“It’s understandable to be uncertain,” Glenn assured him, tenor voice smooth.“If it’s a lack of knowledge, I’ll be happy to lend you some of the books that more accurately portray our world.And, of course, you can ask questions of any of us.We’ll be happy to tell you more.”
Ross did feel better at that offer.He felt sorely out of his depth, and the feeling was highly uncomfortable.“I’ll take the books.But answer me this.I’ve asked Annabella before why she felt I was so unique.Is it really that strange to meet a human not scared of you?Who doesn’t want to exploit you?”
“Yes.Rather than strange, I’d call it rare.We’ve watched you, Ross, for nearly nine months now.We kept waiting for you to do something with the information you’ve acquired.You asked questions.That’s all you did.It is incredibly rare to find that kind of acceptance.”Glenn’s voice dropped a notch into something more intimate.“I’ll send some books over shortly.You still have my number?”
At that particular moment, it felt like the card was burning a hole through his pocket.“Yes, I do.”
“Good.Call me with questions, hmm?”With a smile, he left again.
Ross stared straight ahead, just breathing.He’d had boyfriends who’d paid him less attention than Glenn had for the past month.The vampire was charmingly persistent.He treaded the line of being persistent without being pushy—a fine balancing act.Ross wasn’t even sure if the flirting was intentional, or if Glenn just flirted as a means of communication.He’d certainly never tried to put a hand on Ross.Well, aside from that once, but that was him making sure Ross was okay.Ross could privately admit he’d enjoyed that contact, brief as it was.But that wasn’t anything to dwell on.Glenn was handsome, and Ross was going on a good two years without having any male contact—of course it was nice to be touched.Even in that platonic manner.
The true crux of the matter was something else, something that had nothing to do with salaries and benefits.Really, what it came down to was that Ross stood in an open doorway.If he quit this job, he was reasonably sure his life would go back to ‘appearing’ normal, at least.He still didn’t recognize most supernaturals when out and about.It was here that he usually saw them.Ross had the option of quitting this job, walking away, and curling back up into his comfort zone.
Taking Glenn’s offer meant stepping through that doorway.Once through, he couldn’t shut it again.He instinctively understood that.What Ross couldn’t decide was: would working for the clan be so different than working here?Right now he still had a foot in the human world.Would working for the clan send him into a different dimension altogether?
It was, in a sense, the million-dollar question.
A week passed without much happening.Ross received three books from Glenn, all filled with mythology and handwritten notes in the margins that either added to or corrected the text.They were supremely helpful, but also fascinating, and he found himself reading at every possible moment.
Glenn himself didn’t make an appearance, but someone from the Ó Riagáin clan appeared in the store nightly and found time to linger and chat.Ross saw the tactic for what it was but capitalized on it anyway.He had questions.
The facts lining up in his head amounted to quite the tally at the end of the week.Ninety percent of vampire myths were made up by vampires themselves to bypass human suspicions—garlic, mirrors, and silver crosses had no effect on them.They were weak to sunlight but it didn’t burn them alive.Annabella helpfully informed him that vampires only really needed to feed once a month.Like a period.Oh, and menstrual blood was the most nutritious and clean and why was he looking at her like that?
Ross made a mental note after that conversation to not bring up blood around Annabella.
He felt far more comfortable with Glenn’s job offer now.It even looked challenging, in a fun way, because as he understood it, what the clan needed most from him was to handle the paperwork and idiosyncrasies of human society.Since Ross liked paperwork, this was acceptable.
Although, that first line on the back of the card about ‘flexible hours.’That looked more and more suspicious.Flexible for who, exactly?Because according to the vague list of creatures he was putting together in his head, most of them were nocturnal.
One of those essential skills Ross kept being praised for wouldn’t happen to be surviving third shift, was it?He suspected it was.
Ross checked the clock.It was four a.m.now, and not a soul in sight.This was one of the dead hours of the shift.In another hour, he’d get the guys going to work, the ones who needed coffee and gas, but it was quiet for now.He pulled out his book and flipped to the bookmarked page.
Ross had already read through the first book, which was something of an overview of various species, but this second one was interesting.It was a re-telling of how the Americas were colonized from a vampire’s personal experience.Ross had a whole new perspective of the country he lived in.And he learned a great deal about vampires in the process, as the author dropped bits of information here and there about his personal life that was…illuminating.To say the least.
Out of the corner of his eye, Ross caught a glimpse of something flickering brightly outside.That didn’t make sense to him.The light was the wrong color for any streetlight or headlight, the flickering more like a fire.Alarmed, he put the book down and stood, looking over the shelves of cigarettes and through the front window.
What moved along the pavement was unlike anything he’d seen.
It looked much like a moving bonfire, but without the logs.It snapped and crackled, embers flying about in the air, scorching the pavement in an obvious trail as it slowly glided along.The look of it resonated with something in Ross’s head.He’d not seen this before, but hadn’t the first book mentioned something that looked like a walking fireball?An elemental, right?
He snapped a picture of it, and then dug out his wallet and the card.If there was ever a time to ask Glenn a question, this was it.And if that thing got any closer to the gas pumps, they’d all be in trouble.Ross was of half a mind to go out and warn the creature off because flammable gas + fire elemental = no.But some instinct stopped him.It was too close to the propane tanks out front for sale, to the gas pumps nearby.One stray ember could set it off, and then he’d be outside, with no protection.
He quickly typed in Glenn’s phone number, then fired off a text with the picture attached.
The call came within seconds of him hitting send.
“Where are you?”Glenn demanded, sounding a touch frantic.
“I’m inside, don’t worry.I know better than to go out and face an elemental.That is an elemental, right?”
“It is.Absolutely do not, under any circumstances, move from there.I’ll gather up people and be there in ten minutes.”
Ross hadn’t intended for Glenn to be the calvary, riding off to his rescue.“You think this elemental will do something?”
“No one can predict an elemental’s actions.And you’re surrounded by flammable material.Get into Keane’s ward and stay there.Promise me, Ross.”
He owed this man no promises and yet the words came naturally out of Ross’s mouth.“I promise—”
