---

CHAPTER ONE

JULIAN
Who decided that having children sell candy to strangers was a good idea?
“Hey, Uncle Julian, don’t you think you can do something to make people buy my candy?” my niece Nina asks.
I’m not quite sure what trick she’d like me to perform, and unless it involves packing up and going home, I’m not exactly eager to perform it. It’s dark out, yet here we are still trying our absolute hardest to rope some unsuspecting tourists into paying exorbitant amounts for a candy bar, all because Nina’s convinced that if she sells all the chocolate she has left, she’ll win the top prize. Even though the top prize is likely a piece of junk that cost five dollars—which I would have paid to not have to sit here for three hours—she wants it “more than anything.”
Her head snaps over to mine, her curly auburn hair bouncing as her eyes go wide. “Julian!”
“What!” I exclaim right back.
“What if you shift into a wolf, and then people think you’re a doggy, and then all the people will come over and I’ll tell them they can only pet the doggy if they buy a candy bar!”
Ahhhh, she’s only eight and well on her way to conning people.
“Wow! That’s a terrible idea,” I say.
Nina pouts in response.
That’s when I see two men from the back, both wearing expensive suits and looking rather rich. And maybe because Nina seems to equate “rich” with “they will buy all my candy,” she bolts for them, box of chocolates in hand.
She’s so fast that I don’t even have time to tell her that of all the people on the street, those two will not want her candy… hell, they can’t even eat it.
“Will you buy my mfh⁠—”
The “mfh” at the end was caused by the vampire holding up his hand, which Nina didn’t see until her face smashed into it.
And that is the moment I realize that Nina not only targeted two vampires, she targeted the most prestigious vampire in this whole area. The very man who claimed this city and the surrounding ones as his territory.
And the man who knocked my father down from the position.
He shifts his cold eyes onto her as she slowly looks up, horror crossing her face as realization dawns on her. I rush over, knowing that I need to defuse the situation before it gets out of control, and grab Nina.
“Oh my god, you MONSTER!” I cry, loud enough everyone in the area can hear. “Nina, sweetheart, don’t cry!”
“I’m… not crying,” she says.
“You poor baby, all you wanted to do was sell some candy bars to this kind gentleman in order to raise money for your sad school that enlists child labor so their kids can go on field trips, and this man savagely pummeled you to the ground,” I proclaim.
“I… didn’t fall,” Nina says.
Since I’m crouched to squeeze Nina to me, I have to look up at the man. And even though he really isn’t much taller than my five-ten height, his aura alone makes him seem leagues taller. The frown on his face would put the strongest of men on their knees. The way his cold brown eyes watch me tells me that he’s really not that interested in this display before him. He’s a handsome man with quite the reputation after sweeping into the city and buying up half of it a few years prior. Because of that, I doubt there are many who don’t know who he is, which means that I will play into this for all I’m worth.
“How could you?” I whisper.
“What is even happening?” he asks, a sour look on his face. Then he leans in and sniffs me before cringing, like simply smelling me disgusted him.
“That’s Terrance’s son,” the man next to him says.
I didn’t think a face could sour even more but it sure does. “I see.”
I’m really not wanting them to get off track here because I want to go home, and Nina’s holding me captive until these candy bars find a new owner. “I’m going to have to pay for therapy for her after what you did. But I do know what will bring a smile to her innocent face,” I say.
The vampire weirdly doesn’t look impressed.
“If you bought all of her candy,” I conclude.
Everyone in the vicinity has stopped to witness the man “smash the child to the ground.” And even if the vampire didn’t do that, the humans will eat it all up. They have no idea he’s a vampire, but they do know that Casimir is the richest man in the city and garners a lot of attention wherever he goes. While I’ve never interacted with him, my father has—and deeply despises him after he waltzed in with his vampire crew.
“And why would I do that?” Casimir asks.
“To help pay for the plastic surgery to fix the damage you did to her face,” I inform him.
“I’m pretty sure she looked like that when she smashed her face into my hand,” he says.
“No, she was much cuter before. I promise.”
“I was?” Nina asks.
The vampire scrutinizes the child, then me. “If I give you the money, you’ll go away, right?”
“Far away.”
“Fine. How much is it a bar?”
“Four dollars apiece and we have a hundred here.”
“No, it’s two—” Nina, the sweet soul she is, says until I clamp my hand over her mouth.
Casimir stares at me before smacking the shoulder of the guy next to him. “Give them four hundred dollars.”
The second vampire looks disgruntled by the very idea. “What? Why me?”
“Because I said so.”
The man looks aghast as I try my hardest not to appear ecstatic about this exchange. “You’re seriously going to play into what this dog wants?”
Casimir slowly looks over at him. He doesn’t even have to say anything and the man reaches for his wallet. It’s impressive. If I had that power, Nina and I could have left hours ago!
