14. Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Thirteen
Aiden
I didn’t like the fact that Marcus was currently on his way over. Not just because of my jealousy but because I’m still a little mortified by what happened the last time I met him. Calder has tried to reassure me that I shouldn’t worry about it. It’s not a big deal, but it is a big deal to me.
“Come here, little bat,” Calder murmurs, tugging me down into his lap.
“Just let me pace, then I can try to get rid of all this anxious energy,” I say, gesturing to myself. I’m also having a hard time looking Calder in the eye after finding his sex drawer. That shit was insane.
He catches my hand and presses a soft kiss to my knuckles, and I can’t help but melt further into his embrace.
“If I let you do that, then you’ll probably wear a hole right through the floor,” he murmurs.
“I’m not that bad,” I am that bad, but he doesn’t need to know that.
“Aiden, look at me,” he grumbles, and I shake my head, “then ask me.”
“Ask you what,” I mumble, still avoiding his eyes and knowing exactly what he’s talking about. Silence is his only response, and when I chance a glance over at him, he has a knowing look in his eyes.
“Why do you have so many sex toys,” I blurt out and then slap my hand over my mouth because I so did not mean for that to actually come out.
He rubs his chin as if contemplating his answer before he says, “Well… how do you know if you like something if you don’t try it?”
“Have you tried every toy in that drawer,” I question as my eyebrows shoot up to my hairline in surprise. A snort of amusement escapes him as he nods, “Of course, I’ve tried every one.”
“Even the pink dildo,” I cry, and then grimace with the sound of my voice. Geeze, great job, Aiden. He’s never going to answer my questions again after this.
“Yes, even the dildo.”
“Did you enjoy it,” I mutter in a quiet, unsure voice.
“Mmhmm,” he hums, pulling me into his lap.
“Do you bottom,” I ask, even quieter than my last question. Before he can answer my intrusive question, a knock at the front door has me jolting against Calder’s broad chest. He snickers as he stands with me still wrapped around him, and I glare right back at him. Gently, he places me on my feet and brushes his fingers through my hair.
“I’ll have to give you that answer a little bit later, I suppose,” he says with a small nod.
“Yeah, I guess… let’s go deal with Marcus,” I finally concede. Calder laughs at my sour expression, “Ah, come on, little bat. He’s not a bad guy.”
“That’s what he wants you to believe,” I grumble, even though I know I’m full of shit.
“Yeah, I’m sure that’s exactly what he wants us to believe, little bat,” Calder laughs in amusement before shaking his head at me.
“Do I look okay,” I ask hesitantly, looking down at myself while tugging on the sleeve of my hoodie in a nervous tick. I put it on earlier, thinking it was cute with the little pastel demon skull on it. Now, I feel like I should change.
I got dressed more for comfort than really anything else, and I wasn’t expecting company. I didn’t even put on eyeliner, for crying out loud. I start to finger-comb my messy hair as if that will somehow help the situation.
“You always look good, little bat,” he says as he takes my hands in his to still my nervous movements.
I let out a little noise of protest, “You’re just saying that.”“If you think that, then why did you ask?”
“For reassurance,” I say with a shrug.
“Let’s go, Aiden,” he leans down and presses a kiss to my forehead, “Marcus might just know how to solve what’s been going on with you.”
My stomach makes a swooping motion, and my anxiety kicks back up to full gear. What if there’s nothing we can do? What if I’m broken? What if I end up dying for real this time? I chew on the inside of my cheek as I follow Calder out to the front door.
I open the door to let Marcus inside. He’s dressed to impress, which only causes me to tug on the sleeve of my hoodie again. I feel frumpy and more self-conscious than before. I glance over at Calder from the corner of my eye, only to see him already staring over at me.
“Hi, Aiden, feeling better,” Marcus asks, and at first, I think he’s just being snarky. When I look back at him, the only thing in his expression is concern. I shift awkwardly as I wring my hands together, “yeah, mostly.” I feel extremely weird with his worried gaze staring back at me. I don’t have many people who care about me enough to worry, and I don’t know how to feel about it.
“Good, I’m glad to hear that,” he says, squeezing my shoulder reassuringly. Out of nowhere, Sin darts out from where he is hiding and runs straight towards Marcus. At first, I’m expecting the feral little beast to attack. Instead, he starts purring obnoxiously loud as he rubs himself against Marcus’s legs.
“Well, that’s new,” I mumble, completely confused.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Sin take to someone so fast. And purring, forget about it. He doesn’t even let me cuddle him, and I’m the one that feeds his fury ass. Hell, I’ve been living with Eve for a couple of years now, and he’s never been like that with her.
