He blinks, “I thought that was obvious.”Oh.
Throwing my hands up in defeat, I explain, “I have no idea what I’m doing here, Fritz. I’ve never dated one man, much less two.”
He gives me a sympathetic smile and grabs both my hands in his, “You’re overthinking it. Cas and I are hundreds of years old, so we have exorbitant amounts of patience. There’s no need to rush into anything with labels. We want you, you want us. Right?”
I nod again, and he lifts a hand to kiss my palm right as the waitress arrives and places our ridiculous, gorgeous drinks before us. We place our breakfast orders, French Toast piled high with strawberries and bananas for me and some kind of potato and bacon skillet for him.
“I think maybe you’re having a hard time because you’re thinking of this as an all or nothing situation, yeah? But we aren’t a package deal. There’s your growing relationship with Caspian, and then our… whatever we are. Two completely separate things that sometimes coincide. Okay?”
It’s definitely not as simple as he’s making it out to be, but maybe it can be. I’ll just… go with the flow. Just thinking that phrase has my stomach dropping. Going with the flowhas never been my strong suit. But, for them, I’ll do my best.
Once the food arrives, we eat quietly for a few minutes, enjoying the comfortable silence. Until one question forces its way out of my mouth, “Would you come visit me? Back home?”
“Of course I’ll come visit you,” he says around a mouthful, “Although, I think eventually you’ll want to move here.”
“Move? Here?” I’m dumbfounded. He wants us to move in after two days? “We haven’t even fucked and you wanna move me in?”
He chokes on his food, surprised by my abrupt wording. After clearing his throat he answers, “Bel, as I said, we’ve been around a while. I instinctively know that you are supposed to be here with me- with us,” he amends. “In all my years, I’ve never felt this pull, the… rightness. I don’t need more time to learn what my soul already knows.”
Dejectedly, I utter my fears, “But I’ll… get old. I’ll die,” his face drops, losing all color, “And what happens then?”
He shakes off the imagery of my death, seemingly debating something in his head before correcting me, “Actually, you don’thaveto die. There are ways around it.”
“What?” I can’t fucking believe it, “How?”
He groans, “It’s a really gross and dangerous ritual. And honestly, that’s a conversation for you to have with Caspian becauseIwill not be doing it.”
“Why not?” I prod.
“Because in all likelihood, I’ll kill you,” he says casually, like we’re talking about the weather.
“Kill me?” I repeat, hoping for clarification.
“Yeah,” he keeps talking while eating, and I want to reach over and close his fucking maw for him, “Ya know how Cas and I are different types of demons? Well, each classification of demon has their own way of giving immortality to humans, depending on how we gain power.”
I narrow my eyes, still not following what he means.
He makes a face like he’s disgusted that he even has to bring it up, swallowing down the bite he’s been working on before clarifying. “I feed on the life force, the energy. So in order to bind a mortal’s life to mine, there has to be an equal exchange, given freely by both parties. I have to drain almost all of their life force, before then filling their body with enough life force to sustain them for presumably forever.”
I think about the implications of that, then ask, “But finding the right balance without draining all their life or overdosing them would be too difficult?”
“Exactly! TheBiberédo a simple exchange of blood,” he waves his hand around in emphasis as he speaks, practically weaving the story into the air. “They drink of their chosen human and then the chosen drinks of them. Nasty, but arguably the least dangerous.”
“And those like Caspian? The…Devoré?”He can’t possibly mean… no, we would have to,“Absolutely fucking not.”
He nods in concession, “Yeah, it’s not pretty. But it’s far less risky than the other option,” I go to argue, but he continues, “Look, Sweets. We don’t need to be discussing this now. It’s too early. There’s no pressure on you to even be thinking about next month, much less eternity.”
“Couldn’t we just find one of the vampy ones to like help me with the immortality thing?”
He laughs like I just told the funniest joke, “No, Caspian would find a way to killl the unkillable before he allowed it. The exchange creates a bond of sorts. You can feel the others emotions, and find them like a homing beacon. I’ve heard the sex is mind-blowing.” He wags his brows at me, “Not that we have any need for improvement there.”
I feel warmth spread across my cheeks and have to shut that shit down, so I ignore the comment and take another bite. Fritz’s scorching gaze warms my face further, so I look back up at him, and he smiles, “Hurry up, Songbird. I have more plans for us before you two go back home.”
“Really? What are we going to do?” Now I’m so excited I push my plate away immediately. Fritz’s enthusiasm is contagious and I want to see whatever he has in store for me right now.
“I’m going to teach you how to play blackjack,” he grins and throws a couple $20s on the table before standing and holding out a hand to me. I gladly take it, lacing our fingers together to go on to the next adventure.
* * *
