“No, but it’s better than screaming and throwing a fit on the ground!”
“You can do both, if you want.”
The vampire raised a brow at him. “I can, can I?”
“Mm, it can even be a level ten toddler meltdown if you want. I will proudly stand by and point, telling all who pass that you are mine.”
Foxx scoffed, maintaining his grumpy expression for a moment longer, before a giggle slipped out, and a smile spread across his face. “Level ten? There’s more than one?”
Harlow smirked. “I was around plenty of toddlers growing up… Believe me…there are many levels to the nightmare that is a toddler meltdown.”
His eyes started to twitch as not so fond memories tried to come to the surface. The group home stage, and the multi-child foster care homes of his childhood had been a fucking nightmare. All the people…and the hugging…and touching—ugh. Well, if he had learned anything while living in those places, it was how to fake being normal…ish…
“Want to help me finish these French fries, so we can get to our hotel faster, and I can get to my cuddles sooner?”
“Your want is my command, brat. Fork some over.”
“Yay!” Foxx giggled.
The hotel TV was turned on, the news playing, as Foxx sat in Harlow’s lap on the bed. Snuggling against the man’s chest, with a blood bag in hand, he stabbed it with a metal straw and started drinking it down while the dhampir wrapped an arm around his waist. Behind him, Harlow was draining the last of the three blood bags he’d filled for him.
His nose wrinkled. Maybe once this all was over…and Harlow was registered…he could get Alastair to donate some blood.
Though, now that he thought about it, maybe the government had a place where dhampirs could order some? The better question was…could he even convince Harlow to drink bagged blood that wasn’t Foxx’s? Surely the man would at least be okay with Alastair’s blood? The vampire was a very clean individual…
“As of yet, there is no explanation—” The news anchor cut off, frowning, before suddenly saying, “We have a breaking news update. We have just received word that the vehicles containingthe bodies of the vampires, who attacked innocent people under suspicious circumstances, have…all exploded.”
His eyes widened… Exploded…? “What…?” Foxx gasped. Harlow’s arm around him tightened as Foxx slowly lowered the almost empty blood bag in his hand.
“It is unclear as of yet what caused the explosion, but the drivers and passengers in the fleet of trucks are assumed dead. The trucks themselves, as well as the remains inside, were unrecoverable.”
A live video appeared on the lower right of the screen. Eyeing the multiple twisted metal pieces that were engulfed in flames… Foxx had to say…calling them unrecoverable had been an understatement. But then…deceased vampires were highly flammable… Even if the destruction hadn’t been so absolute, once they caught fire, putting them out would be almost impossible.
“Fucking hell…” Harlow cursed as he tossed the last empty blood bag he’d been draining aside.
“What an unusual turn of events, Sherral,” the male news anchor said. “I suppose time will tell if the…” he trailed off, his eyes widening slightly. “We have another related update. A group that calls themselves Humanity’s Last Stand has released a notice and a video claiming responsibility for both the tragedies that happened last night, and the truck explosions. Warning: the following video contains language that is not suitable for all ages.”
After another brief warning of inappropriate language and violence, a grainy recording took over the screen. Half the video was cast in darkness, but what could be seen was that the room seemed to be made of cement. A large man stood in the shadows, all one could make out was his shape.
Harlow tensed behind him when the person began to speak.
“You must be asking yourselves, why…? Why now? Why now are these creatures attacking? But the real question you should be asking is why did we make such animals our equals?!
“We were the dominant race! The masters of this planet! Until the bastard betrayers of our species, betrayers of God, ourleaders, forced us to yield to our lessers! ‘They’re intelligent beings’, they cried, but all they really did was force us to yield to monsters! They made us bow down to evil! They allowed thesethingsto enter our society, to live among us, to change us, to thrive! Meanwhile, they continued to KILL and FEED OFF US!
“What you saw last night was nothing more than what these vampires, and all paranormals, truly are—DEMONS, BEASTS! You may think we did something to thosethingsthat caused them to attack, but the only thing Humanity's Last Stand did was strip away the lie of humanity that they have managed to hide behind! And this is only the beginning!
“One by one, we will tear down their masks, tear down their false walls, and expose their evil. When humanity sees the true violence of these monstrous creatures, that will be the moment when we all must step forward and put these crimes against God down, like we should have in the first place! Humans wait and watch. You’ll see the truth!”
The video cut, and the news anchors returned. The woman looked pale and grim, and it was at that moment, Foxx realized she was a vampire. The older human next to her was staring at her with concern. Foxx just wasn’t sure if it was concern for her, or…about what she was…
He flinched when the screen went black, looking over his shoulder at Harlow.
The dhampir’s face was blank as he tossed the remote aside onto the bed. “That was Maverick.”
“Are you…sure?”
Staringinto the vampire’s pale and worried face, Harlow pulled the man more firmly against him.
