The vampire’s eyes narrowed. “I’m going, but only because I want nothing to do with the council, or any dhampir.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Foxx snorted as he got out of the car. Pulling out his phone, he ignored the other vampire as he drove off.
Taking a deep breath, he called Tony.
“You better be calling for a non-work related reason,” Charity snapped huffily.
“Uhh… Hello…Charity…” He quickly pulled his phone back to check if he had called the right number, and…he had. “Well, it’s not work related… Sort of… Well, umm, let’s just say the council is handled. And that we were attacked, and kind of need some clean up assistance. The attack is, of course,notcouncil related,” Foxx said, saying it in a way that hopefully made Charity realize he was lying. “Justrandombad vampires coming out of nowhere and attacking us. There may be a turned over vehicle in the middle of the road. Umm, but Harlow…took out most of the vampires…in an extreme show of strength. I think it will likely make him so smug he’ll be…out of his mind with it. Quite a mess here.”
Foxx hoped it was coming across pretty fucking clear that Harlow had lost control.
“I…see,” she said slowly. “Has the smugness been handled?”
“Yes. I knocked him down a peg or two, no worries.”
“Where are you?”
Foxx quickly check his GPS, as he actually had no fucking clue. “Minds Road in West Gally. There is a police presence that has been instructed to block off the road for safety reasons. If you could just assure them it’s necessary until clean up gets here, I’d appreciate it.”
“Burn as much as you can, and I’ll take care of the rest. Try to be gone before the clean-up crew gets there, will you?” She hung up.
Foxx sighed and glanced at the setting sun. He had such a headache… A headache that had nothing to do with his headwound, and everything to do with the amount of bullshit he had spouted in the last twenty minutes.
Something was pressing down on Harlow. No…not something…someone. He stared at the man…standing feet away. Tall, with shoulder length curly dark brown hair, and a very short trimmed beard and mustache, the man had honey brown, almost dark bronze skin. This man… A vampire… Yes…this man was a vampire.
This was…his doing…this weight that was trying to force him to his knees. DANGER... This CREATURE was dangerous. What was his, was in danger… What was his, was in DANGER!
Mine… Mine… MINE!
He took a stumbled step forward, wanting to attack, needing to attack…but he stopped instead… The weight increased to the point that all he could do was hold in place, refusing to kneel.
The longer Harlow stood there…the less sure he became that he wanted to attack. Who was he even trying to attack? The anger fueling him…slowly died down to the confusion. Who was this person?
His gaze flicked to what was his… Foxx.My Foxx… All mine… The man wasn’t hurting what was his… Was it…safe?
Unholy rage boiled over the second the man touched what was his. He snarled, struggling to move again, to attack, but just as before, he couldn’t…and then Foxx…was walking away.MINE!His snarls continued as he tracked the vampire.
A man’s deep chuckle had his gaze flicking back to the unknown vampire. Harlow let out a growl at the smile on the paranormal’s face. “I have to say, I’m impressed you can still stand. Do you plan to attack me, young one?”
He frowned. Attack…? Yes… He had to…attack! Before… Before what was his returned. Harlow bared his teeth, letting out a deep snarl, his frustration growing that it was all he could manage.
The vampire tsked. “Oh… So angry…and those thoughts… Indeed, they're as odd as I thought they’d be. I will say, while not so useful at the moment, you being like this…did benefit Foxx well enough. The imminent threat of you was enough to start them negotiating. I bet it’s been a long time since they’ve come across a dhampir who could actually fight back. Which is…quite distasteful, actually. You see, the council has been mostly going after infants the last…few millennia…” The man frowned, his head tilting. “I think. At my age, keeping track of time has become rather pointless. What was a few hundred versus a few thousand years, sort of blends together.”
What… What was… Council?
The vampire frowned. “Dhampir, or rather, Harlow, your Foxx, your vampire, is safe.”
Foxx…was safe? No… Lies…it’s lies… He growled.
The man let out an irritated huff. “Okay, this is taking too long. It figures Foxx’s partner would be a stubborn cuss. By force, it is.”
Harlow gasped, dropping to his knees as the haze blew away, his head now ringing in pain. The simple thoughts ofattacking and protecting what was his, were replaced by a rush of consciousness.
What…the fuck?! He’d have shaken his head, but Harlow couldn’t move. Along with the normal…semi-normal, thoughts returning, came this feeling of dread. Hair-raising, goosebump-inducing, skin tingling, fear… Fear towards what he now recognized as raw power holding him down.
Taking a shallow breath, Harlow glanced up at the man standing before him. It was like the very air had been electrified, shifting in the wake of the vampire’s presence.
Clearing his dry throat, Harlow hesitantly asked, “Daydric?”
