Chapter Fourteen #3
“Good luck. He’s been in a mood since this whole…” She eyes the two of us. “Thing. I think it’s sweet and cute.”
With a soft smile, she heads to the door, leaving me alone with Casimir who at least doesn’t try to carry me off into the back room again.
“Well, shit,” I mutter.
He folds his arms over his chest as he leans back against the table I’d been sitting on. “You can go with her, and I can wait here to see if the vampires arrive.”
“The issue is that I feel like if I left you alone, you’d make the situation worse. I have no idea why I think that… but I sure as fuck do.”
“I am a phenomenal speech giver. I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Casimir says as he pulls out his phone and calls someone.
The moment the poor soul decides to answer the phone, he barks, “Where is everyone?” His face scrunches up into a look of irritation as he listens.
“Well, you tell them to get their asses over here before I make them regret their measly fucking lives. You hear me? Tell them that I will physically throw them out of the city—fucking Steve. Of course he’s going to make my life miserable.
Fine. I’ll be there momentarily. But you can warn them that if they say one single fucking word out of line, I will end their useless lives.
Okay? Do you need me to repeat that?… You sure you got it?
… I can provide details on how I will murder them. ” And then he hangs up.
“That sounds like it went over really well. I definitely feel like it’s a good plan to leave you alone with them.”
“It did, didn’t it?” he says. “I’m going to go deal with that.”
“And I’ll go deal with the wolves. Doesn’t it kind of feel like we’re suddenly not very popular? No one wants to hang out with us.”
“I don’t want to be popular. I want them to fear me enough that when I say jump, they jump.”
“Depends how high,” someone says as he peeks into the room and flashes us with his blinding smile.
Casimir grimaces. “I didn’t mean to invite you.”
Ezio appears shocked, like he could actually be surprised by Casimir’s treatment of him. “What the fuck do you mean you didn’t mean to? I was there when you told all of us to come here!”
“Didn’t notice you. Give Frodo your car.”
I give Casimir a look of disbelief. “Frodo? What the hell? Am I a hobbit now?”
“Sorry, sounds like Toto, I got confused,” he says.
“I’m as tall as you!”
“Ezio, car keys.”
Ezio doesn’t seem interested in this idea at all. “But… my baby… I… what if we take my car and you let Julian take your car? That’s a fabulous idea, amiright?”
With a single look from Casimir, Ezio sighs in defeat before digging his car keys out. “How the hell is it that I’m the only good person who shows up on time, and I still get punished?”
“Thank you,” I say as I grab the keys and hurry outside to see what vehicle I might be taking.
When I lay eyes on a car that costs more than my house, car, and life, I hesitate. “Maybe I don’t want it.”
Casimir waves me toward it. “Take the car. Ezio doesn’t mind, do you, Ezio?”
Ezio wipes away a fake tear before rubbing the mirror of his car in a weirdly affectionate manner. “He likes it when you tickle him a little bit before you stuff yourself in.”
I turn to look at Casimir. “Now I just feel weird.”
“A little stroke and tickle and he’ll purr for you,” Ezio says.
Casimir gives Ezio a shove. “Stop creeping out the wolf. I need to keep him around to paint my dog.”
Ezio gasps. “Will you paint me?”
“Will you be naked?” I ask.
“I sure will,” Ezio purrs.
“Then it’s going to be a rather large no.”
“I’m pleased you are thrilled.”
Casimir drags him off before I can question how he could still think I’m interested in painting his naked ass.
Instead, I get into the car and realize that I really don’t want to drive this thing.
I’m almost terrified to even start it as Ezio stares at me from the back seat of Casimir’s car, like he’s not even allowed in the front seat.
I give him a little wave, and in response, he flips me off with both hands like any of this is my fault.
I start the car and pull forward where I immediately drive it up on a curb that I hadn’t seen.
“Fuuuuuuck.”
Don’t look up. Don’t look up. If I don’t look up, I can pretend Ezio hasn’t seen it.
My eyes snap up only to find that Ezio has seen the whole thing.
The tire is now up on the curb, so I either have to go forward or back, and I feel like either way is just taking me closer to my grave.
It really won’t be long now, but I lock the doors since I feel like the safest spot is inside the vehicle he’d never dream of hurting.
My phone starts ringing, and I see it’s Casimir calling. I debate not answering, but he’s probably the only thing that could keep me alive if Ezio decided to attack.
