Incident 9 All You Need is a Bedsheet #2
That was kind of sad. Glenn was almost two hundred years old, after all.
On the other hand, Ross was glad that he didn’t have the ghost of some old ex to contend with.
And it made him happy to share moments like this with Glenn and to have it be new.
Not something Glenn did in order to humor him.
“Then let’s definitely do it. Somewhere with a hot tub. ”
“Oh god, yes. We’ll deserve it after handling this headache.”
“So…no option of it being easy to deal with?”
“Not a fucking chance.” Glenn looked already put out, mouth in a harsh line.
“Of course,” Ross sighed. Because that was how their luck ran.
The museum came into sight. It wasn’t a large structure, just a simple brick two-story someone had started a privately owned museum in. Ross wasn’t even sure what was on display, as it wasn’t open to the public at the moment. They were still setting up for some grand opening.
Ross pulled into the parking lot in the back, nearly hitting people as he pulled in.
The two vampires were no longer lurking in their car, it seemed, but were out again and trying to get back at the building.
They were perfectly in line with where he drove, too.
The irreverent part of him couldn’t contain the words, “Pedestrians, fifty points each!”
“Darling, don’t run people over,” Glenn drawled.
“You sure about that?”
“No. And don’t tempt me.”
Snorting, Ross pulled sharply to the left and parked in what free space there was before getting out. Glenn, of course, beat him to the punch and stood in front of his own people before Ross could do much more than blink.
His four clan members were arrayed in a half-circle like some Marvel heroes facing down the villains.
The two opposing vampires glared back, standing close to each other but obviously ready to bring the fight to them, if it called for that.
Both of them looked the pretty-boy type, one of them clearly still in the Victorian era, judging by the frilly shirt and light-blue suit he wore.
His friend looked more emo, for some reason.
It could be the narrow face and inky-black hair giving Ross that impression.
Glenn wore an aggravated expression. “I don’t know what the two of you are playing at. In broad daylight? Any vampire worth their salt should be in bed right now. I would suggest leaving, but your clan master is already on his way here. You best stay and explain to him this bit of stupidity.”
“It’s not like this doesn’t concern you too,” Emo Vampire snapped back.
Glenn blinked. “Of course it concerns me too. You’re attempting these shenanigans on my territory.”
“No, Clan Master,” Pretty Vampire corrected, sounding very snooty and aristocratic as he looked down his nose at Glenn. “I mean there’s something personal of yours in there as well. Something I’m sure your”—here he gave a disdainful look at Ross—“assistant would be very interested in seeing.”
Glenn stilled.
For that matter, so did Ross. What the hell in the museum was of interest to both these vampires and to Glenn?
He whipped out his phone and Googled the museum, praying they had a website.
Glory be, they did. It was still somewhat under construction, but it had a list of things to be on display, at least, and a few paragraphs expounding on the collection and where it came from. Ross’s eyes skimmed over it.
Oh. Um. “Glenn.”
Glenn was at his side in a heartbeat. “What?”
He tilted the screen so Glenn could read it more easily.
“The museum has gained a collection of LGBT content from around the world from various estate sales and donations. There’s journals, love letters, pictures, even a few portraits.
Most of the collection is coming from early 19th century Europe.
I take it you three have something in there because you were writing letters to other men? ”
Glenn, already pale, turned a hint of pink.
Which was a perfectly adorable expression. Ross had literally never seen him blush before. Oh my. Had his usually suave lover written a few love letters he now regretted?
“We all did. You see?” Emo Vampire looked justified but still worried. “There’s things in there that absolutely shouldn’t see the light of day.”
Ross really couldn’t let that comment slide. “What’s embarrassing about writing a love letter to someone?”
Emo Vampire turned beet red and wouldn’t look at anyone. “That’s not your business!”
Ross’s intuition stirred. “Hmm. Now, tell me if I’m off target, but I suspect you wrote a letter—or maybe an entry in a journal—addressed to a particular someone. And that someone happens to know who you really are but has no idea you’re crushing on them.”
“It was a hundred years ago!” Emo Vampire wailed, looking ready to pass out from the mortification alone.
Bingo. Ross made a little mental note to himself to enact vengeance later. “If it was a hundred years ago, then you should be able to laugh it off by now. Still feeling all fluttery when we see him, hmmm?”
