I hated it when Bennie used his authoritative tone. It’s not like it actually forced me to do as he said, but the strong urge to comply was there. Apparently, it was a sire thing. The effectwas actually fading the older I got. As a fledgling, I’dhadto obey him, but by now my body justwantedto.
I sat down with a heavy sigh, burying my head in my hands.
“I really fucked up, didn’t I?”
“Royally so,” Bennie said, patting my shoulder. I turned my head, glaring at him, but he just laughed his fucking grating, amused laugh. “What? Do you want me to coddle you? Nope, not gonna happen. You royally fucked up. But I’m still gonna help you get out of it as okay as you possibly can. So… we need a plan. And we need it fast. I suggest you go to your room and make sure you don’t have any empty blood bags lying around, okay? I’ll go buy groceries and bring home pizza. Then we’ll eat on the couch, and Finn will have no reason to even enter the kitchen.”
I sighed.
“That plan’s not solid.”
There was so much that could potentially go wrong. Finn could ask for a tour of the house. He could want to go and grab a drink from the fridge. He could…
“We’re on a time crunch. It’s the best we can do in a couple of minutes. Go upstairs, get your room ready, and I’ll get food and drinks for your mate. But Eric?”
“Hmm?”
“As soon as Finn’s gone tomorrow, we’ll have a conversation. Aseriousone. Because this whole stalking thing… it’s getting messy. And I’m worried it’ll all blow up in your face.”
Unfortunately, I didn’t think he was quite that far off.
Finn practically threw himself into my arms as I opened the front door.
I held his trembling frame firmly pressed against my chest and carefully guided him inside so I could close the door behind us. We still hadn’t managed to find the fledgling, but we’d heard bits and pieces about him asking questions about us. I didn’t like it, and I didn’t want Finn to possibly be seen by that guy until I knew what he wanted from us.
“Your house is really nice,” he mumbled against my chest, even though he hadn’t seen anything but the outside. He wasn’t wrong, though. We were living in an old town villa, and Bennie had done a lot of updates during the last three years that it’d truly been ours. The white stone outside had been cleaned and sealed, and the new front door might look old, but it was in fact brand new. It appeared to be dark brown wood, but that just hid the fact that it was reinforced metal.
We even had one of those antique golden door knockers in the shape of a lion’s head.
But no matter how antique the outside looked, the inside was a lot more modern.
“Thanks,” I whispered, inhaling deeply, my heart dropping as I noticed the sour, bitter notes of Finn’s scent. I was responsible for his fear. I’d been the one who made him feel that way, and it left me feeling cold and awful. “Do you want to see my room?”
Best to get him out of the common areas.
Finn let out a weak chuckle. “No matter how much I’d love for you to distract me with your body right now, I don’t think I’m up for sex today. Sorry.”
“Oh, uhm… you don’t have to be sorry for that.”Especially since it’s allmyfault. “But that’s not why I asked you if you wanted to see my room.”
“Oh.” Finn took a step back, eyeing the entrance hall. His eyes wandered, taking it all in: the polished wooden stairwell to the second floor, the dark hardwood floor, the cream-colored rugs, the fake plants on side tables, the lamps, pictures, and the warmmocha and cream painted walls. He peeked into the living room, smiling as his eyes found the couch.
“Can I get a tour of the place?” he asked, wrapping his arms around himself. “I kinda want… I don’t know.”
How could I say no to that?
I couldn’t.
“Sure.” I smiled, even though I felt like screaming, my insides all twisted up.
“You wanna take your shoes off?” I nodded to the closet where we’d stashed our coats and shoes.
Finn nodded, quickly kicking off his shoes, taking off his coat, and putting them away.
Then he stepped up to me, lacing our fingers together. His were almost as cold as mine and still trembling. I gave them a light squeeze that I hoped came across as reassuring, then I pulled him into our living room. It was big, the biggest room on this floor, and it seemed as if Finn really liked it.
“Wow,” he said as he stepped further into the room, dragging me with him. “How much money does your friend make with his IT stuff?”
I laughed.