“Can you give me lessons on how to do that?” I ask, but I am one hundred percent ignored.
“Fucking hell,” the guy grumbles.
“It’s an extra dollar a bar for cussing in front of the child,” I say. “The trauma to her poor ears!”
“You said a bad word yesterday!” Nina announces.
The second vampire hands over four one-hundred-dollar bills and two fifties, so I quickly grab the four boxes, each filled with twenty-five bars, and stuff them in his hands. “I’m so glad we could work this tragedy out.”
The man stares at his four boxes like he’s holding something vile. Casimir, on the other hand, is still scrutinizing me like I’m dog shit he might have found on his shoe.
I give him a wink, grab my niece in an elegant football hold with the five hundred dollars in my other hand, and make my great escape.
“Why’d you charge so much?” Nina asks as I toss her into the car.
“Quick, get your seat belt on!” I say as I turn the key.
“You charged him four dollars! It was two!”
“Yes, Nina, but you see those hundred bars sitting next to you? He just bought those too. You have now sold two hundred chocolate bars.”
She gasps as the wonder of what has just happened dawns on her. Clearly, I’m the best uncle ever. “I’m going to win that Rubik’s Cube!”
I stop what I’m doing and turn around to look at her. “Excuse me? We sat out here all night for a… Rubik’s Cube? You realize those are like ten dollars online? We nearly got eaten by a vampire.”
“You’re the one who nearly got eaten! Not me!” she says. “And it’s not any Rubik’s Cube. It’s THEEEE Rubik’s Cube!”
Children… far too simple.
I hand her the four hundred and then split the spare hundred with her. “This is yours. You can buy yourself five Rubik’s Cubes with it. You can be drowning in cubes.”
She gasps as she holds the fifty like I’ve handed her a priceless diamond.
“Then I’m going to save this fifty and we can go to the movies and toy store next weekend, alright?”
“OOOH yes!” she says, obviously excited about those plans. And with our mission accomplished, I drive to her house.
When I near the driveway and see that my dad is there, I can’t help but sigh, really not wanting to deal with him on this fine evening. I’m still enjoying my high from conning a vampire, and he’s here to crush that high to smithereens.
“Alright, your grandpa’s here, so I’m just going to push you out of the moving vehicle and run, okay?” I ask.
Nina gives me a look. “No! Not okay!”
“But, Nina, you’ll bounce! Kids are made of rubber,” I tease, and she laughs.
“I won’t bounce!”
“Fine, fine,” I say as I pull into the driveway. “The rest of these chocolates are ours to split. So grab your chocolate and run.”
“Got it!” She throws open the door and immediately trips out of the car, sending the boxes of chocolate bars flying all over the yard.
Dad, who’d been standing on the front porch and might not have caught up with me if I was fast enough, snaps his attention to us and scurries over.
“Fuck…” I whisper before getting out of the car to help Nina.
“Julian,” he says by way of greeting.
“Hey, Dad,” I say as I stoop down to help Nina pick up her candy bars by the light of the front porch.
My father was the leader of this territory until Casimir arrived. He’d ruled since he was about twenty, and for all of those years, he’d kept all vampires out. His pack was strong enough to enforce it until Casimir came along and proceeded to subdue the entire pack and stand as the new leader of the territory. He then welcomed in vampires, but only those who had his explicit permission. Even so, the change resulted in some bloodshed because the wolves refused to back down and the vampires refused to leave. Only recently has there been some semblance of peace since Casimir allowed my father to remain alpha but only under the stipulation that he follows Casimir’s rule. The relationship between the wolves and vampires is so fragile that the smallest thing could snap it.
I’m a werewolf like my father, but unlike him, I have no interest in the feud between wolves and vampires.
With Casimir’s new position, he also prohibited any werewolves from creating more. While most werewolves lock themselves inside on a full moon to prevent unnecessary spread or death, some think it’s their right to run free and don’t enjoy the new rules Casimir inflicted on the territory.
Unlike folklore, we don’t turn into some man/wolf hybrid, but generally look much more like a wolf when we shift, and we can shift anytime we like, though we don’t have a choice during a full moon.
Most of us wolves are drawn to each other, wanting a pack to call home… except for me. I have absolutely no interest in a pack or any of those dynamics, much to my father’s misery. Since I’m the only other family member who’s a wolf, my father has tried his hardest to drag me into his life… which I don’t always want to be a part of. He thinks it’s ridiculous that I’m not part of his pack—which he hopes I’ll take over when he backs down.
Honestly, I have absolutely no plans at all to take over.
“You know you could help prevent your kind from being stomped down by the vampires,” Dad says. He’d probably expire right here if I told him what we’d actually just been doing with the vampires.
