I shrugged with an impish smirk, loving the way he reacted to me and the way he wasn’t trying to censor his reaction this time. “I would say I’m sorry, but I’m not.”
A deep chuckle sounded, but was followed by another insistent knock. Rudy glanced toward the door and back to me. He leaned down and brushed his hand gently against my cheek with a serious expression on his face. “Tell me I’ll see you again.”
I stood quickly, needing to reassure him, to do anything to erase his worry. “Of course! I don’t really know how long I’m staying, but I’ll be here for the foreseeablefuture. This was the best day I’ve had in a long time… shit, maybe ever, even if I slept through half of it. I like you, Rudy. Iwantto see you again. Trust that, okay? Trust me?”
Relief filled him, and he relaxed his stance. “I do. I trust you, Bowen. This was my best day, too,especiallywith you sleeping. You're welcome to stay as long as you need. I don't have anything to hide. Well, the thing I usually hide, you already know, so the rest doesn’t matter.”
Pushing up on my toes, I gave him a quick peck on his cheek, not wanting to risk heating things up when he had an obligation elsewhere. “Thank you. Now, go save the world.”
Rudy barked out a loud laugh. “It’s hardly saving the world.”
I winked and made a shooing motion, forcing him to leave before I did something like grab him and pull him back down on the couch and kiss him for real. He walked to the door, opening it, but blocking the view of whoever was out there, and gave me one last look over his shoulder with a wide smile. Then he was gone.
He was gone, and I was left alone in his basement apartment. A soft light glowed from the bathroom, making me realize I desperately needed to use it. After relieving myself and washing my hands, I stood in front of the mirror, taking in my reflection. Ilookedlike I’d slept as hard as it felt like I did. The hair on the side that had been resting against the arm ofthe couch was flattened and askew. Combing my fingers through it, I tried to fix it back in place, laughing to myself at the mess that I was.
Although I never would have known it with the way Rudy looked at me. There was such admiration and longing in his eyes, both human and wolfish, that made me feel like I was the most attractive man on the planet, instead of a scrawny nerd in borrowed clothes. Pulling at the button-up shirt that wasn’t mine, I got a whiff of body odor. Phew. My adventures in yoga and five minutes of pickleball had taken a toll. It didn't stop Rudy from enjoying my scent, though.
Even still… I could definitely use a little freshening up, and maybe another trip to the courtesy closet. If I were going to stay here much longer, I’d need to find some clothes of my own.
Once I was done in the bathroom, I walked around the living room, turning the lamp on and really taking it in. Being here by myself was weird, especially knowing it was in the basement. One wall had a mural painted on it that looked a lot like the woods outside. A semblance of a window in a space that didn’t allow for a view.
Any image of the moon. Isn’t that what he’d said? Rudy couldn’t risk seeing the moon. It was hard to imagine him living his entire life like that. Though the basement was as nice as it could be, all things considered. He’d built it into a space that didn’t feel like thecold, stony image a basement brought to mind. It felt homey, cozy. Except…
My eyes went to the steel door that was mostly closed. His bedroom. A knot twisted in my gut at the idea of it. A part of me knew I shouldn’t look, that I should respect his privacy.But… curiosity was a hard thing to shake, and he told me he had nothing to hide. I looked around as if he would suddenly appear inside once more and stepped closer to the door.
My heart beat quickened as I reached for the knob, hesitating one last second before pulling it wide. What I saw made a gasp sneak out of me, and my racing heart locked up. There was a small entranceway with a few steps that led down into the room. A room which was bare aside from a mattress on the floor and a metal chest of drawers. It was a… heartbreaking sight. For man or animal, being in here without any kind of enrichment or comfort wasn’t healthy.
As I turned around and saw the inside of the metal door where the frame was lined with locking mechanism after locking mechanism and the metal itself was dented from what I could imagine was the werewolf’s frantic attempts to escape, my stomach churned, and I felt nauseous. Poor Rudy. His poor wolf, too. This was not okay. He couldn’t expect to survive like this, let alone thrive.
