Snod’s stomach lurched and his lust rapidly departed. Lorenzo was frighteningly close to the truth.
“He’s not,” Frankie insisted, finally releasing Snod and inspecting his hand. The tines of the fork
hadn’t quite made it all the way through, and he tried to soothe his friend’s concerns as he said, “He
was kicked out. They abandoned him, and I’m going to help him get a fresh start. He’s not going to
hunt anymore. Isn’t that right, Obe?”
“Not vampires anyway,” Snod grumbled, his eyes narrowing at Lorenzo. He winced when Frankie
pulled the fork out, swearing up a storm as blood dribbled out from the punctures.
“Sorry,” Frankie sighed gently, blinking away quickly to grab a bandage to gently wrap up Snod’s
injured hand.
Snod detected a faint rumble of hunger from Frankie seeing the blood, but it was gone just as quickly
as it arrived.
“Seriously, Frankie,” Lorenzo said, warily glancing over at Frankie as he tended to Snod’s wound.
“My head vibes are screamin’ that something is wrong here.”
Snod flinched slightly as Frankie dressed his hand, but he let his anger reduce to a simmer. Frankie’s
cool touch was comforting, and he looked up into his bright green eyes. He didn’t know what to think,
what to say.
He couldn’t stop thoughts of Athaliah popping up into his mind. His brother was why he had to do
this. Even stronger than his loyalty to the Order was his love for his brother. The familiar nibble of
guilt began to gnaw at his insides.
“Yeah?” Frankie asked his friend with a raised brow as he adjusted Snod’s bandage. “And where
were these vibes at when you met Obe the first time? It seems a little unfair you’re only having
suspicions about him after you found out he was in the Order.”
Snod’s teeth clicked together, anything nasty he had to say stolen away listening to Frankie defend him
so passionately. He was surprised, and immediately humbled. Once again, he had misjudged Frankie,
and his guilt continued to chew up his guts.
“Maaaybe I had them and just didn’t tell you,” Lorenzo said stubbornly. “Besides, you’re the one that
told me all that whacked-out stuff about them! They’re not good people... he already tried to kill you
once. I’m not letting that go.”
“I know,” Frankie sighed in frustration. “I know I said a lot of terrible things, and yes, I was very
biased because of what they stand for. But Obe’s shortcomings are not his fault. It’s how they raised
