CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE #2
“Well, now he knows,” Callahan commented dryly.
“Thanks,” I said, turning to Alexius, not appreciating him outing it like that.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Lexi demanded.
“Because it wasn’t your business,” I snapped at her. “I didn’t want to scare Declan, and you can clearly keep nothing to yourself except the one thing you should have told him.”
Lucas clapped a hand over his daughter’s mouth before she could retort. I smiled, knowing Alexius wouldn’t do that to me right now. In fact, he reached out and took my hand, but nothing more.
“You are very important to these two women, which is making me hate you,” Callahan said, directed at my brother. There was no heat in the statement. I wasn’t even sure he was serious.
“I’m sorry, sir. It’s making me hate them,” Declan said softly.
“Apology accepted, but don’t hate them. They clearly love you.
It’s just adding to my already full plate to have to negotiate the nonsense between vampires and my werewolves over you.
If anything, it’s their fault, but…” Callahan shrugged.
“It’s easier to blame you. I don’t piss off one of the oldest supernaturals in the world if I blame you. ”
“And that’s…” Declan looked at me, but then beyond me, frowning as he realized Alexius was just chilling in a chair, holding my hand. He was so deceptively casual, disregarding the emotions of the room and the power of the other supernaturals in it.
“Alexius the Hunter,” Callahan confirmed. “Who is very attached to your sister by the looks of it. And it’s not fair to only blame my werewolves. They’d be rightfully angry with me. So…”
“So, me.”
“Yeah. Don’t worry. I will only hold this against you until Everly and Alexius have gone home and things are settled again.”
“Thank you, sir,” Declan said, glaring at me.
“Callahan, the boy doesn’t know you’re joking,” Alexius finally said, looking up at the Alpha werewolf.
“I’ve realized that,” Callahan replied, reaching out to pat my brother’s shoulder.
“Young man, you’re a good employee, and you’re just in over your head with these two.
It happens, and it is on them, not you. Bad luck.
No one is actually mad at you. In fact, I feel bad for you.
I’m probably going to give you a pay raise, a really large one, to make sure you keep working for me. ”
“So,” Declan sighed. “What are we doing in here?” my brother asked, his eyes closed as I knew he was embarrassed, dragged around, talked about, fought over.
He was so pissed at me, but not only at me.
He wanted out of this room. He wanted to leave this party, which would have been his scene if not for everything going on.
“Discussing your safety,” I said, sighing. “I just wanted to make sure you had someone with you when you went out.”
“These vampires I’ve been looking for are few in number, and I believe it was the wrong place at the wrong time for everyone involved.
I don’t know or see anything that would imply they would target Everly or Declan to get to her,” Alexius said, looking only at Callahan.
“So, if you could just provide him with someone who checks in at one or two a.m., just to verify he’s home safe, then I believe him being with his girlfriend or with Everly is more than enough protection. ”
“Young vampires?” Callahan asked, all his attention now on Alexius.
“Certainly. Nothing about their behavior says they’re older than five or so years,” Alexius confirmed. “They’re just slippery and not stopping to talk to any other vampires. Once we’re done here, I’m going over to follow the trail.”
Callahan sat down and drummed his fingers on the desk.
“Can I send a wolf with you just to learn the scent, perhaps help you tonight to make up for lost time?”
“Certainly… Is that werewolf in Alaska walking again? I never had a chance to ask before.”
“Yeah, he started walking again about a month ago.” Callahan looked at the werewolves in the room, Lexi and her family.
“Lucas and Lexi will go. Lucas to help track tonight, Lexi so she knows the scent in case it comes close to Declan’s home again when you go visit him or you’re out with him. Alexius?”
“That works for me. And on nights Lexi isn’t there, Everly will be.”
“I saw him. He ran off, and I decided not to follow in a city I’m unfamiliar with,” I explained to Declan.
“Did you have a chance to save my neighbor? Who was it?”
“A woman getting home from a night shift is all we’ve identified so far. And no. By the time I saw her… I couldn’t save her, Declan.”
“Okay. Shit. This sucks.” Declan huffed, running a hand through his hair as he took a few steps away from the rest of us.
I looked at Lexi, who was watching Declan with concern. Enough concern that I decided to help.
“Look at it this way, Declan… this would have happened whether or not you and I were related or whether I was in town. You just get more information and protection than the average human. There’s no reason to think this vampire had anything to do with you.”
“Yeah… I would just rather be on the beach watching waves right now.”
Callahan cleared his throat, and it was Yiva who grabbed him.
“Then let’s go. Lexi will be back soon, right, daughter?”
“As fast as possible.”
“Then I’ll wrap this up. Alexius, we can give Everly a ride to wherever she would like to go when she wants to leave.”
“Would you like to stay here and go home when you’re ready?”
“You would be okay with that?” I asked. He only nodded.
We both knew he couldn’t stop me. We were asking each other out of courtesy to be on the same page if we needed one another, and I liked that.
“Declan is still here, and we were supposed to hang out tonight, so I’ll probably stay as long as he’s here.
” I looked down at the hand he was still holding, and he let me slide it out of his grasp without a comment, then I followed Declan downstairs and onto the beach, Yiva hovering.
Werewolves looked at me, but none stopped me to talk.
“Hey, bro,” I said, walking cautiously up to him. “How angry are you?”
“I realized after I walked out that Callahan treated me like I was made of glass when I wanted to leave,” he said softly, staring at the ocean. Yiva made a noise, and I glanced her way, seeing a bit of guilt on her face.
“Have you considered, Declan, that as a human, you are made of glass here?” I asked, trying to be gentle, but it was the honest truth. “And I’m sorry it’s like that.”
“Yeah, my ego has taken a beating,” he said, chuckling sadly. “I was an independent adult for so long, and now, I am being babysat.”
“A little bit,” I said, holding two fingers close together as I moved to where he could see me. “You can sit home alone. We both know you order groceries instead of going to the store. How much does this really change anything?”
Declan looked thoughtfully out at the ocean, then started to chuckle.
“It doesn’t really change anything,” he conceded before fully laughing. “But man, Callahan didn’t have to baby me.”
“Alpha Callahan,” I corrected. “For Lexi, it’s really better if you call him by title.”
“Good advice, vampire,” Yiva said, nodding behind Declan.
She stepped closer, putting a hand on Declan’s shoulder.
“Alpha knows when someone needs a gentle hand or a firm one. You need gentle right now. You’re not used to werewolves.
You haven’t been around vampires regularly in a decade.
And none of this is your fault. You’re just in a difficult position.
So, Alpha Callahan is going to be gentle.
It’s what makes him not a tyrant and inspires so many of us to follow him. ”
“Thanks, Yiva.” He looked back at me, smiling. “And thank you for thinking of my safety when you saw the other vampire. Really.” Then it was back to Yiva. “Lexi isn’t going to leave me for not being manly enough? I mean…”
“My daughter loves you,” Yiva promised firmly, squeezing his shoulder. “Now, let me show you both what fun is to be had at a werewolf party.”
She dragged us both back inside, and for a second, I could watch Alexius leave with the two werewolves.
Good luck. Please don’t get hurt.