Chapter Eight
JULIAN
I’m slammed to the ground, a weight pinning me down as my ears painfully ring. Debris rains down around me as I’m dragged back and set on my feet before the vampire turns to face whatever just happened.
I notice his clothes have been melted onto his back as burns coat his skin.
He says something, but I can’t hear shit as I shift back into a human and grab my ears.
I see that Ezio is writhing on the ground as Casimir walks over to where the explosion originated, creating a hole in the earth and causing the tree to be blown into chunks.
The tree stand is gone and the person who’d dropped down seems to have been reduced to nothing.
And I realize how fucking close I just came to dying.
Yeah, the vampires could live through it, they put enough distance between them and the explosion that even Casimir is already healing… but if he hadn’t grabbed me…
Casimir turns to me and says something, but I shake my head, my ears still ringing.
“What?” I ask as he comes over and tips my chin to the side to look at my ears. He doesn’t say anything else, and instead goes over to Ezio who is still writhing on the ground. He clearly isn’t as old as Casimir and seems to be struggling over healing.
Casimir disappears, moving so quickly that I have trouble tracking him before he returns in less than ten seconds with a whole damn deer that he just tosses at Ezio who immediately latches on to it.
And while Ezio is busy with his deer, Casimir turns his back to him and faces me before biting his wrist and pressing it against my lips.
I have to assume he doesn’t want Ezio to see but the moment I taste that sweet blood, nothing else matters. Desperately, I latch on to his arm, dragging it toward me as I suck on the sweet liquid, forgetting all about the ringing in my ears and the ache in my body.
How the fuck can anything taste this good? It makes me feel so amazing. This is pure bliss. Absolute euphoria. It makes me?—
Casimir shoves my head off his arm as I realize that he’d been trying to get me to detach for some time, which I’d refused to do. “That’s enough,” he says, making me realize I can hear again, probably because of his blood.
“What the fuck was that?” I ask as I look over at Ezio who has completely drained the deer, but at least he looks alive again.
“I believe that’s what they call a bomb,” Ezio says.
“No shit,” Casimir retorts. “That person just… went on a suicide mission in an attempt to… kill us?”
“Could you tell what they were before they turned into little chunks?” Ezio asks.
“No. It happened so fast. What a fucking mess. It’d be too much to hope that this is over with…
that the killer decided to kill themselves.
” Casimir sighs the ultimate sigh. Like even he’s too tired to deal with this shit.
“Ezio, get someone out here to deal with this mess. Julian, you can go home.”
“I would love to, but my keys were in the pants pocket of those clothes that got blown up. Oh look… here’s a chunk,” I say as I hold up a piece of the key fob’s shell.
“But hey, your phone made it,” Ezio says as he tosses it to me.
“Thank god, I don’t have to retake all of those tasteful nudes I had on there. Anyone have spare clothes I could borrow?”
They look down at their hole-filled attire that hangs off them like rags before looking back at me.
I sigh. “I think nude is best, yeah? Just… let it all out. Not awkward in the slightest. Did I tell you I’m a teacher and that indecent exposure is very much frowned upon for teachers?”
“Here!” Ezio says as he picks up the dead deer and tries handing it to me like I’m just going to clothe myself with a carcass.
I grimace and decide that I’m good.
Casimir is silent as we walk back to his car. His face looks like he’s borderline enraged, but his stride is very calm and collected.
“You’re pissed,” I announce as I get into Casimir’s car.
“Fuming.”
“I can tell,” I say as I pop open the glove box and find a single napkin.
I like to imagine he uses the napkins to dab at the blood on his lips after devouring someone.
I unfold it and drape the napkin over my groin, not quite sure it’s doing the job, but I have little else to use in this pristine vehicle that my muddy ass is sitting in.
Casimir sighs. “This is going to be an absolute mess. The wolves and vampires are already at each other’s throats. And then we have this? I’m sure tales of what happened are already running rampant.”
“Well, fortunately for you, my father just texted. I’ll read it to you.”
