Vince never has to worry about the Feds or Mounties kicking in his door.
Breathing in, I check myself for traces of Aila.I long to hold her in my arms all day, falling asleep with the fragrance of her perfume in my head.
Time for me to find out more about Aila O’Hara.
Walking back to the clubhouse with cautious stealth allows my skin and hair to air dry.Motion detector lights of any kind are banned on Landslide, but this area is the center of all darkness.
The dead ride fast indeed.
I listen at the door to check if any of the Riders are inside.Nope.The coast is clear.They will be playacting as humans up at the inn.
Throwing the clothes into a pile in the corner, I use the secret tunnel that connects with the basement brewhouse.I could do with a couple of bottles of fluid right about now.
“Perkele!Put some fucking clothes on, Theron.”Rundas, the club’s veep, is still here.
“Went for a swim.”
Rundas is on his way out, but he pivots.“Why?”
It’s a good question.We don’t actually sweat; condensation collects on our skin, it doesn’t come out of it.Nor do we have any human bodily functions.A Rider could wear a set of clothes for as long as he wanted, so long as he doesn’t stain it with blood.
We stare one another down across the basement, Rundas poised at the exit and me at the tunnel’s trapdoor.
It feels like a standoff, but I’m cool.
“Oil.”
Rundas’s nostrils flare as he sniffs.“I don’t smell any.Did you use dishwashing soap?”
The mechanic, Carson Regan, shared the secret of how to get motor oil out of our clothing many years back.
“Yes.”
“Don’t fucking wash with dishwashing soap in the creek.Luna says it’s bad for the environment.”
And on that, Rundas leaves.
Fuck, that was close.Luna was right.Lying is damn difficult.
I change into another set of clothes and then go join the rest of the Riders at the bar.Aila isn’t here, but there is Amelia sitting in the corner with Ben.They look very cozy.Got me thinking that the mother is willing to fall in love faster than the daughter, that’s for sure.
Shadow is in charge of slinging drinks this evening.I guess Luna gave him some excuse about not being able to do it so that she could wait for me to sneak back in.
He slides a bottle of fluids over to me to show that there are no hard feelings.The Midnight Sons are doomed to ride together for all eternity.Hanging onto grudges is not an option.
It’s dark enough in here for me to operate smoothly in my comfort zone.Ambling over to Ben’s and Amelia’s table, I pull out a chair and point to it.
“You folks mind if I sit down?”
Amelia nods in a friendly way, but I can see that Ben is pissed.He gets his shot in first.
“How’s yourfather,Hunter?I see you aren’t wearing your colors this evening.Is Theron still living over in Winnipeg?”
When we ride out for blood on the mainland, we usually head north in winter, where the nights are longer.Every generation or so, we pretend that the “father” stayed in the north while the “son” takes his place.This stops the locals from raising questions about our immortal good looks.
We regenerated five years ago, turning our dark hair lighter and shaving off our thick beards.We’ll do it again in another thirty years or so, because the father-son system has worked for over two hundred years.
Ben is trying to make a point that he thinks I am too young to consider flirting with Amelia.He’s not wrong there.
