“We know what he can do,” Sorley said sourly. “He’s a murdering piece of scum who will get what’s coming to him.” Gethin heard James gasp behind them, and turned to offer some reassurance to the boy.
“Edwin,” he said slowly. “Before we look at the photos, what the hell have you done to James?”
Everyone spun to stare at the young man. Unlike before, when he’d been clean but still bruised and sickly looking, he was now fresh-faced, his eyes more alert and his previously sallow complexion brighter. Even his hair, still limp and tousled from his shower, had a brighter sheen than it had previously. He also looked, and smelled, a mixture of highly anxious and a little turned-on.
Alec sighed. “Oh là là,” he said sotto voce, “and you a Council member, Edwin.”
Gethin looked between them all. “What am I missing?” He narrowed his eyes on Edwin. “You haven’t turned him. You haven’t had time.”
James squeaked. “I don’t want to be a vampire,” he stammered.
“And you won’t be.” Edwin shouldered past Gethin and clasped James’s bicep. “Remember what I said? Consent for everything.” James met his gaze and nodded, the faintest hint of an upturn to his lips.
Sorley gave a sigh that echoed Alec’s. “Are yousurehe understood? What have you promised him? Eddie, I love you like a brother, but you can be a total cunt at times. Full offence.”
Edwin’s sandy eyebrows rose. “Harsh, but fair,” he conceded. To Gethin, he explained, “I fed him. Our blood is healing to humans.”
Gethin shut his eyes for a second. Then he turned them on Edwin. “You fed him?” he repeated. “Youfed the kid you were snarking about earlier as an ‘it’” — he noticed James shrink at the reminder — “and now what, you’re suddenly best buddies? I want a word with you, outside. Now!” he barked when Edwin didn’t immediately move.
Noting the sun still casting a glow over the back garden, he instead shoved Edwin down the cellar steps and banged the door after them.
“Talk!” he commanded. “That kid smells of fear and arousal. If I find out you used thrall on him, I’ll punish you myself.” He could feel his wolf ripple under his chest, urging him to shift and give this Cockney pretty boy a lesson he wouldn’t forget, but he stayed calm, intent on hearing Edwin’s excuses. He shook out his shoulders and soothed his wolf.Let’s wait.He wasn’t entirely sure he could take on Edwin in a fight and win, not now he’d been turned, but it wouldn’t stop him from trying if needed.
To his annoyance, Edwin laughed softly. “Take a chill pill, man. I can be reckless, and I’m the first to admit I’ve fucked my way through the last hundred years like a seasoned professional, but Dalziel would have me staked out in the midday sun for using coercion on anyone for sexual favours. It’s one of his hard lines in the invisible sand.” He huffed, and ran a hand through his floppy blond fringe. “I thought you’d have noticed Sorley is the same. We have no rights to be part of this coven, or to exist, if we don’t accept it as one of our golden rules. I didn’t thrall the kid. I won’t need to, not since we cleared up his little misunderstanding.” He smirked, and Gethin’s wolf wanted nothing more than to wipe the smug grin off his handsome face.
“What little misunderstanding?” he ground out, slightly mollified as guileless truth rolled off Edwin in waves he had no chance of faking.
“The meaning of the word ‘gay’.” Urgh, now the smugness intensified. “James is definitely into cock, Gethin. He was, however, somehow under the mistaken impression that ‘gay’ meant you had to take it up the arse.” Edwin’s grin was evilly fond. “He’s no mastermind, true, but God knows how he made it to adulthood without working that out, bless him. It turns out he’s likely the toppiest little shite ever to walk the planet, and as you know,” he made a ‘ta-da’ motion at himself with both hands, “I amnot,so it’s going to work out beautifully.” He pouted dramatically. “I explained I could feed him, and how much better he’d feel for some blood, and he damn near bit me himself in his haste. He’s been badly used by Cormack, but James is no pushover. Don’t suddenly think we’ll be leading him about by the nose.” He snorted. “The dick maybe.”
“You’re an absolute disgrace,” Gethin muttered, although profound relief raced through his veins. He poked his finger into Edwin’s chest. “Don’t you dare lead the poor kid on for a week then dump him like a used condom when you get bored. He’s been through a lot. The least you can do istryto be decent.” He warmed to his theme. “And I sincerely hope you won’t dream of pushing him foranythingsexual. He might well be tough, but it’s blindingly obvious he’s fucking traumatised.”
“Phfft. You don’t get it, do you? He’s going to be my shadow. I’m never letting him go.”
Gethin stared at him. “You’rekeepinghim? Forever? He’s just a kid.”
Edwin rolled his eyes. “He’stwenty-three. I suppose he does seem younger than he is, and yes, I’m fully aware he’s been through a traumatic time. He’s more than capable of consenting to anything he wants to when the time’s right though. Full of vigour and good health when he’s not been used like a chew toy by that arsewipe Cormack. He’ll never have to worry about a roof over his head, or a job or money again. He’ll age ridiculously slowly, and will never even get a cold, let alone all those other bothersome ailments that plague humans. Plus he’s easy on the eye, and bright enough to be decent company without being too much like hard work. His blood smells like the best thing I’m ever likely to put in my mouth.” He smirked again. “And when he’s ready, I can teach him how to fuck like a demon. What’s not to like?”
Gethin tugged at his hair. “Does James get a say in the matter?”
“Oh my God!!! He’s not an actual slave. We call them blood slaves, but he’d be free to leave whenever he wanted.” That smug smile again. “Which he won’t, because it’s a great gig and he’ll be devoted to me within a week.”
Gethin sighed. “If I find out you’re fucking him…”
“I won’t be. Not until he asks for it.”
Gethin had the feeling it would take him time to wrap his head around certain aspects of vampirism, this one especially. Edwin was a lot of things, but he was also a respected Council member, plus Dalziel had a shadow, so he presumably found the concept acceptable. He grunted at Edwin, gesturing for him to return to the living room. Edwin sat down and made a show of opening his laptop again.
“As I was about to say before Mr Hughes got a bee in his bonnet, here are some stills from Delirium’s security footage. They’ve been enhanced as much as possible, but they’re not great.” Edwin clicked on the first picture. “James, you had a hoodie on with the hood obscuring your face. But those are the same clothes that are currently in our washing machine, aren’t they?”
James confirmed they were. “That’s not my hoodie. I don’t remember wearing it.”
“Thrall,” Sorley and Alec said together.
Edwin nodded. “Yeah, that’s basic level stuff. He wanted to cover up your hair as it’s quite a distinctive shade. Look at the way he’s holding you, angling you away from the cameras. But he didn’t know about the one positioned behind the doors. It’s in total shadow, but it’s picked up a few shots. Here.” He clicked through a series of images, all of them showing James and another man.
James whimpered. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “He does have blond hair, I know he does.” The man with him in the photos was brown-haired, and instead of a shaggy cut, it appeared shorter at the sides and long and slicked back on top, more like a mullet.
“But that’s him?” Gethin persisted. They had to be sure.
