Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Noah
The hours seem to fly as I slowly get to know each of the members in Xander’s colony. Of course, Harlan stays close by, always cracking jokes as his energy never seems to fade.
After a few attempts at breaking the ice, Ambrose manages to piece together longer sentences with far less snark, and I can see, beneath that sturdy, sharp exterior, he’s rather kind and selfless.
Xander and Cassius catch up on the back patio, watching the forest as they speak, and I realize with their inside jokes and fond memories of one another that Cassius is the exact same best friend who turned Xander all those years ago.
“So you’re telling me,” I bounce on Xander’s lap, “you were a vampire for hundreds of years before you even met Xander? How did you two become so close?”
These two men couldn’t be any more different. Cassius, with his silver hair, neatly shaven , and bulging arms beneath a black leather jacket, and Xander, who takes on a more scruffy look, but still carries that handsome air about himself. I could never imagine how they became so close.
Both Xander and Cassius smile.
“It was a mistake, actually,” Cassius begins. “I was looking for Xander’s father. He was a professor who was studying vampires. In secret, of course.”
“Even I didn't know,” Xander chuckles. “So when Cass showed up at my front door asking for a professor, we turned him away, not realizing my father was hiding another side of himself.”
“So, of course, I thought maybe it was some kind of trap to kill me, or study me for science. That they’d call the authorities to hunt me down now that they had a visual description. But no one came.”
Xander grasps my waist and pulls me back against his chest as Cassius stands and ambles down the garden stairs to sit at the top step.
“He waited for weeks. In an abandoned alleyway beside our house, just watching us. I felt so bad that I started giving him leftovers or stale bread.” Xander chuckles, and Cassius shakes his head.
“Then the scraps turned into conversations and then marbles and other silly games the other kids would play. I, of course, was the oldest amongst everyone and was asked many times if I was your older brother.” Cassius smiles absently.
“And then the plague swept through town. And it wasn’t until people were dropping like flies that my father realized who you were. More like what you were.” Xander rubs my back gently.
The air around us grows heavy as Xander swipes a lock of hair behind my ear. “And when my mother and sisters died from the virus, my father begged Cass to turn me. It was his dying wish.”
“So I did. And I don't regret it. Not anymore, at least, now that you’ve found Noah.” Cassius’s gaze meets mine, and the air is sucked from my lungs.
Cassius might not be the oldest like Harlan, but his dark eyes swim with experience. I can see that, despite his ageless disposition, Cassius has endured so much over his lifetime.
I turn back to Xander and look up at the man I've fallen so deeply in love with. He wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for Cassius. Or his own father.
“Thank you. For turning him. I wouldn’t be the happiest man in the world if it weren’t for you.” I speak to Cassius, unable to take my eyes from Xander, who smiles warmly at me.
“DO I HEAR WORDS OF PRAISE!?” Harlan’s overjoyed voice booms from the kitchen, and I flinch before giggling as he strides through the back door and plops down beside Cassius.
Both vamps wear their leather jackets, which seems to be the status quo amongst the group. I guess in my mind vampires wore ancient, bold pieces with embroidered patterns and fur. But with their leather jackets, this must be the newest, most modern fit they can adopt.
“I’m bored,” Harlan sighs, and rests his head against Cassius’s shoulder. “Let’s go to Church! I saw it was open on our way here.”
Beside him, Cassius chuckles, “We are here to kill a Soultracker, not flounder around a kink club.”
What I don't expect is for Harlan to get any cuter as he switches on the most alluring puppy-dog eyes and pouted lips. “But I'm bored and… hungry.”
“There’s food in the kitchen. Xander won’t mind if you help yourself,” I pipe up, feeling the bubble of pride bloom in my chest. I definitely need to get better at hosting.
Harlan smiles warmly but shrugs. “Thank you. But I’m not particularly hungry for… human food.”
Oh, he wants blood.
I look to Xander for a response, and he gives my knee a squeeze. “Harlan, you’ll have to go out to get what you’re after. I have no need to store it here now that I have Noah.”
Harlan huffs and snatches Cassius’s hand into his toys with the other man’s fingers. “I guess. But the club is fun.”
His voice is so sad and dull that it even makes me wince. Yet the two vamps surrounding us don’t seem to bat an eye.
“And wouldn’t it be safer to go deeper into town so the Soultracker can’t find Noah so easily?” Harlan fidgets with Cassius’s pinky finger.
“He makes a point,” Xander says. His hands tighten on me as he pulls me against his chest and a cold breeze sweeps across the deck. I shiver.
