Chapter 3
Quentin teleported to his mother’s house, or rather, his now. The family home she tossed aside as she embraced her new life as a vampire. He pushed away the unfounded resentment over her trying to leave behind everything from her old life, including him.
Intellectually, he knew that wasn’t true. Emotionally, it was a different matter.
That Quentin now had a vampire lover and often spent the night at the manor wasn’t mentioned when she gave him the keys. Unspoken was that she was ready to move on.
New body, new life.
He didn’t blame her, he really didn’t. Only sometimes he missed when it was just them against the world before she got sick, before Quentin met Jaks, just before.
Quentin landed in the front garden, right in the middle of the circle his mother had paved in stone years ago. She surrounded it with flowers like a fairy circle. Now that he knew about his father, he was reasonably sure she had planted it for the irony.
Heading down the stone path toward the front steps, he froze three feet away.
Someone was standing on his porch, an uninvited someone.
He tucked his right hand in his pocket and wrapped it around the spell ball he’d forgotten to pack. Quentin cautiously approached the man who was apparently waiting for him. “Can I help you?”
When he turned, Quentin had to hold back a scream of frustration. This was the same man who’d come by a few months ago and tried to enchant him into selling him the house. He didn’t need this.
He needed to check on his spell balls and maybe take a nap.
“What do you want?” He should’ve been more cautious around someone who tried to enthrall him the last time he visited, but Quentin had had a long day and was fed up.
A troll could’ve shown up at his house, and he’d only yell at it to get off his lawn.
He was past fear and deeply into denial over his current life choices.
“I still want to buy your house.” His friendly smile had sharper teeth than a human’s. “I figure you might be in a better mind to sell now that your mother has abandoned it. Not everyone wants the responsibility of home ownership.”
He didn’t bother asking how the stranger knew his mother no longer lived there.
He was tired and didn’t care for this man, possibly a vampire, who never shared his name but was happy to tell Quentin what he should do. Even if he hated the house, at that moment, he would’ve fought for it anyway.
“You thought wrong. It’s still not for sale.
” He folded his arms across his chest and stopped a few feet from the bottom of the steps, well out of arm’s reach.
He didn’t like being in the lower position, but he didn’t dare get closer to the stranger that, now that he was paying attention, oozed dark magic.
The day was bad enough without getting into a fight.
Jaks would be so proud of him for picking his battles.
The man stepped out of the shadows. “I heard your mother is a vampire now. Surely she’ll want to live with others of her kind.”
“What my mother does isn’t any of your business. This is my house now.”
The man didn’t get the hint to leave, or ignored it, or trampled across it with the subtlety of an elephant.
Instead of fucking off, he offered a broad, persuasive smile that probably would’ve worked on anyone not dating a stunningly handsome vampire.
“No need to get violent. I’m certain we can come to a mutually satisfactory agreement,” he purred.
Quentin shuddered in revulsion. He preferred the guy’s more abrasive approach to this creepy seduction tactic.
Even without Jaks, this sleazeball would never be on his list of potential dating choices.
“It’s my childhood home, and it’s not for sale.
” He tried to infuse the conversation with enough finality to bring it to a close.
“I want this property.” The thin veneer of friendliness vanished beneath Quentin’s refusal to play along. “And I will get it one way or another,” he ended on a hiss.
“I think you should leave,” Quentin declared, keeping his voice firm and his eyes on the interloper. This guy gave him the creeps, but no one could hurt him on his family’s land. This strange vampire was an idiot for trying.
The stranger made a point of looking around. “What makes you think you can stand against me? I don’t see your bone wolves or your fancy vampire around to protect you.”
“They’ll come if I call,” he lied.
“You know you’re just a plaything for him. He only wants to control all that delicious magic you have thrumming through your veins.” He licked his lips. “I bet you taste delicious.”
“Get off my property.” Magic buzzed across Quentin’s fingers, sparking off his fingertips.
In response, the stranger flashed another creepy smile. “I’ll see you later, Quentin. I’m certain you’ll be interested in what I have to bargain with next time we meet.” With those unnerving words, the vampire exploded in a plume of black smoke and swirled away.
“Damn, that’s impressive, scary but impressive.” He had no doubt that was the effect the vampire was going for. He still didn’t have a name, but he had a feeling that this was Glenn’s sire. There weren’t a lot of vampires not in Jaks’s clan wandering around town.
