Page 45 of Cuddles for the Bear
Hide, Wren. For fuck’s sake, hide.Devon winced as he realized he was too late. As the vampire came in, Wren was the first and only person he would’ve seen.
“My goodness, how unexpected.” The pastor seemed genuinely pleased to see someone just randomly standing in his entrance hall, although behind the door, Devon was frantic. He adjusted the grip on his machete. He was only going to get one swipe, and he was determined to make it count.
The vampire clicked a light switch by the door, and the area was flooded with soft light. “Little Wren, is that you? You’re the last person I expected to see this evening. Look at you, all fancy in your suit and boots – a far cry from the wretched little urchin you were at fourteen. Have you come back to me? Did that snake throw you out, or did you finally realize your worth and kill the no-good idiot?”
“I brought you a present.” Wren coughed and straightened his back. “I brought you a present as payment for what you did for me.”
“A present, for me?” Devon couldn’t see the vampire’s face as he was staring at a broad back and slender neck. The vampire’s blond hair was cut close to his head. “Don’t tell me you’re still on the crazy religious train everyone else around here won’t get off of – thinking that you owe me something and all that bullshit. Honestly, it’s getting so tedious. Well, what is it? What did you bring me?”
Devon could scent no fear coming from the vampire, but the disdainful tone he used with Wren, treating him and all the people who likely worshipped him and paid for the extravagant house as if they were nothing, was the push Devon needed.
“He brought me,” Devon growled, his bear lending him strength as he moved forward, his machete swinging before the pastor had a chance to turn around. The pastor’s face still had its shocked expression as his head fell to the floor. Determined to make sure the vampire was truly dead, Devon kicked the head, rolling it farther away from the slumped body.
“He won’t get up, will he?” Wren crept forward. “Do heads reattach in paranormals?”
“Not in vampires, no.” Devon let out a long breath as he let the hand holding the machete drop to his side. “You took ten years off my life when you didn’t hide. I thought you’d tuck yourself under the staircase.”
“I was doing what you said about being flexible. It worked out better this way.” Wren was still studying the body. “By focusing on me, the pastor wouldn’t have thought to look for you until it was too late. It made sense in my head.”
He’s not wrong.“Thank you…I think. We need to get out of here,” Devon said, reaching into his pants pocket for his phone. “I’ll text Cyrus to let him know the job’s done. The cleaners will be in here within an hour, and we can’t be here for that.”
“They need to look for a basement,” Wren was looking around as though a door with a basement sign would be visible in the hallway.
“Is that where you were held when you were taken?”
“No, I didn’t come here. Maybe an attic? I was thinking about what you said about the blood supply.” Wren rubbed the side ofhis neck. “I don’t know how much blood a vampire needs, but I’ve just got this feeling…”
“We can’t stay and look, that’s not what we do. Absolutely no one can know we were here, and we’re not allowed to take anything from the scene, including people. I’m texting Cyrus now.” Devon started tapping out a message. He wasn’t sure if the cleaners would find anything, or anyone, but he respected Wren’s intuition the same as he did his own. “I promise if anyone else is here, they’ll be safe, as will the rest of this town from now on.”
“Okay. That’s good. Someone needs to check.” Wren dropped his hand and nodded. “I feel a bit woozy, lightheaded.” Devon stepped over the dead body as Wren swayed on his feet. “Is that normal?”
“You probably just need some fresh air.” Finishing his text to Cyrus and hitting send, Devon wrapped his arm around Wren’s waist. “Let’s get back to the car.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The tears started flowing about twenty minutes into their trip back. Wren had done his best to hold himself together. Devon wasn’t talking, clearly focusing on the road and getting them back to the comfort of the hotel. As Wren had no idea what an assassin did to decompress after taking a life, he felt it best to stay quiet as well.
There was nothing to see but a dark road, broken only by the occasional flash of car headlights as a car or truck passed on the other side of the road. And with nothing to distract him, Wren was left alone with his thoughts and feelings. Thoughts and feelings that were just getting so jumbled up, they were threatening to overwhelm him.
That’s when the tears came. Wren tried to hide them, turning his face to the passenger window, blinking rapidly, trying to stop the flow. He heard Devon say, “What the fuck, babe?” before the car swerved to the shoulder of the road, and blinking lights suddenly flashed on the pavement.
“Babe, what’s wrong?” Wren was pulled over the middle console, until he settled on Devon’s lap, his bear’s big arms wrapped around him like a blanket. Wren loved Devon’s scent, and usually it helped soothe him, but for some reason, it made him cry harder than ever. Gripping Devon’s jacket, Wren’s tears turned to gasping sobs, and still he couldn’t stop.
“It’s all right, precious. Let it all out.”
Devon was stroking from his hair and down his back, which was wonderful, but all Wren could think was,let what out?“I don’t know what you mean,” he sobbed, his voice rising. “I don’t know what’s trying to come out. I’ve got all these feelings and none of them make sense. I just want to scream with it all.”
“Then scream. Although hang on just a minute.”
Wren lifted his head as he heard the car door open. Devon stepped out into the dark, still holding Wren close as he strode over the shoulder and into some bushes on the side of the road. He set Wren back on his feet again. “There’s no one around,” Devon said quietly. “Scream as loud as you like.”
“I can’t scream. I’ll hurt your sweet bear’s ears.”
“My bear can take it. Scream. Let it all out.”
“I don’t know why I want to.” Wren was panting so hard he was seeing spots in front of his eyes. “What’s happening to me?”
“A breakthrough, babe. Here, I’ll do it with you. One…two…three. Aargh!” Devon’s yell pierced the night air. “Now you.”