“H-Hello?”
“Oh, you are hilarious. You just delight me,” Casimir says as I hear Ezio cussing up a storm in the background.
“Let me talk to that fucking mutt,” Ezio growls.
“The delight I’ve felt over Ezio’s screech of anguish has made this day that much more bearable. Don’t let me forget to give you a special treat when we get home.”
“Wonderful,” I say as I slowly get the car off the curb while trying my hardest not to look at Ezio. And of course Casimir is keeping him front and center to witness the whole thing.
Once I’m finally free, I quickly drive off, terrified that Ezio is going to stalk me and see me do something else to his car.
After I get away from him, I realize that the car drives like a dream.
Hell, maybe I’ll skip going to my dad’s and cruise around instead.
And… I likely would have if I didn’t feel the weight of this whole thing kind of perched on my shoulders.
When I reach the bar, I park in the back, catching the immediate attention of the wolves outside. They all look interested in the vehicle until I get out and their interest shifts to me.
“Hey,” I say, but absolutely no one even nods back at me. They all scurry off as my father stalks toward me.
“I’m going to piss on those tires,” he growls.
“Fucking hell, Dad. Don’t piss on the tires.”
He stops in front of me, looks me up and down, then grunts and heads off for the woods that stretch out behind the bar. I realize that the whole pack is here, telling me that they’re planning to go for a run instead of helping us stop some people who are evidently out to murder the vampires.
“Dad, can we talk?” I ask as I trail after him.
“No, we can run,” he says as he gets far enough from the bar that he can shift and rush away from me.
A guy named Keats spits at me as he walks by, and I stare at him in disbelief.
Like is it really that traumatic that I’ve helped the vampires?
Why exactly can we not get along? I know how upsetting it must be for my father to lose his territory, but Casimir’s allowed him to remain in charge of the other weres.
He’s helped me… fuck, he saved my life, which my father was more than happy about, but now he’s back to being a dick.
“Told you,” Olive says with a grimace as she walks past. “Maybe go for a run with us and see if that’ll help them see that you aren’t completely switching sides.”
“What do they think I’m going to do? Start shifting into a bat?” I tease.
Olive scrutinizes me for a moment. “Your ears are looking a bit pointier than normal.”
A group of wolves, who seem offended by my presence, rush past me and follow my father.
One of them, who is of course my father’s right-hand man Weston, even takes it upon himself to growl at me.
Weston has this weird idea that I’m going to take over the pack when my father backs down from the position, even though I would assume it’s abundantly clear that I don’t want it.
“Well, this is going to go great,” I mutter as I take my phone out and send Casimir a text.
Me: I’m going to go for a run with them. See if that makes them a bit more civil. Could we set up the meeting for tomorrow instead? Would that be acceptable?
Casimir: Depends whether any of the vampires are alive tomorrow.
Me: Please don’t kill them.
Casimir: You get a nice new car if I do.
Me: Why the hell would you kill Ezio?! He’s literally the only one who listened.
Casimir: Looks fun.
Me: You need to work on your idea of fun.
Casimir: I’ve been told I’m a fucking blast at parties.
Me: Was the person who told you that terrified of you?
Casimir: Huh. That’s a possibility.
I follow Olive over to a cluster of trees where her twin sister Willow is waiting for her.
I’ve known them both since they were turned at sixteen.
They’d been walking home from a concert when they’d been attacked by a werewolf who we later found out had been stalking Willow at the time.
Olive had tried to save her sister, but the werewolf was ruthless, and she nearly died trying to get them both out alive.
Because they’d both been bitten in the attack, they were sentenced to a life of hiding from the full moon.
Since we were around the same age—I was fifteen at the time—my father tossed them my way.
I think he believed that maybe if I had some people around my age involved in the pack, I would actually join.
Instead, the three of us became friends and I continued to refuse to join out of pure stubbornness.
Willow glances around to make sure the others are a good distance away before she starts to undress.
Even though Olive transitioned years ago, she doesn’t love to undress in front of the new members of the pack, and I’m pretty sure Willow is paranoid and uses me as a “gay blockade” because she claims her boobs are “safe around me.”
I kind of feel used… but in a fun way.
“You haven’t run with us in forever, I’m so excited,” Olive says.
“You should be excited I’m still alive,” I mutter. “It’s been a bit hairy lately.”
“I love that you’re dating a vampire. It’s such a you thing to do,” Willow says as she undresses.