Even animals in kennels at least had a toy or something to chew on. This wasn’t sustainable, but I understood it was what Rudy felt was necessary.I hoped a day would come when he wouldn’t have to lock himself away, but until then, maybe we could make a few improvements.
The unsettling feeling of being in here alone got to me, and I walked up the steps to the living room, closing the door behind me. In fact, it was making me feel cooped up and needing fresh air. While Rudy had been here, it felt different, but now I was too in my head, and it was all a little ominous.
Not wanting him to feel worried or angry when he returned to find me gone, I grabbed my messenger bag, found a piece of paper, and left a note. As I ascended the stairs that I barely remembered coming down on my wild shoulder ride, a lot of thoughts circulated in my head. About Rudy, about myself, about our time together, and about this place.
I came out of the stairwell at the end of a hallway in the main building, not too far from the kitchen, where I could hear pots clanging and orders being given. The chef, Rudy’s best friend, was a griffin. He’d said it so casually, I hadn’t even had a chance to really register it. A griffin. He clearly looked human enough, but he must be able to change like Rudy, well, maybe not quite like him, since it didn’t seem there were any other rooms in the basement.
Did he change completely? Like with wings? A laugh bubbled up inside me at the thought. Holy shit! That changes everything about this place. I was going to have to pay a lot more attention to the peopleand activities around me. Oh, shit! The activities! Another laugh popped out of me, making me feel just slightly unhinged.
With a little more bounce in my step, I hurried to the lobby, eager to learn more. Maxime was at the front desk talking to a guest. I paused when I saw him, the name of what he was floating in my mind.Vampire.With a new understanding, I assessed his appearance. The sickly pallor of his skin that I’d noticed was much more obvious. When he smiled, there was a flash of fang that made a weird part of my instincts react. It was different from Rudy, whose fangs excited me in a way I couldn’t define, but with Maxime… it touched on a baser fear.
Imostlyknew there was nothing to be afraid of with him. Not with how warm and welcoming he’d been, or how good a friend he was to Rudy, but there was that childlike instinct to flee from a creature who lived off blood. If that were true. Maybe the legends were all wrong. They had been so far when it came to Rudy.
Maxime must have sensed me staring as he shifted his attention from the customer to me, locking eyes with me briefly before returning his focus to the person in front of him. He smiled calmly and excused himself, walking toward me slowly. My chest tightened as my heart rate accelerated, while a small voice in the back of my head was throwing up huge danger signs. I kept my feet planted, trying to calm myselfagainst the irrational reaction. Or maybe it was completely rational, considering the petite man was a monster.
No. That wasn’t fair at all. By all accounts,Rudywas a monster, but he wasn’t. He was an incredible creature with a tender, beautiful heart. Maxime’s gaze dropped to my throat, making a lump lodge beneath his stare. Was he sensing the way my blood was pulsing too fast through my veins? I took a deep breath and forced myself to calm down. I was being ridiculous.
“Mr. Thomas, are you feeling all right?” The man folded his hands behind his back and tilted his head. His gaze lowered from mine to scan over my neck once more.
My hands gripped the strap of my bag, and I tried to keep my cool. “Yeah, um, yes, I’m good. I had a question, actually.”
“Oh?” Maxime asked in an overly polite tone. He was onto me for sure. At least he knew something was off.
“Yeah, the sunset flight? Does that, by any chance, involve a flight of beer?” The idea now seemed laughable, knowing what I knew.
Maxime blinked hard, taken by surprise, and in that action, I could see the red around his irises more clearly.Interesting. “I’m sorry, can you repeat that?”
“Yes, well, I started out the day deciding to check out the various activities available here, and quickly gave up after realizing that pickleball isnotfor me—” and getting whisked away by a handsome werewolf “—I saw something about a sunset flight, and it sounded like a nice way to end the day.”
