Page 64 of The Doctor's Wolf: Part Two
“I’m not your fucking friend, vampire!”
“That’s Mr.Vampire for you, and I was being hyperbolic.Adler?”
“Right.”Adler turned, meeting Gordon’s eyes.“You’re okay?”
Gordon frowned.He stood pushed against one of the shelves with the typewriters, Adler protecting him with his bulk.
“I’m peachy.Go be policy, detective.”
“Right.”My mate shouldn’t be here, he shouldn’t.
Gordon stifled a sigh as Adler pulled out his cuffs and walked toward Maxim and the bigot.
“What do we do with this one?”Gordon asked.
Maxim took the cuffs off Adler and put them in place quickly.“Normally, I’d call backup, but that might be ill-advised.”He spun the man to face him.“You will be staying in the back, right where I leave you,” he said, eyes going wide, then focused as he deployed his compulsion.
“Yes, I will,” the man said, and Maxim walked him toward the back.
Adler turned and closed the distance between him and Gordon, pulling Gordon into an embrace.
“What is it going to cost me to get you to wait in Maxim’s fancy car?”
This close, Gordon almost felt Adler’s thoughts, and they were jumbled,mateandsafeprominent.He hugged Adler back.
“I’m here because people might be hurt, plus I’m a vampire.I’m not as soft as you think, detective, plus the last thing I want to do is be a hero.I’m happy to let Maxim and his blades do the slicing.”
And Adler…whined.It was a soft sound, near inaudible, and for some reason, it unlocked a door behind which Gordon found a massive amount of guilt about the way the mate bite had apparently decided to connect them through one-sided telepathy.
He cleared his throat.“Look, Adler—”
“Oh, turtledoves, I would love to leave you to love, but we must find the lost and the loathsome.”Maxim walked out from the back on silent feet.“Come now.And Adler, never look an old vampire in the eye.”
“I know, I know,” Adler said, his hold on Gordon tightening.I’ll protect him blind.
“Come on, detective.Let’s go.And you won’t have to protect me, because I’m really happy not getting in the path of danger, okay?I do science stuff.I hand out weed cookies.That’s about as risqué as I can handle.”
Maxim groaned.“Oh, Adler, your sweet mate and my single son, they have not lived.They have not tasted adventure.Whatever shall we do with them?”
Lock them up and keep them safe,Adler thought without hesitation.“Just let them be.Sweetheart, you don’t have to go find adventure.I’ll buy you…what’s that donut edition?”
Heat rose to Gordon’s cheeks.“The Kawaii Demon Hunter Breakfast Special Edition.”
Adler stood back, taking Gordon’s hands in his.“Yeah.You can pick anything from that if you wait in his car.”
“Aw, darlings, is this the first time you tried bribery as a relationship coping mechanism?It’s just so dear, my heart might never recover.”
“We’re coming, Maxim,” Gordon said.“And Adler, I’m coming too.I know you can keep me safe though, so let’s go.Now.”
Gordon hoped that Adler would accept that, and he did, nodding once even though he was frowning.
“It’s a werewolf thing.Wanting you safe.”
Maxim hummed.“That it isn’t.Regardless, let’s see what hides upstairs.Let’s see if it calls for blades or Gordon’s skill.”
Blades I hope,Gordon thought, but kept that to himself.
They rounded the typewriter shop though because of how the city had grown around it, the alley between the shop and the neighboring building was narrow.Gordon had never been trained to gather clues from his surroundings, but he could tell that it would be easy to vanish into this gap and disappear off the street.