“Hey, sweet thing,” Marcus murmurs before looking over at me, “do you mind?” He gestures to Sin, and all I can do is shake my head in response. Marcus’s brow scrunches a little, but a soft smile spreads across his face.
“Aren’t you just the prettiest boy ever,” he murmurs softly as he picks Sin up into his arms.
Meeeeooow.
“Sin, you’re acting weird,” I mumble, scrunching my brow at him in confusion. His head flops backward, and he lets out a feral hiss at me.
“Oookay then. No more catnip for you.” He looks away, pressing his head underneath Marcus’s chin, and purrs louder.
“Marcus,” Calder clears his throat as if trying to get us all back on track.
“Right, sorry,” he mutters before trying to disentangle himself from my cat. Sin’s claws extend as he fights to stay close. I have no clue how to process how strange this moment is.
“Maybe just bring Sin with you,” my gaze darts between them, “it doesn’t look like he’s letting go any time soon.”
I watch Sin’s tail swish back and forth almost smugly before it swipes under Marcus’s nose. He lets out a sneeze before scratching under Sin’s chin with that goofy smile. I gesture for us to sit on the sofas before asking, “Does anyone want coffee? Or something?” I never said I was good at doing the whole hostess thing, but I’m trying. It’s the thought that counts, right?
“I’m good,” Marcus murmurs, completely focused on Sin.
“Aiden, should you be drinking coffee,” Calder asks with a concerned tone.
“I mean, I can test it right,” I grumble in irritation. I swear, he looks like he wants to say no, but in the end, he gives a small nod.
I rush into the kitchen to get away from all the weirdness. I go about pulling my mug from the cabinet and setting up the coffee marker. When I go to turn around with my steamy hot coffee in hand, I nearly run right into Calder.
“Fuck,” I hiss, “I’m going to put a bell on you with how damn quiet you are. I almost gave you third-degree burns.”
“I would have been fine,” he says with an eye-roll.
“Ah, yes. Vampires are immune to injuries. I don’t doubt it,” I say with a shake of my head, “quick question…”
“Hmm?”
“If you got shot in the head, would you survive,” I blurt out of nowhere.
“Fucking hell, Aiden, do I look like I’d try something like that,” he grunts. I clearly caught him off guard, but it’s not my fault I’m curious.
“I mean, no… but do you think it’s possible?” I lean closer to him, and he gives me a frustrated look.
“I would have no idea,” he mutters through an exasperated breath, “I try to avoid maiming myself. It doesn’t seem counterproductive, you know.”
“I guess that makes sense,” I say with a shrug, “we should go figure out what Marcus has learned.”
He nods, wrapping his arm around my shoulder and walking us back into the living room. Eve walks out of her room in her pajamas, rubbing her eyes with the backs of her fists, nearly walking into us.
She looks startled for a moment before she looks at us all before zeroing in on Sin.
“Stop harassing the witch,” she snarks. Sin gives her an unimpressed look that really only a cat could possibly accomplish.
“I go by warlock, thank you very much,” Marcus grunts while still petting Sin.
She shrugs and walks down the hallway toward the kitchen without another glance back at us. Calder and I take our seats on the opposite sofa as Marcus, and we wait expectantly for Marcus to explain what he’s found.
“Okay, now nobody get too excited because this is just an idea. A hunch, if you will. I don’t even know if it’s a very good one either,” Marcus explains, looking back and forth at us.
We both slowly nod as my gaze fixates on a necklace hanging around Marcus’s throat. It’s a bright green amulet wrapped in silver, and I can’t seem to look away from it. I feel too anxious to focus on anything else. I clench and unclench my hands as I try to push down the nerves.
Calder takes my hand in his and starts running the pad of his thumb in circles against my skin.
“So, I was up late last night looking through some of my older grimoires and came across an interesting passage,” he goes on to say, “I think it may be possible that you’re going to need Dracula’s blood to help complete the change.”
I make a disbelieving sound, “You mean like the Dracula? You can’t be serious right now! Dracula is a fucking horror movie vampire. He isn’t real.” I throw my hands in the air and glare over at Marcus. If he thinks this is a joke, it’s not funny. At all.
“He’s real,” Calder mumbles as his hand tightens around mine. I glance over at him with wide, shocked eyes. What the hell does he mean he’s real?
“What do you mean he’s real,” I huff in irritation, trying to tug away from his hold. His hand tightens on mine, holding me in place as he looks into my eyes.
“Aiden, I wouldn’t lie to you about something this big. Hell, I wouldn’t even tell you a white lie. Dracula is real,” there’s this finality to his words that has my mouth snapping shut.