“Oh lucky me.”
I clear my throat to make sure I sound just like an asshole when I start. “‘The vampires have struck again. The madness, I say! This time, they slaughtered their own kind and are placing the blame on us. They are ducking assholes.’ I think that was supposed to be fucking.”
“I got that. Is there more?”
“Here, let me write him back with: ‘I hate it when I have to deal with ducking assholes. I did hang out with two vampires today, though. One tried to give me a deer to wear, which was as awkward as it sounds, but I think we’re becoming fast bros.’”
“It’s a wonder your father claims you.”
“Right?” I ask with a grin. “Ooh, he’s already texted back.”
“I can’t wait to hear what this says.”
“Right? He’s kind of fun if you torment him enough.
Let’s see: ‘Julian, do you not understand the gravity of this situation? If this goes on, you will need to fight for your kind so we don’t get trampled down and treated like lap dogs.
’ I am replying with: ‘If there is a lap dog position opened, I would like to apply. I’m really good at playing dead and fetching balls. ’”
Casimir shakes his head before glancing over at me. It reminds me how very naked I am beneath this flimsy napkin. “Are you sure you are your father’s son?”
“Sadly. My fake dating is starting to sound better by the minute, isn’t it? Think about it—we show the vampires and werewolves how well we get along, and it helps them understand that we do care about them and their feelings.”
“But I don’t care,” Casimir announces.
“We pretend to care about their feelings.”
“I only care about myself… and my dog.”
“Seems a wee bit greedy, but you can pretend at least, right?”
The look on Casimir’s face tells me that he very much can’t pretend to care about anyone but himself.
“I’ve considered driving out all vampires and werewolves and living in this giant territory all alone where I’ll be surrounded by food,” he says.
“This… seems a bit sketchy. Would you drive me out?”
“Definitely. You’d be the first to go.”
“That’s… I mean… fair enough.”
“Thank you,” he says as I direct him to my mom’s house since she still won’t let me go home. The moment he pulls into the driveway, we are immediately blocked in by my dad’s car.
“Oh fuck.”
Casimir growls, and I’m starting to wonder if he’s actually the wolf. “You know… if you were to dispose of him, the vampires would praise you heavily,” he tells me, as though this is something I can do.
“I can’t kill my father!” I protest.
Casimir continues to look at me, like he’s positive that he could change my mind.
What I am positive about as Dad comes around to the side of the car and looks in at my absolutely naked ass and Casimir who still looks oddly prestigious in his hole-filled attire is that I don’t have to kill him with my own hands.
Seeing us together like this will do the trick.
“Heh.”
I look over at Casimir, positive he wasn’t the one who just made that noise, but sure enough… there’s a pleasant smile on his face. It makes my father all that much more pissed as I open the door while doing my best to keep my groin covered with my napkin.
“What. The. Fuck?” Dad hisses.
“What happened?” I ask, and just narrowly hop out of the way as Casimir takes off, literally driving through my mom’s yard to get around Dad’s car. So much for him taking me back to get my car.
I hurry inside as Dad trails after me while trying to find some logical reason for my current state of undress. It’s not like we wolves aren’t used to being naked in front of others; it’s that we’re not usually naked with the head of the territory.
“I don’t even want to know,” Mom says.
“It involved Casimir,” I tell her.
She freezes. “I do want to know. What the hell did you do now, Julian?”
“It’s fine! I was out doing dog stuff and my clothes got ruined, so he drove me home like a gentleman!”
“And the blood on your face?”
I rub at my face. “Not mine. Mom, once I’m dressed and find my spare keys, do you think you can drive me to pick up my car?”
“It looks like your dad would love to.”
Oh hell no.
I hurry into the bathroom where my phone beeps.
Evil Vampire Lord: Fine.
Me: As in my ass was mighty fine as I walked up to the house? Although you were too busy driving through the yard and nearly running me over to see.
Evil Vampire Lord: I’ll pick you up tomorrow for our “date.” Don’t annoy me. And be convincing.
Me: I can’t wait.