Page 50 of Heathens

“Too long, pal.”

My blade slices through the last bit of muscle, and the tongue comes loose. I pull back and lift it up to the moonlight.

“This’ll look great on my mantle.”

Theo has already latched on to the side of his neck, drinking greedily as the tip of his cigarette burns to ash. I lick the blood from my fingertips and drop to my knees, both of us fully giving in to the thirst and draining what’s left of my little intruder until he’s dry.

Theo rips his mouth away and stares up at the ceiling as his chest heaves, mouth smeared with red. His eyes roll back like he’s just seen God.

“You good?” I ask, gesturing at the half-knit wound in his neck.

He nods, coming down from the high of a fresh kill.

“Should be almost healed by morning.”

I lean over to inspect the wound, making sure he’ll survive the night.

Vampires are an inherently lonely species. We age much slower than humans, which means that we see a lot of the world change. I often feel like I’m sitting in a moving train watching the landscape whir past me. Months turn into years, which turn into centuries.I’ve lost my parents, my brothers and sisters, friends, and a wife. It always feels like the universe is taking from me to square some kind of debt, but Theo’s the one constant I’ve been able to hold on to.

“You stay here tonight. I’ll give you a change of clothes.”

“Thanks, Dom.”

I grin at him.

“Brothers, right?”

He smiles, his eyes bright and beautiful.

“Brothers.”

Back when we broke away, I promised Theo the same thing that Rene promised me: Power. Except this time, I’ll deliver. He deserves that much.

The formula is the key.

“Hey, you wanna blow off some steam tomorrow night?” He asks. “You know, like the good old days?”

Now that’s something I wasn’t expecting.

“What are you thinking?”

“The feeding rooms at Nox are open, and you’ve gotta come up with a plan for your cute little bartender, right?”

Rene’s threat hits me again. He’s right. I have to keep her safe.

“We should go. Now.”

I go to stand but Theo stops me, a hand on my shoulder.

“Sun rises in half an hour. If we can’t get there in time, then neither can he.”

“Unless they’re already there. Theo, they–”

“Dom, Nox is closed, remember? Has been for at least an hour now.”

I jiggle my leg, anxiety flooding me in waves.

“You think he’s lying about her? About what he’s planning to do?”

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