Chapter 7
Raven was back in the passenger seat, back in the hunter’s car. He’s not one of…them. He’s okay. Probably. Wouldn’t have shown his face around campus if he were one of them.
“How’d you have Jason’s number?” he asked, not turning his head to look at the hunter.
“Why, he demanded I stay in contact. Back when he was still looking for you. He insisted I find you.”
Raven smiled, and he caught the faint reflection of his face in the window, not quite sure he recognized the expression anymore. “Running after me. Who does he think he is, my prince in shining armor?”
“Oh, I doubt he has such intentions. Should I text and ask?”
Raven turned. The hunter was sitting there, maneuvering through traffic with his phone in his hand.
Raven pointed. “That’s illegal.”
Maxim glanced at the device. “Inquiring about your roommate’s intentions?”
“Texting while driving.”
“Ah. Well, human police cannot fine a hunter for such things.”
“Abuse of power,” Raven mumbled before turning back to the window. “You got him to buy books for you. And then we just left.”
“You saw me text and leave a note. I will arrange for him to bring them by the house later. And they’re not for me, as such. They’re for a young werewolf child who’s very dear to me, and for a friend. He’s a collector of the fine art depicted in Kawaii Demon Hunter.”
“You sound too old to even know what that is.”
Maxim gasped. “You too, Brutus? Raven, you must not think such things! I am but a spring lamb of this age, truly!”
Raven wanted to respond, but exhaustion had her teeth in him. “Yeah.”
Maxim hummed. “You’re sure you brought enough clothing? Going shopping like Heath suggested is an option. On my credit card, of course.”
“No, I’m good.”
Maxim had packed the duffel, the very one Raven had carried into the shared dorm room when he’d started school.
Maxim had asked what to pack and accepted Raven’s nods when it came to the clothes as much as his head shakes when he’d asked about the books.
Raven had allowed his laptop and charger, but that was about it.
He didn’t even know what he’d do with that laptop now.
It was old; good for school but bound to crash.
Raven didn’t know whether he’d have a use for it.
“Very well. Just know that you can change your mind.”
“Hmm.”
Raven was so tired, and traffic was slow. I’ll close my eyes, just for a second.
Someone reached for him, and Raven jerked awake, the half dream slipping off him like a filthy sheet.
“Shh, just me.” Maxim’s hands were raised in a gesture of surrender. “We’re home.”
“H-home?”
“Back at 43 Ruthaven. My home. Where it’s safe.”
“Oh.” Raven looked around. The parking garage was illuminated. Still, it looked scary with the concrete, the sharp edges. But I can move. They made it so I couldn’t move before. That gave Raven an idea. “C-can you compel me?” He looked at Maxim. “Can you do that to me?”
The hunter hesitated but then shook his head. “No, not with you. It might be done in the transitional period with some. But the blood you received—my blood—is too old to allow that.”
Raven sighed. “Too bad.”
“In what way?”
Raven thought back to his…captivity. He had fought.
He’d tried to fight, he really had. But when they had compelled him, he’d been so tired.
He should’ve fought even then, he knew that.
He should have tried everything and anything, should’ve been smarter, but he’d given in.
Sometimes, he’d just let the compulsion rule him.
“Then at least I’d know what to do.”
Maxim shifted in his seat. “Compulsion only makes you think that, and then only when it’s skillfully applied. I will teach you the art of it. There is no guarantee that you will be able to achieve it, but again, you have my blood, and I would judge the likelihood high.”
Raven looked away. “No, thank you. I don’t ever want to do that to a person.”
Maxim accepted that. “You fell asleep. Should we get out? If you would like to rest, we can find you a place that is more comfortable upstairs. Unless you feel thirsty now?”
Raven shook his head. He unbuckled his seat belt then got out. So did Maxim. The hunter picked up the almost empty duffel bag he’d put on the back seat and motioned for Raven to follow him toward the elevator.
Raven wondered what he’d do once they were back in that white apartment.
He said I can’t go back to university, but maybe I could just take a month off, learn how to deal with this whole vampire thing.
Then everything should go back to normal.
I can make up for a month without losing my scholarship.
The elevator’s doors closed behind them, and Raven looked up at Maxim. “Hey.”
“Hmm?”
“I, uh. I don’t want to lose my scholarship.”
Maxim nodded. “I’m sure that can be arranged.
Though I’ll have Heath look into it. It might well be that you’ll qualify for a Forum one rather than a human one.
But all that is very—” He gestured dramatically, rolling his eyes.
“Bureaucratic. And that, I fear, I do not handle well. But we have Heath for all bureaucracy. He loves all those spreadsheets and the fine print and such.”
“Ah.”
Maxim smiled. “Don’t worry about it. I will see that nothing changes in that regard. You will be able to go back to your studies when you’re ready.”
Raven had that feeling, as if the world were closing in on him, as if time and place were contracting around him. He looks and sounds like I can trust him, but can I? What if…what if he wants something in return? Then again, he has a kid. Means he’s into women, right? Raven sighed. That’s a relief.
“Okay.”
The elevator stopped, only it wasn’t on the floor they had left from. Maxim walked ahead of Raven into a wide, airy room, almost square, with walls on three sides, the fourth leading into yet another wider and even airier room. Heath poked his head around that opening.
“There you are! We’re all ready to go. But fair warning, it’ll be rom-coms. One is this dark-ish rom-com and—the fuck is that?” He pointed at the duffel Maxim was carrying.
“Why, darling, these are Raven’s things.”
“You said you were going to take him clothes shopping. For new clothes. Did you cheap out on him? Really? Really?”
“Not at all.”
“Uhm,” Raven said, and both their eyes were on him suddenly, their attention intense. “I just…”
More footsteps approached from the wide-open area where Heath had come from, and a black-haired man appeared, wrinkling his nose at Maxim and Heath.
“Perhaps we can all gather inside? Raven looks like he’s about to run out of the house. But it’s nice inside here, isn’t it?”
“Right, sorry.” Heath gestured. “This is Bryan. He helped with setting up the screen and picking the movies. Especially with picking the movies.”
“None of those houses are going to be as nice as this one,” Bryan said. He wore a green shirt and nicely pressed pants.
Raven looked at the elevator as Bryan and Heath retreated to where they’d come from.
Maxim waited for him. “That apartment was just a guest room. Especially while you adjust, it’ll be easier if you stay up here in the penthouse.”
“The…penthouse?”
The hunter nodded. “That’s right. I live here. Heath moved downstairs. And don’t worry, the guest room up here is a lot nicer than the one you woke up in.”
Raven nodded. “D-do I have to…?” He wasn’t even sure what he wanted to ask. He wasn’t sure what, if anything, had to be done in this kind of a situation.
Maxim took a step toward him, then stopped. His right hand balled into a fist before he opened it. “No. You don’t have to do anything. Should I take you back downstairs? To the other room?”
Raven looked the way the other two had gone. He had no idea what was back there, but those rooms were incredibly bright, full of sunlight flooding in from outside. They looked nice.
“I just want to shower finally.”
Maxim nodded, and he smiled in a way that made him look soft, less commanding. “Of course. Come on, I’ll show you.”
Raven followed the hunter. It wasn’t like he trusted the man, but with him there, the day had been…not easier, but less bad.