“He’s the only vampire that has the purest and strongest strain of vampirism,” Marcus says, continuing without missing a beat, “the only problem is I have no fucking clue where he could be.”
“I might know where he is,” Calder’s response shocks the hell out of me. How did he know where Dracula was? Why is this my life now? It’s almost too crazy to wrap my mind around. Everything that’s been happening has been too much.
“Is he in Pennsylvania then?”
“I think you’re thinking of Transylvania, little bat. And to answer your question, no, I don’t believe he’s there. That’s where the humans got it wrong.”
I let out a little noise at being wrong. I mean, I never said I was good at geography. Gods, I’m just sucking all around lately, and not in a good way, either.
“Well, don’t keep me in suspense, Calder,” I mutter.
“I believe he might be in the countryside of New York,” he murmurs, “at least, those are the rumors I’ve heard. I’ve never had a need to find out for certain until now.”
I let out an obnoxious groan as I lie down on the sofa with my legs over Calder’s lap.
“Little bat, are you not feeling well?”
“I need someone to massage my temples. I feel a migraine coming on,” I whine, rubbing my fists against my closed eyes, trying to ease the pressure.
Suddenly, Calder’s cold fingers are running through my hair, and a moan slips out before I can stop it. I crack an eye open to find him already looking down at me with so much worry in his blood-red eyes. The heat in his eyes seems to be warring with his concern and has me shifting awkwardly.
“Maybe if you eat something, your headache will go away,” Eve mumbles, walking back into the living room and handing me a banana. It’s cold, and I press it against my forehead.
“You know you’re doing it wrong, right,” and then turns towards Calder, “What is he doing?” She asks Calder out of the corner of her mouth.
“I think he’s worshipping the banana,” he mumbles back without taking his eyes off me.
“Fuck off, the cold feels nice,” I grumble, glaring between them and not caring one bit that I probably look absolutely insane, “and you know I can’t eat, Eve! All I can do now is drink blood!”
“I mean, you did fine with the cheesecake though,” Calder’s words are tentative but not helpful, “I can go grab you a cold eye press. Maybe you should feed from me?”
Calder murmurs soft reassurances, still running his fingers tantalizingly through my hair.
“Well, if he’s going to grab you an eye press,” Marcus mumbles, snatching the banana out of my hand, “then I’ll eat this. I’m starving.” I open my eyes to glare over at Marcus.
He peels the banana and takes a bite before anyone can respond.
“I can’t believe you stole my sex banana,” I huff out, keeping a serious expression on my face.
“YOUR WHA-” Marcus shouts as he spits out the banana and immediately starts gagging.
“Look,” he glares between Calder and me, “I don’t care what you do behind closed doors, but when you start violating vegetables and fruits, I’m out.”
Eve is currently nodding along as she gives me a thumbs up with a creepy ass smile spreading across her expression. Oh my god, yep, my best friend is such a weirdo . Then again, so am I, so I guess we’re even.
“He’s just fucking with you,” Eve says through a giggle as Marcus starts to try pulling Sin from him once more like he’s seriously going to leave.
“And on that note, I think it’s time for you two to go so I can do freaky fruit things behind closed doors with my little bat,” Calder says, wagging his eyebrows as he pulls me up against his chest.
“Byyye,” Eve shouts from the living room as Calder carries me out, and I give a halfhearted way from past his shoulder.
“I guess that was too much excitement for you,” Calder asks before kissing me gently.
“All of this is so overwhelming,” I grumble as he sets me down on my bed. He gives me a sympathetic nod before climbing into the bed next to me.
“You don’t have to worry about all of this right now. We’ll figure it out, little bat.” I wish that I could say his words soothed me, but that would be a lie.
The truth is my mind was running at a million miles a minute with every worst-case scenario possible. What if we don’t figure out what’s wrong with me in time? What if we can’t find Dracula? What if this is some kind of crazy fever dream? It leaves me reeling and feeling sick to my stomach.
“Rest, little bat,” Calder presses closer to me as he kisses up my neck.
“Calder,” I ask in a quiet worried voice.
“Yes, little bat?”
“Am I going to die? I mean, am I going to be dead-dead soon?”
“Aiden, listen to me,” he growls, gripping me to his chest, “I am going to do whatever it takes to fix what I’ve done to you. I promise you that, little bat.”
“You’re too optimistic for your own good,” I mumble.
“Someone in this relationship has to be,” he huffs out, pressing his nose against my neck in a way that has me shivering. I’m too exhausted to ask questions about this so-called relationship he’s referring to.