Ballsy of him to show up at Quentin’s door.
He could’ve captured him, but without a bounty on his head, he would’ve had to let the vampire go. Oddly enough, it was illegal to abduct random vampires even if they were standing on your front porch and being creepy.
It was still considered kidnapping.
Quentin entered the house and closed the door firmly behind him. He flipped the lock with a decisive click, no sense inviting trouble.
He was tired.
Bone tired.
The kind of exhaustion that chipped away at your will and turned your muscles into rubbery noodles. Groaning he flopped, face-first, onto the couch.
A nap sounded great.
Pounding on his front door woke him from his light dozing. He screamed his frustration into the cushions.
Someone better have a legitimate excuse for bothering him, or they were going to die.
Dragging his feet, Quentin shuffled to the front door and yanked it open. “What?” he snapped.
“Hello, darling, did you miss me? It’s hard to tell from your dulcet tones.” Jaks’s charming grin had half its usual effectiveness.
He was too tired to enjoy the spike of lust that always struck him when he saw his favorite vampire’s handsome face. “Come be my pillow.” He turned around and shuffled back to the couch, waiting for his comfort vampire.
Catching sight of Jaks’s bemused expression before he turned around only added to Quentin’s satisfaction.
“You know, most people fear me.”
“That’s nice, lie down.”
Jaks took off his suit jacket and draped it over the closest chair, then removed his shoes and lay where he was pointed. “Some people are terrified to say my name.”
“Scoot over more.”
“I’m extremely scary.”
“Uh-huh.” Quentin lay down, half on the couch, half on top of his vampire. “Wake me in a couple of hours.”
“Glad to know you are suitably terrified.”
“Shaking in my shoes.”
“You’re shoeless.”
“They fell off in fright,” Quentin offered. He ignored what other nonsense Jaks was sputtering. Snuggling in, he returned to his much-needed sleep.
The creak of wood snapped him into high alert. His hands glowed with leashed magic as he sat up to face the intruder.
“Easy, love. It’s just me.”
“We were supposed to be cuddling.” He pouted.
“I got a phone call and didn’t want to wake you.”
Quentin pulled back the energy crackling across his palms. It stung, but at least it broke through the exhausted haze.
“Sorry, you know I don’t always wake up well.
” He flopped face-down onto the cushions and closed his eyes.
The faint scent of flowers from the garden soothed his soul, just as it had eased his childhood aches.
It finally sank in that his mother would never again sit across from him at the kitchen table and ask him about his day.
She might still care, but their dynamic was forever changed with her transformation.
She now had the chance to build a life beyond motherhood. It was past time for her to focus on herself, but Quentin had to acknowledge that tiny, selfish bit of himself that wanted to wrap her in a hug and jealously guard her from all others.
She was his.
His mother.
Now he had to share her, and part of him resented that.
A therapist once told him that all emotions were valid. He planned to wrap himself in that petty, selfish part of him like a childhood blanket for at least a few more days before letting it go. He pressed his nose against the cushions, inhaling the smell of home.
“You still there, love?”
He rolled over onto his back. Before he could comment, Jaks lifted Quentin’s right hand and pressed a kiss against his palm. “Thanks for not incinerating me, lovely.” He examined Quentin’s face. “You’ve been awfully snuggly lately.”
“Maybe the fae are secret snugglers?”
Jaks laughed. Joy lit up his features, casting an almost boyish glow, which was only enhanced by his mussed hair and rumpled clothing.
Adorable.
He sat up to get a better view.
“I think Glenn’s sire was on my front porch when I got home,” he blurted out.
“What?” Regretfully, the humor left Jaks’s face.
“Yeah. He was blathering about buying my house. When I said no, he claimed he’d have something better to bargain with the next time he came. He’s super creepy.” Quentin ended on a cheery note.
Jaks scowled. “You need to set up protections around the house.”
“I already have some. If he could stand on my porch, he didn’t currently mean me any harm; otherwise, the wards would’ve kicked him out.
I would’ve captured him, but there’s not a bounty or warrant on him as far as I know.
Besides, I still don’t know his name. For someone eager to buy my house, he hasn’t given me a single business card. ”
Jaks’s mouth quirked up on one side. “What would they even say? Vampire real estate?”
“Truly evil house stealer?”