“See!” Harlan chirps up. “Noah is safer with us close by, and we all get to feed and build our strength.”
The air is tense between us for a beat before Cassius sighs and looks over at us. His gaze is solemn, and a flicker of worry covers his features before he straightens his spine and nudges Harlan. “Fine.”
The little vampire is ecstatic as he hoots and hollers, speeding to his feet and jumping in the air like an excited puppy. So much so that I can imagine two floppy ears sprouting right from his skull.
“But,” Cassius stands and dusts invisible dirt from his leather jacket, “we will need Tyler to put some wards around the house before we go. Xander, I'm guessing you can call his… handler?”
Handler?
“Cole will be hard to persuade,” Xander grumbles. “He won’t want Tyler anywhere near a house this far from town.”
Everyone's shoulders drop. Including mine. Cole has made it very clear he watches over Tyler like a hawk. I remember the way he looked at me in the cafe, and I'm sure he won’t want Tyler coming anywhere near me now that I’m cursed.
“So now what?” I ask. “Can we pay them?”
Cassius chuckles, and Xander kisses the back of my neck.
“No, sweetheart. Money has no value for Cole. And for any of us. Witches or Vamps, we don’t require cash,” Xander explains.
“What if I were to give them 10 years of protection?” A voice from inside the house drifts through the back door as Ambrose steps into the kitchen. His voice carries like a tune, and his movements, as he meanders through the cupboards, is like a dance.
“Ten years? Why would you do that for a pair of witches?” Cassius frowns.
Ambrose emerges from the kitchen carrying a knife and an apple. As he walks, he expertly cuts the fruit into chunks, plucks a piece from the blade, and eats it with slow, deliberate bites.
“I think I might stay in Moonfell for a while. The desert was getting boring.” He simply shrugs. “I’ll give them 10 years of protection. For whenever Cole gets antsy and needs someone doing fire watch over Tyler.”
“And you think Cole will agree to Tyler putting wards up for that?” Xander asks.
Ambrose flicks his hair over his shoulder and takes another bite of apple. “Ask and find out.”
Sighing, Xander pulls his phone from his pocket and shoots Cole a text. Almost immediately it goes to ‘seen’ and then the dots of an incoming message appear before they disappear altogether.
“Well, that’s promising,” I say with a laugh, though my stomach sinks and a fresh wave of anxiety washes through me.
Before anyone can respond, there is a heavy rap at the front door.
Harlan is speeding past everyone in the blink of an eye and ripping the door open before squealing excitedly, “COLE! MY FAVOURITE WITCH!”
Cole hardly even blinks; his towering frame making Harlan look ridiculously small.
Then Cassius steps in beside him, and Harlan starts bouncing on the spot like he’s had too much sugar.
Between the two of them, their broad shoulders nearly blot him out entirely, the contrast almost absurd.
But the little vampire doesn’t seem bothered in the slightest. If anything, he looks delighted by the witch’s arrival.
“Why do you want Tyler?” Cole grates.
Xander and I slink inside. Xander deposits me on the bar stool and gives me a reassuring glance before reaching to where the others stand.
The stairs above the kitchen creak as Milo positions himself at the top, watching down wearily.
“We need him to set wards against a Soultracker,” Harlan pipes up excitedly, and a gleeful grin spreads across his lips.
“No,” Cole growls, but his focus is tightly strained on Cassius and Xander. “He won't come a mile from this house. Now that I know what is hunting your human.”
Cole’s voice drips venom as he speaks that word. As if it tastes bad.
“How does 10 years of protection over Tyler sound?” Ambrose flits to the doorway, his silver hair flowing like a wave behind him and his leather jacket cinched to his waist.
For a moment, Cole’s dark gaze softens at the sight of Ambrose. I don't blame him. The man is stunning. But his moment of weakness is quickly covered by his usual mask of anger.
“I don’t need your help, harlot," Cole sneers.
I tense, clutching the edge of the counter, my heart pounding in my throat. Milo growls above me, his eyes trained on the witch who snarls back.
The tension in the air thickens, and heat rises. My own body grows tense as my breath catches and my ears ring. I feel as if the seconds tick slower and slower, as if the entire world's rotation slows to a crawl.
Teeth flash, fangs drop, and ungodly growls fill the house.
“HEY! ENOUGH!” A strangled voice pierces the air, and a cloud of black, swirling dust forms behind Cole. Like a whirlpool of darkness, it forms so suddenly I barely get a moment to comprehend what is happening before Tyler is stumbling through the void and reaches for Cole.