“Until tomorrow,” he sighed in relief. I ground my teeth at his promise.
2
Iswiveled in my desk chair, rubbing my eyes and sighing as I kept the phone pressed to my ear. He alwayshadto call when I was sleeping.
“Full update?” Brother Hackmann asked. The conversations with the Brotherhood had been irregular over the years but now that we were finally close to completing our mission the calls had picked back up.
“Sanguine Society took the bait. They flirted with him for a year but finally gave him the invitation we’ve been waiting on. Sebastian is in.”
“About time. What’s the plan?” He asked. I groaned internally, it was too early for this shit. After three years of pretending to be a college jock, I was used to the role, probably too much.
This was a long-term mission and the payoff would be spectacular. We weren’t dealing with a nickel-dime vampire nest with a few scroungy bloodsuckers snatching up drunks and hitchhikers. This was an organized, powerful collection of vampires who were onboarding the children of the rich and prestigious.
“According to everything we’ve gathered, he’ll work as a human servant for a year before they begin the process of turning him into a vampire. Tonight is his orientation...” I trailed off as I heard a deep moan through the wall. I swallowed. What was he doing?
“He needs you,” Hackmann said and I snapped back to the conversation. Could he hear the moan? What the fuck was he saying?
“What?” I asked harshly.
“He’s going to be surrounded by them and he’ll need you more than ever. Shed the false identity and commit yourself one hundred percent to supporting him until we get the information we need.” A moan came again and I leapt up and crossed the room, banging my fist on the wall by my bed to get him to stop.
“What’s that?” Hackmann asked.
“Nothing,” I dismissed, pretending certain parts of me weren’t perking up. “I don’t think I should shed the identity—”
“Negative,” he said quickly and I ground my teeth before taking a deep breath so I wouldn’t say anything I shouldn’t. Hackmann was a micro-manager who always thought he knew best. I was not looking forward to going back to the Brotherhood base after this mission was done. I’d grown used to the freedom distance offered. It was the first time I’d ever been away from their overbearing presence and I’d liked it more than I ever anticipated.
“Get the info we need, then call it in and come back to base.”
“What?” I snapped.
“You didn’t think you two would handle taking down Sanguine Society did you?” He asked, sounding humored.
“I thought we’d get back up,” I said slowly, anger simmering in me.
“Back up,” he huffed out with a chuckle. “Look, your mission was a success. We’ll take over once you confirm the locations and numbers.”
“We’ve been on this mission for three years and we can’t even be part of the takedown?” I asked heatedly, making sure I got this right. He was quiet for a moment and then pressed the phone close to his mouth, evident by the whispered growl he gave me.
“What did you think was going to happen when you pulled the shit you did at graduation? Blackmailing me to make sure you ended up paired with Sebastian.” He scoffed. Three years later and he was never going to let that go. Doing what I did had cost me. No longer was I the favored up-and-coming legacy hunter. Hackmann despised me.
“I just wanted to make sure I was with who matched me best—”
“Bullshit,” he snapped, interrupting me. “We would have paired you with your best match. You’re obsessed with him and he doesn't have a clue. You better not have gotten up to anything while you two have been playing collegebros.” I felt my neck heat up as his implications settled over me. “You know fraternization isn’t allowed and I’m looking for any excuse I can to punish you. I don’t give a shit who your parents were.” The line went dead.
“Fuck!” I snapped, shoving the phone back into the bag where it hid, then dropping on my bed in frustration.
All the other hunting teams who graduated training with us had already finished their first mission. They’d proven themselves and moved on to other missions over the years, climbing ranks. We were stuck with this big one for three years. At first glance, it could look like an important mission. Sebastian had been pleased, excited even. I didn’t have the balls to tell him the truth. That it was a long shot mission and they’d sent us out here to punish me.
Sebastian was fiercely committed though. I was too; killing vampires was a noble cause and just because this was a trash mission didn’t mean I wouldn’t give it my all. I thought when I relayed our longshot success the punishment would be over.
However, now we wouldn’t even be part of the takedown. Clearly, I was still being punished for what I’d done. Sebastian had no idea I was costing him his career as a vampire hunter. It was affecting mine too but at least I’d done something to cause that. I couldn’t very well tell him what I’d done though. That would involve admitting some very uncomfortable things. Such as being obsessed with him like Hackmann had accused. Thoughobsessiondidn’t feel like a strong enough word.
Noises came through the wall again and I was angry for a moment—frustrated I had to be so close to him and control myself. Years of wall-muffled sounds of masturbation were driving me mad. Then I realized they weren’t sounds of pleasure like my twisted mind wanted–they were of distress.Fuck.
I leapt up and crashed into his room uninvited. My steps faltered a moment when I saw him stretched out in bed–his pale, soft skin and tight muscles on display as he fought against his blankets. A sheen of sweat was over him, making his definition stand out.
Sebastian made a strangled noise then growled, twisting in bed, the blanket wrapping around and suffocating him. A muffled grunt of pain came from him. Nightmares again. Which was a common thing amongst hunters. Surprise, surprise.
