“Alright,” Declan agrees. He walks toward me and presses our bodies together, he drags his half-hard cock against my thigh. “After dancing.”
I’m going to tear him apart.
You better, he thinks, then he laughs and walks back to the door, joining Liz and Elijah.
“You keep an eye on him, Elijah. He’s new to all of this,” I beg my brother’s best friend.
“If I can keep Liz in line, your mate should be easy enough to manage,” Elijah laughs. He pulls the door open and looks back at me. “We’ll be back well before sunrise, Ezra. I promise.”
My parents appear in the doorway between the dining room and the entry way, and it’s clear the time for goodbyes is through. Declan gives me one last dazzling smile and dirty thought, then he’s whisked out the door in the blur of Liz’s blonde hair and Elijah’s broad shoulders.
“Let’s talk,” William says.
I don’t want to talk. I want to fuck Declan. I stomp my foot, a little petulantly, and follow them into the dining room. There’re five glasses on the table, and our parents quietly take their respective seats.
I take a drink, waiting for Henry to get around the table, and I grimace. I’ve been spoiled this week, drinking exclusively from Declan. This blood that’s not his tastes sour, and I need to work to swallow it down.
“You need to moderate, Ezra,” my mother says, taking a small drink from her own glass.
“I know,” I mumble.
“Before I say anything, I don’t want any of you to panic,” William says, his hands lying flat on the table.
“That’s not a good way to start a conversation,” I tell him.
He shoots me a blazing look that has me cowering back in my chair. It’s been years since I’ve seen him show any sort of emotion beyond affection for my mother, and it leaves me silent and breathless.
Declan is in the backseat of Liz’s car and he’s laughing while Elijah sings Queen songs to them both. I force myself to relax. There’s a sharp feeling in my head, and I rub my temple. It didn’t hurt, but I’m not exactly sure what it was.
I like when you look in on me,Declan thinks at me from across town.It feels good knowing you’re still inside of me even when we’re apart.
I’m inside of you in more ways than one, I remind him.
“Ezra,” William snaps. “This is serious.”
“Alright.”
“We’ve let you have your dalliances, but you have a mate now and it’s time you get brought up to speed on the politics of the county.”
“I’ve been with you for centuries. We’ve been here for years. I’m familiar,” I remind him.
“Then who is Franklin Smith?”
I look toward the ceiling and run through the rolodex of people and vampires I’ve heard them whispering about over the years and I draw a blank.
“I don’t know,” I tell him.
“Of course you don’t.” My father looks at Henry. “Who is Franklin Smith?”
“He’s just come into town a few months ago. He’s been laying low because he’s young. He’s not even old as Ezra is, but he’s been encroaching on the humans.”
“What does that even mean?” Diah asks, putting back half the contents of his glass in one swallow.
“He’s been feeding from locals and compelling them to forget him.”
“If they’re forgetting, how do you know it’s happening?” I ask.
“Because I’ve seen him do it,” Henry answers, giving me a disappointed glance. “When I go out at night, I pay attention, Ezra. I don’t just waste the hours away.”
