“I know! I just don’t want to live on other people’s hand outs all the time.” Caleb sighed. “I’ll make this up to you somehow, Pierce, I swear.”
“No need,” I reassured him.
“No, I’m serious,” Caleb insisted. “I’ll do… something. I don’t know. I’ll figure something out.”
Even though Caleb couldn’t see it, I smiled. It was endearing that a human could offer me something - aside from Benji’s situation, obviously - but I supposed it was the thought that counted. “Thank you, Caleb. That’s quite kind of you.”
“Okay, well, I should probably get going. I’ll leave you two alone,” Caleb said. “Bye, Benji. And bye, Pierce.”
We said our goodbyes, then hung up. Benji tossed the phone aside with a sigh. “That was really nice of you to help him,” he said.
“Of course. You’re my family now, so that makes Caleb my family too,” I replied.
Benji wrapped his arms around my neck. “You’re sweet, y’know that?”
I kissed him. “I’m aware.”
“Great. Now that that’s over, let get back to business…”
* * *
After takinga short nap together and showering, it was time for Benji’s dinner. His appetite and belly seemed to grow at the same time, and he was eating a lot more lately. I always sat with Benji for dinner, usually drinking a glass of blood wine.
But the deep hunger pangs were becoming difficult to ignore. I hadn’t had a proper meal since before Benji arrived to live at the mansion, and I knew I needed to feed from a live host soon. I suspected my brothers were in a similar situation, even though they and Margaret had gone out a few times to feed on their own.
At first I thought about doing it in secret without Benji’s knowledge, in case it upset him. But we were mates now, and there was no need to hide things from each other. He was going to find out about the realities of vampire biology sooner or later. I’d rather it be sooner, so he had time to let it all sink in.
“Pierce?” Benji said, knitting his brows. “You don’t look so good. Not that you’re not sexy, I mean, like,unwell.Are you okay?”
“To put it bluntly, I am quite hungry,” I replied. “I haven’t fed from a live host in months.”
Benji’s eyes widened. “Oh. You’re not gonna eatme,are you?”
“No, silly. But in all seriousness, I do need to feed soon. I can’t look in a mirror, but I assume there are dark shadows beneath my eyes at this point.”
Benji frowned. “Yeah, there are. Now I feel bad for not noticing it sooner…”
“Don’t blame yourself. Even a sick vampire is stronger than a human,” I said. “All it means is that I must leave you for a night. Are you alright with that?”
“Oh, yeah, of course,” Benji replied. “I mean, anything to make you feel better.”
I caught the attention of a bat servant and asked it to fetch my family. Adriel and Theo arrived at the tail end of Benji’s dinner. I assumed the bat servant had told Margaret and she would be joining us as we left.
“What’s up, bro?” Theo asked. He saw my face and frowned in concern. “Oh, you look like crap.”
“Thank you, I’m aware,” I muttered.
“I suppose this means you’re finally willing to go out for a hunt,” Adriel said.
“What does he mean bywilling?” Benji asked me.
I gave my mate a dry smile. “I didn’t want to leave your side. I wanted to watch you grow. So it was my own selfishness that got me into this mess.”
Benji groaned sympathetically. “C’mon, I’m a grown man. I can take care of myself for one night. Go, okay? Go out with your family and… eat.”
I got up from the table and kissed Benji’s forehead. “Thank you, my love.”
Benji blushed as red as the beets on his place. “Geez, you’re sappy…”
