Page 47
These two men couldn’t be any more different. Cassius, with his silver hair, neatly shaven , and bulging arms beneath a black leather jacket, and Xander, who takes on a more scruffy look, but still carries that handsome air about himself. I could never imagine how they became so close.
Both Xander and Cassius smile.
“It was a mistake, actually,” Cassius begins. “I was looking for Xander’s father. He was a professor who was studying vampires. In secret, of course.”
“Even I didn't know,” Xander chuckles. “So when Cass showed up at my front door asking for a professor, we turned him away, not realizing my father was hiding another side of himself.”
“So, of course, I thought maybe it was some kind of trap to kill me, or study me for science. That they’d call the authorities to hunt me down now that they had a visual description. But no one came.”
Xander grasps my waist and pulls me back against his chest as Cassius stands and ambles down the garden stairs to sit at the top step.
“He waited for weeks. In an abandoned alleyway beside our house, just watching us. I felt so bad that I started giving him leftovers or stale bread.” Xander chuckles, and Cassius shakes his head.
“Then the scraps turned into conversations and then marbles and other silly games the other kids would play. I, of course, was the oldest amongst everyone and was asked many times if I was your older brother.” Cassius smiles absently.
“And then the plague swept through town. And it wasn’t until people were dropping like flies that my father realized who you were. More like what you were.” Xander rubs my back gently.
The air around us grows heavy as Xander swipes a lock of hair behind my ear. “And when my mother and sisters died from the virus, my father begged Cass to turn me. It was his dying wish.”
“So I did. And I don't regret it. Not anymore, at least, now that you’ve found Noah.” Cassius’s gaze meets mine, and the air is sucked from my lungs.
Cassius might not be the oldest like Harlan, but his dark eyes swim with experience. I can see that, despite his ageless disposition, Cassius has endured so much over his lifetime.
I turn back to Xander and look up at the man I've fallen so deeply in love with. He wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for Cassius. Or his own father.
“Thank you. For turning him. I wouldn’t be the happiest man in the world if it weren’t for you.” I speak to Cassius, unable to take my eyes from Xander, who smiles warmly at me.
“DO I HEAR WORDS OF PRAISE!?” Harlan’s overjoyed voice booms from the kitchen, and I flinch before giggling as he strides through the back door and plops down beside Cassius.
Both vamps wear their leather jackets, which seems to be the status quo amongst the group. I guess in my mind vampires wore ancient, bold pieces with embroidered patterns and fur. But with their leather jackets, this must be the newest, most modern fit they can adopt.
“I’m bored,” Harlan sighs, and rests his head against Cassius’s shoulder. “Let’s go to Church! I saw it was open on our way here.”
Beside him, Cassius chuckles, “We are here to kill a Soultracker, not flounder around a kink club.”
What I don't expect is for Harlan to get any cuter as he switches on the most alluring puppy-dog eyes and pouted lips. “But I'm bored and… hungry.”
“There’s food in the kitchen. Xander won’t mind if you help yourself,” I pipe up, feeling the bubble of pride bloom in my chest. I definitely need to get better at hosting.
Harlan smiles warmly but shrugs. “Thank you. But I’m not particularly hungry for… human food.”
Oh, he wants blood.
I look to Xander for a response, and he gives my knee a squeeze. “Harlan, you’ll have to go out to get what you’re after. I have no need to store it here now that I have Noah.”
Harlan huffs and snatches Cassius’s hand into his toys with the other man’s fingers. “I guess. But the club is fun.”
His voice is so sad and dull that it even makes me wince. Yet the two vamps surrounding us don’t seem to bat an eye.
“And wouldn’t it be safer to go deeper into town so the Soultracker can’t find Noah so easily?” Harlan fidgets with Cassius’s pinky finger.
“He makes a point,” Xander says. His hands tighten on me as he pulls me against his chest and a cold breeze sweeps across the deck. I shiver.
“See!” Harlan chirps up. “Noah is safer with us close by, and we all get to feed and build our strength.”
The air is tense between us for a beat before Cassius sighs and looks over at us. His gaze is solemn, and a flicker of worry covers his features before he straightens his spine and nudges Harlan. “Fine.”
The little vampire is ecstatic as he hoots and hollers, speeding to his feet and jumping in the air like an excited puppy. So much so that I can imagine two floppy ears sprouting right from his skull.
