Chapter 27
Chapter
Twenty-Seven
Simon's phone buzzed again when he reached the retreat. He didn't even look at it. He just turned it off and shoved it deep in his pocket.
He'd deal with the Organization later. Right now, the pull in his chest had become almost painful, a fishhook yanking him toward the overpriced building where Charlie was probably tripping over nothing and apologizing to furniture.
The front door opened before he could knock. A woman in aggressively neutral linen smiled at him with the intensity of someone whose life consisted of customer service.
"Welcome to Reconnect! I'm Sage. You must be here for our midnight session."
"I'm here for Charlie."
Her smile flickered but recovered admirably. "Are you expected?"
"Probably not."
"I see." She maintained eye contact while somehow conveying deep disapproval. "We have a very strict policy about maintaining our guests' journey space. Perhaps you could return during visiting hours?"
"When are those?"
"Not for another lunar cycle."
Simon was considering just walking past her when Viktor appeared in the doorway behind her.
"It's fine, Sage. He's with me." Viktor's expression was carefully neutral. "Part of the integration process."
Sage looked between them, clearly recognizing bullshit but apparently not paid enough to call it out. "He'll still need to surrender any devices."
"Already turned off my phone."
"Excellent." She gave him a once-over. "What about weapons?"
Simon blinked. "Weapons?"
"We maintain a violence-free environment." Her smile could have cut glass. "That includes any items that could disrupt our community's harmony."
Viktor coughed in a way that sounded suspiciously like suppressed laughter.
Simon pulled out his primary stake. Sage held out a small wicker basket to accept it. He added the backup stake. The silver knife from his boot. The garrote wire from his belt. Another knife from his jacket. The throwing stars he'd honestly forgotten were in his inside pocket.
Sage's basket started to sag.
"Is that everything?" she asked with the tone of someone reminding herself to be polite to guests.
"Yes."
Viktor coughed again.
Simon sighed and pulled the ankle holster with its small gun. "That's everything."
"Wonderful." Sage set the basket on an antique side table where it looked absurdly out of place. "Viktor can show you to the integration space."
She glided away, leaving Simon feeling oddly naked without his weapons. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been entirely without weapons while not being naked at the same time.
But now wasn't the time to ponder that.
"Integration space?" he asked.
"She means the living room. They call everything something else here." Viktor led him down a hallway lined with large art pieces depicting fruits. "Fair warning, Charlie's made friends."
"Friends?"
"Other vampires. They've adopted him like a stray puppy." Viktor paused at a doorway. "Try not to look too much like you're planning murder. It makes people nervous."
Simon scoffed but chose to say nothing in response.
The room beyond was less pretentious than he'd expected. Mismatched furniture that actually looked comfortable, warm lighting, and four vampires arranged around a coffee table.
Three of them looked up with mild interest.
Charlie shot to his feet so fast he knocked over what appeared to be a carefully organized puzzle, sending pieces scattering across the table.
"Oh shit, Connor, I'm so sorry!"
"That was six hours of work," Connor said flatly, staring at the ruined puzzle.
Simon stared too.
He'd never seen a vampire get upset about a puzzle. Why couldn't his world go back to making sense?
"I'll help you restart it, I promise!" Charlie went down on his knees trying to gather pieces, managing to knock more onto the floor in the process. "Sorry, sorry, I'm making it worse—"
"Charlie," Simon said.
Charlie froze mid-reach for a puzzle piece, looking up at Simon with those impossibly earnest eyes. "You came."
"I said I would."
"Yeah, but..." Charlie stood slowly, a puzzle piece still clutched in his hand. "Hi."
"Hi."
They stared at each other while the other vampires watched with the rapt attention of people who'd been desperate for some fresh gossip.
"So this is him," the woman in paint-splattered clothes said. "The hunter Charlie won't shut up about."
Charlie's face went red. "I didn't—Maya, that's not—"
"'He's so strong, Maya. His blood tastes like heaven, Maya. His eyes are like—'"
"I never said anything about his eyes!" Charlie protested.
"You didn't have to. You've been staring at the door for the past hour like a dog waiting for its owner."
Simon tried to ignore how much he enjoyed hearing that.
"Are you going to kill us?" Connor asked, drawing his attention.
"No."
"But you're a hunter."
"Yes."
Connor considered this. "That seems contradictory."
Simon suppressed a sigh. "You don't say."
The third vampire, who'd been silent until now, stood up. "I'm Thomas. I make furniture." He paused. "That's not relevant to anything, but everyone here opens with their thing, so."
"Simon's thing is hunting vampires," Maya said cheerfully. "This should be interesting."
"Can we have a moment?" Charlie asked, still clutching the puzzle piece. "Just… I need to talk to Simon. Alone."
"Ooh, alone time already?" Maya waggled her eyebrows.
