Page 70 of Map of Pain
“You—”Nick started, then stopped, struggling to process the surreal situation.“You’re supposed to be dead. Or captured. Or...”
“Nope, still breathing and annoyingly difficult to get rid of,”Adam said with that same irreverent grin Nick remembered from their teenage years.“Come on, let’s get you somewhere to sit down before you fall over. This is going to take a while, and you look like you’re about to have a panic attack.”
“I remember you,”Nick managed as Adam guided him away from the center of the room.“You made Caleb’s life hell.”
“Yeah, I did.”Adam’s expression grew more serious.“And you threatened to feed me my own teeth if I didn’t stop. Which, fair enough—Iwasa complete piece of shit back then.”
Theyweremoving toward a cluster of comfortable chairs in a corner, away from the main group. Nick caught glimpses of the others as they walked: Marcus’s distinctive profile, Ophelia’s brassy hair catching the light, and—
A commotion erupted from the bar area. Vincent Bellenger stood in front of an elaborate espresso machine, his tall frame rigid with frustration as steam hissed angrily from various valves and pipes. His blonde hairwasdisheveled, and even from across the room, Nick could see the tension in his shoulders.
“Fuck this fucking machine,”Vincent snarled, jabbing at buttons with increasing violence.“Why can’t it just make coffee like a normal—”
“Get away from my machine!”Ophelia’s voice cut through his tirade as she appeared at his elbow, shoving him aside with surprising force for someone so small.“You’re going to break it, you absolute caveman!”
“It’s broken already!”Vincent protested, waving his hands at the contraption.“At home, Adam just puts in the little cup thing and pushes a button! Thishasseventeen different settings and none of them make sense!”
“That’s because you have the spatial reasoning of a concussed hamster,”Ophelia shot back, already working with practiced efficiency to reset whatever Vincentmangled.“Step back and let someone with opposable thumbs handle this.”
“I have opposable thumbs!”
“Evidence suggests otherwise.”
Nick found himself watching the exchange with growing amazement. ThiswasVincent Bellenger? The vampire whose Society file described him as“extremely dangerous, known for sadistic tendencies and unpredictable violence”? The monster who supposedly took pleasure in torturing humans for entertainment?
Hewasbickering with a teenage girl about coffee machine settings.
A laugh bubbled up from Nick’s chest before he could stop it—not the dark, bitter sound that passed for his amusement, but something lighter. More genuine.
Adam looked over at him with surprise, then followed his gaze to the continuing coffee crisis. Vincentwasnow pointing accusingly at various dials while Ophelia rolled her eyes with theatrical exasperation.
“You think this is funny?”Vincent called out, apparently having heard Nick’s laughter.“This machine is designed by sadists!”
“Pretty sure it just requires reading the manual,”Ophelia said.“Which would involve admitting you don’t know something, so...”
“I know plenty of things!”
“Name three.”
Adamwaslaughing too, the sound infectious and warm.
Nick felt his anxiety wane.“That’s really Vincent Bellenger?”
“The one and only.”Adam grinned.“Why? You know him?”
“Not personally. But the Societyhasfiles on him.”Nick paused, watching as Vincent stepped back and let Ophelia work her magic with the machine.“They say he’s... different.”
“Different how?”
Nick looked at Adam carefully, trying to gauge how much he could reveal.“Unstable. Violent. They have him listed as particularly dangerous, even for a vampire. Someone who enjoys causing pain.”
Adamwasquiet for a moment, his bright green eyes focused on Vincent with an expression thatwashard to read. When he spoke again, his voicewasthoughtful rather than defensive.
“Actually,”Adam said, leaning back in his chair,“they’re probably not wrong about the volatile and violent part. Vincent drugged me behind a strip club, kidnapped me, and stole my prosthetic foot the first time we met.”
Nick blinked. “Your what?”
“Prosthetic foot. Lost the real one in a car accident.”Adam said it casually, like hewasdiscussing the weather.“I overheard some vampire business behind his strip club, so he decided to take me somewhere private for questioning. Very private. Very scary.”