Emo Vampire’s glare could cut steel. He turned his head, pointedly ignoring Ross. “Let us by, Clan Master. We’ll even do you a favor of collecting your things as well.”
Glenn shot him a glare that could melt the Antarctic. But he was also still blushing and seemed incapable of looking at Ross.
Ross scooted in closer and murmured into Glenn’s ear, “Surely it can’t be that bad. If it was, you’d never have left it unguarded in the first place.”
“A stór, you’ll come to discover that as you get older, it’s harder and harder to keep track of all your possessions.
I’ve lost multiple households as a youngster, until I learned the trick of storing things better.
And there were a few…entanglements, shall we say, that I was too unguarded with.
I often sent them the letters I wrote. And they were…
explicit in nature, more often than not. ”
“Ah.” Ross saw the problem. He didn’t think Glenn had any reason to be embarrassed by it, because who didn’t have a dating history? He certainly wouldn’t hold it against the man. Ross had no room to throw stones at that glass house.
A screech of tires indicated the other clan master had arrived.
For the first time, Ross saw a vampire that wasn’t model-pretty.
Jarek looked like a gladiator in search of a fighting ring, really.
He wore nothing more than a t-shirt and jeans even in this blizzard-cold weather, a scar going up one side of his face, his right eye gone.
It looked as if he’d battled a werewolf, honestly.
Both clan members had been all bravado until his arrival, and now they looked sheepish. Jarek’s eyes roved over them in a flatly unamused manner before coming back to me. “I think we’ve no need for a human to stand here and listen to this.”
Ross arched an eyebrow back at him. Pissy, much?
Glenn responded in that oh-so-smooth manner that meant he was pissed but hiding it.
“I think you’ll find, Jarek, that I hired Ross as my PA for a very good reason.
He’ll stay. Now, let me read you into the situation as it were.
Inside that building is a collection of letters, portraits, and journals from various donations and estate sales.
It seems there are a few items inside that belong to your clan members. ”
“And you,” Emo Vampire purred with vicious satisfaction.
Glenn couldn’t quite conceal a wince. “And me. I don’t know how best to approach this, but I do agree there are things inside that should not be on display.”
Jarek grunted, a noncommittal answer. His eyes turned back to his own people. “And how did you even find out about this, anyway?”
“I fed from a woman who is helping to organize all of this,” Pretty Vampire admitted. Seeing the looks he got, he hastily added, “It was consensual! She told me about it over drinks.”
‘Drinks,’ huh?
So there was a valid source confirming what was in there.
Frankly, the whole thing gave Ross a headache, and standing around in the cold wasn’t helping.
How did they deal with this? It was true that going into the museum and taking things out wouldn’t be stealing, as it belonged to these three men to begin with.
Finders, keepers rules shouldn’t apply here.
On the other hand, breaking into the museum in broad daylight was not advisable.
Ross scratched his head for a moment. Was there a good solution to be had here? “We could forge paperwork claiming the two of you are descendants and want your family’s things back. It might take a while to get through, though. That process isn’t fast.”
“Or…” Glenn drawled out. There was an outrageous twinkle in his eye. Mischief imminent, that sort of expression.
Ross did not trust that look. The rest of the clan wore it on a far too frequent basis. He really, really didn’t want to ask. He found himself asking anyway. “Or…?”
“We call an acquaintance of mine to handle this. Jarek, if we call in a professional thief to steal things, would that be fine with you?”
Ross blinked at his profile, waiting for the punchline. A professional? Thief? That Glenn knew?
He suddenly had all the questions. All.
His eyes went to the other clan members nearby, but they didn’t seem confused. All four of them were lit up in understanding, as if they knew precisely who Glenn meant and thought it a marvelous idea.
“A thief? Who?” Jarek asked. It was a very reasonable question, but he only seemed curious, not suspicious.
“Eidolon.”
Jarek let out a low whistle. “I only know him by reputation, but he’s supposedly very, very good. You know him well enough to call him in for this?”
“I do.” Glenn noticed Ross staring a hole through his head and threw in as an aside, “Product of a misspent summer in Russia. I met him as we were both trying to leave the country. He’s a fascinating man, and very skilled. Let me call him.”
Ross would get every ounce of that story out of his lover later.