Charlie's face somehow got redder. "It's not… we're just talking."
"Uh-huh. Talking. Sure."
"Maya," Viktor warned.
She raised her hands in surrender. "Fine, fine. Come on, boys. Let's give the disaster couple some space."
They filed out, Connor shooting Charlie betrayed looks, Thomas nodding politely at Simon, Maya making exaggerated winking faces until Viktor physically dragged her from the room.
The door clicked shut.
Charlie stood there, still holding that single puzzle piece, looking everywhere except at Simon.
"You told them about my eyes?"
"I told them nothing about your eyes." Charlie set the puzzle piece carefully on the table. "Maya makes things up. She thinks she's helping."
Simon moved closer, and Charlie finally looked at him properly. His pupils dilated immediately.
"You look tired," Charlie said softly.
"It's been a long night."
"Did you find what you needed to at the library?"
The question sat between them. What could Simon say? If he gave any credit to what he'd been told… Then his entire life was built on lies. And his mother had died because Reuben needed him traumatized enough to control.
No, Simon couldn't say that.
"It's complicated," he said instead.
Charlie nodded like this made perfect sense. "Everything's complicated now." He fidgeted with the hem of his shirt. "The vampires here are nice. They don't think I'm broken."
Simon wouldn't call the vampires here nice. He'd call them weird because he wasn't nice.
"This whole place is off," he said.
"What do you mean?"
"How can there be this many vampires gathered just outside a town that's crawling with hunters? And none of us have heard about it?" The questions nagged at Simon. The existence of this retreat didn't make sense.
It made even less sense for it to be full of 'nice' vampires like Charlie.
Even Noah had said that Charlie was exceptional.
"Maybe hunters do know about it," Charlie said. "But your bosses leave this place alone because no one's getting hurt here."
Simon shook his head. "My bosses see everything in black and white."
"I know that's how you see the world. Or how you used to see the world anyway.
" Charlie licked his lips. "I'm glad you came anyway.
I really did miss you." Charlie moved closer, close enough that Simon could smell him—that particular mix of sweetness and copper that was uniquely Charlie.
"I know that's a little stupid because it's been like three hours, but the bond thing, it makes everything intense and—"
Simon kissed him.
It was gentler than their first kiss. Less desperate, more deliberate. Charlie made a small sound and melted against him, hands coming up to twist in Simon's jacket.
When they pulled apart, Charlie's eyes were unfocused.
"We should probably talk about the library thing," Charlie said breathlessly.
"Later."
Simon didn't want to talk right now. There was nothing Charlie could say that would make him feel better. But that kiss?
Yeah, that made him feel better.
He moved in again, drawing his vampire close. His vampire. What kind of silly thought was that?
It felt right, though. Felt—
The door burst open.
"Oh good, you're not naked yet." Maya stood in the doorway with zero shame. "Sage wants to know if tall, dark, and stabby is staying the night. She needs to know for breakfast counts."
Charlie pulled back, face flushed. "Maya, we were—"
"Vertical and clothed, I can see that. Very disappointing." She looked at Simon. "You eat human food or just the tears of your enemies?"
"He's not—" Charlie started.
"Human food is fine," Simon said.
"Cool. Charlie, show him your room already. And then lock the door." She winked and then left before either of them could respond.
Charlie covered his face with his hands. "I've known them for three hours. Three hours and they're already gossiping about my sex life."
"Charlie."
"Yeah?"
"I do want you to show me your room."
Charlie's hands dropped. "Oh. Right. Yes. Room." He moved toward the door, caught his foot on the edge of the coffee table, and stumbled. Simon caught his elbow before he could fall.
"I'm fine! I'm good. Just, you know, I don't really have vampire grace down."
Simon kept his hand on Charlie's elbow as they walked down the hallway, for safety reasons.
"It's this way," Charlie said, leading him up a staircase. "They gave me one of the nice rooms, I think? It has a lot of pillows. Like, an unreasonable number of pillows."
He fumbled with the key, dropped it, picked it up, and dropped it again.
Simon took it from him and unlocked the door himself.
The room was absurdly comfortable-looking. A bed drowning in pillows, warm lighting, books on built-in shelves. It looked like somewhere people went to heal.
Charlie shut the door behind them and immediately started babbling. "So Maya taught me about blood types today, apparently there's a whole science to it, and Connor's teaching me control exercises tomorrow, except I might have ruined that with the puzzle thing—"
"Charlie."
"And Thomas wants to make me a chair! I don't know why but he says it'll be really comfortable and—"
Simon pushed him gently against the door and kissed him quiet once more.
This time, Charlie's hands went to Simon's hair, pulling slightly, and the small pain of it made something in Simon's chest crack open.
He needed to have this vampire under him.
Now.