybe something I have to say will help us identify him and figure out where he’s been hiding all these years.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
