“Well, that was fun,” I grumbled.
“Never boring around you,” Dylan muttered as if he expected me to apologize or something.
I didn’t.
He could still go fuck himself.
Hard.
He came to seek me out while I was undercover to apologize forone thingthinking he was the good guy because he didn’t pass along a message or… I couldn’t even try to make logic out of the stupid of him.
And I wasn’t going to lower my IQ trying.
Not anymore.
Aidan was waiting for me where I was staying with Mason and both were worried. Mostly because I was over an hour later than expected when I’d gone in for just extra snooping around.
“I felt something off,” Mason promised before I could open my mouth and give them the lecture that my job wasn’t nine-to-five and I would never… Nothing would ever be as planned. “Something felt off.”
“Yeah, you could say that,” I grumbled. “And I have no fucking clue what to do about it. Again. Always.” I apologized and mumbled that I needed a minute.
“And maybe to feed, darling,” Aidan suggested but then winced, shooting Mason a glance.
Right, so he couldn’t know about what we needed to discuss which didn’t complicate anything. Twit.
I quickly showered and gathered myself before apologizing to Mason again and turning to Aidan. “I think it best you not know what happened tonight given your dual loyalties. I’m sorry.”
“I don’t like it, but hopefully you will change your mind later and trust me,” he said as something dangerous moved behind his eyes.
And hurt.
“If it was just about me, I would. It’s not,” I said firmly and then raised an eyebrow like he was one to talk.
To which he sighed. Heavily.
Yeah, he really had no room to bitch, and I was understanding of whatever he was going to explain to me after all.
“Can I wait for you here to snuggle with after you handle whatever you need to?” he asked quietly. “I hated to just rush you out and…” He moved closer and cupped my cheek. “I miss you, darling. We shared something special and not—it was special.”
“It was special,” I agreed. I was glad when Mason agreed that it was fine with him. Then I stepped outside with Aidan and told him to fill me in.
The short version was pretty much exactly what I’d expected. There were two different companies that catered to powerful vampires with a lot of money. They were owned by humans and regulated by the council—someone or something else having some oversight that seemed stupid and dangerous, but all of it checks and balances.
And basically, they all had enough dirt on each other that no one would come out clean if the fight between them all started.
Butit also wasn’t a bad deal, just something the average human would find distasteful. The humans were all willing. They knew what they were getting into and were paid handsomely for it. Yes, sex was allowed, but if sex was involved, there was a shifter bodyguard who was involved and wore a charm that meant no vampire tricks could be involved.
It was normal even for new clients or ones there had been questions about, but that cost more money, and that was why the women had been brushed off. Nothing was perfect, but it was a system in place for hundreds and hundreds of years. Also, no matter the century, the rule was alwaysadultwomen since the bodies of children couldn’t donate blood.
And vampires didn’t bed children or they tore their own to shreds if they were so sick.
Too bad other species didn’t do the same for their pedophiles.
Normally, a feeder could work for five to seven years, some ten if they were selective in their clients and paid close attention to their health. So generally in their twenties, and if they didn’t blow the money and were smart, it was a leg up for them.
Aidan said it was common for him to check in on the feeders after they retired if the vampire was decent. A few years back, he found one that was in her eighties and her ungrateful children took everything and stuck her in a home. So he arranged for her to have a better senior life and punished the kids.
“You don’t spend years getting life from someone and not form any sort of affection for them unless you’re dead inside,” he said quietly as he stared out at the night. “I’ve attended many funerals of my feeders. It’s the dark side of it, and many of us pretend we don’t care or notice the humans who die around us. But feeding has always been the dangerous part for us.”
