The other vampire grimaced. “Foxx, I feel I shouldn’t have to explain the dangers of giving a hunter, who you claim hates you, full access to your home.”
“Well, his blew up! What was I supposed to do?”
“I don’t know. Ask some important questions like why the fuck his house blew up?” Alastair huffed.
“I mean, he’s a hunter, so he probably pissed someone off. Does it really matter? He’s coming here to live with me! Don’t you see how it’s the perfect opportunity to trap him into a friendship!”
“I don’t want to feel bad for a hunter, but I do sort of feel bad for your poor partner. He has no clue what he is getting into with you, does he?”
Foxx sat up on a gasp and turned to glare at the vampire. “Be nice! How can you not want someone else to experience what it’s like to be friends with me?! Don’t be mad that you have to share me.”
Alastair burst into laughter. “I would share you if I could. But unfortunately, you are an acquired taste.”
“HMPH! Whatever! You should go. Two vampires would probably be too much.”
“Too much for a hunter?” Alastair drawled. “Oh, I see how it is. Kicking me out for dick, aren’t you? Dick over friendship. A cruel little thing, you are!” the man accused dramatically.
Foxx huffed. “I’m not kicking you out for dick!”
“Sure, sure. Whatever you say. I’ll leave, but only when he calls. Until then, I demand entertainment. Open that trap of yours and tell me all about your first case. From start to finish, every last detail.”
He glared—why were they friends again?
Alastair sighed as he walked down the hallway towards the lift. He’d moved his home here to stay close to Foxx, and the brat would now be ignoring him in favor of the hunter he wanted to jump… Perhaps he should contact Daydric. Tell him he needed to come and play with his favorite bloodline offspring—meaning he needed to come to play with Alastair.
The lift dinged and the doors opened. He blinked up at the tall human standing in his way. Tall, hawk-like nose, silver creeping into his black hair, and dressed like a biker.This…had to be Harlow, he thought as the man nodded, and they politely stepped out of each other’s way to pass by.
There was no one else he could be. The guy was exactly Foxx’s type, from top to bottom. He spun to watch the human walk away, eyeing the back of his form, absently pressing the button for his floor.
This man, Harlow, walked like a predator. His presence…felt dangerous. Alastair’s eyes narrowed on the man as the doors began to close. The bastard better not hurt his best friend.
I’ll be watching you, Hunter, he thought, as the doors finally blocked his view.
* * *
Harlow eyedthe vampire as he passed. The man was tall and model-like, had pale skin and black hair, and was wearing a light green turtleneck paired with beige corduroys. How many different paranormals lived here?
The Silver Hollow was huge, with ten very sizable floors… Yet the units must have been excessively large, because the maximum number of condos on each floor seemed to only be three, if that.
At least, that is what he had gathered from the sign in the elevator. It listed floor numbers and then rooms. The numbers listed were weird. They started off with the floor number, and the apartments themselves. Instead of starting over on each floor, it continued to count up from the highest number of the previous. On floor one, there was: 101, 102, and 103; and then floor two had: 204, 205, and 206. From the third floor and upwards, the numbers dropped down to only two apartments per floor. Which was probably why Foxx’s apartment was 613; six for the floor number, thirteen for the apartment.
There was a maximum of twenty-two apartments. For a building this massive… He shuddered to think what the cost of renting was, let alone buying one of these places. The hallway itself screamed high-end hotel with its shiny marble floors, plush gray carpets, and random paintings on its light gray walls, along with the fake plants that were placed about.
On reaching the door for 613, he found it interesting that there appeared to be a thumb reader, but also a keylock. He supposed if the power went out, there being a key would allow the residents to still access their homes.
Staring at the door, he hesitated. Instead of knocking, he looked down at his two bags with a sigh. The duffle on the right was all the clothing he had left in the world, besides what he was currently wearing. The left duffle held his weapons. As for weapons…well, he at least on top of this bag, had a small storage chest filled in the trunk of his Jeep. So, he was a bit better off there, but not much. There was so much shit he had to replace—Harlow was a hundred percent billing the Guild for all this. He didn’t know if they’d pay, but he was going to at least try.
The sound of the door unlocking had him taking a step back to avoid being hit.
“Welcome!” Foxx beamed in his cheerful British accent, his one fang flashing as he gave him a wide, lopsided smile. “Come in, come in. Let me give you a tour of the place, and then we can sit down and talk over what happened, 'kay?”
The vampire snagged his arm and dragged him inside. Harlow tried to hold back his glare at being touched.
“It’s not much, but it’s mine,” Foxx announced happily as he pulled him down a small hallway.
The room opened up into a giant open space with ceiling-to-floor windows along the outer wall, right across from where they entered.
“My humble abode is two floors. On the ground floor, there is the living room, kitchen, and dining room. Which, as you can see, is an open space. The other rooms on this floor are my office space, sewing room, and library. Though the library does span both floors. Oh, and there are two loos as well. I’ll show you the back rooms later. On to the first floor!”