“What if I like being stomped down? What if it tickles my fancy to be walked on by vampires?”
Dad scrutinizes me. Honestly, it’s a wonder he even claims me as his son. “Julian.”
“Father.”
He sighs loudly and starts using his extra anger power to throw some candy bars into a box. He’s almost powerful enough to send them through the box and down into hell with the way he’s fuming.
“Will you please just listen?”
“I am listening. I don’t want to be part of your pack or any pack. I’m happy on my own. And… no, I really don’t have any desire to go fight a vampire for some territory we already lost. It really hasn’t been that bad since the bat brigade came out, has it?”
“I wanna be a werewolf!” Nina decides.
“No, no you don’t,” Dad says.
Nina growls in response. “Yes, I do. If I was a werewolf, I’d chase Emily because she’s mean,” she decides before slowly looking over at me. “What are you doing after school tomorrow, Julian?”
“Not chasing an eight-year-old,” I say as I set a box of candy bars in her arms.
“What about a nine-year-old?”
“This whole city is uneasy,” Dad says, ignoring Nina.
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” I respond. But let’s be real… I’d rather chase the nine-year-old than deal with his bullshit.
“Why couldn’t your brother have been the damn werewolf?” he complains.
“Go gnaw on him, see how that goes,” I say as I carry the second box up to the house.
The door opens as we reach it and Mel, who’s Nina’s mother and my sister-in-law, smiles at us. “Aww, didn’t get them sold?”
“NO, we did! Julian forced a vampire to give us FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS.”
Dad’s head snaps around so fast that I’m not going to be surprised if he has whiplash. “You did what?”
I just smile away. “We had a blast. Sold all the candy. Super nice guy said we could keep these ones for ourselves! Have fun.”
With a pat on Nina’s head, I rush off to my car and drive home, quite concerned that my father is going to glower a hole into the back of my head.
CASIMIR
“Do you mind explaining why I just gave a mutt five hundred dollars?” Dan grumbles.
“Because you’re too weak to tell me no,” I say as I continue down the street.
The werewolf and the human child are thankfully gone, so I’m free to continue my search after hearing a rumor floating around that a couple of vampires had waltzed into my territory without my permission. Why anyone would choose to do such a thing is ridiculous. It’s like they woke up and decided on death.
To keep things civil, I only allow those who have permission to reside here. The wolves were already here when I arrived, but they are well aware that they don’t have permission to make more or allow more into the area. There are enough new weres made accidentally; to allow them to make more werewolves purposely would leave the city overrun with them.
In order to be fair, that also means that I don’t allow vampires to change humans, and I sure as hell don’t permit new vampires to enter without permission.
“What the hell am I supposed to do with all of this chocolate?” Dan asks, like that’s the concern here.
“Give it away,” I say.
He groans before pulling out a bar and holding it out to a child. “Do you want some candy?” he asks.
The girl shrieks and rushes for her mother.
“I hate children. This is why we should be allowed to eat them,” he decides.
“Don’t eat the children,” I order as I keep walking. A few tourists have gone missing, last seen in this area. While I don’t sense or smell any vampires, it doesn’t mean that there’s not one or two hanging around here, persuading the drunks to wander off with them where they’ll likely dump their body in the river somewhere.
“I’m not going to eat the children… I said I wish we could. They’re so pesky and honestly, downright creepy.” Dan shudders at the thought.
I hesitate, catching a scent that leads me away from the main area and down an alley. As Dan trots after me with his boxes of candy, I make my way over to a run-down building that looks abandoned. The front door is locked, but I see the window on the second floor is open. Glancing around, I don’t see any humans or devices that could track me, so I jump up, grabbing the edge of the brick before scaling my way up the wall and in through the open window with ease. When I land, the smell of rot immediately attacks my senses. And while there are no bodies in the room, I find myself following the scent of the vampires inward to a room that has no windows—no way for light to shine in.
This must be where they’ve been sleeping during the day. Their scent seems a bit old, though, making me wonder if they’ve recently moved on. Even so, I’m going to have some vampires waiting here until near dawn, in case they show.
Wandering down the stairs, I find myself in what used to be an old restaurant. It doesn’t take me long to find the source of the rotting stench, and when I open the industrial freezer, I’m greeted with a pile of human bodies.
I’m seething that someone could actually be foolish enough to come into my territory and cause an issue like this one. Have I been too lax?
When I return to Dan, he’s staring at an opened candy bar.
“Don’t you ever just… want a taste? Ohhhh, I miss chocolate.”
“Get four vampires here to watch this spot. If they see the rogue vampires, they need to bring them to me immediately or kill them.”
“Yes, sir! Of course!”
As he tries to figure out how to pull out his phone while juggling the chocolate, I head back toward my car. About halfway there, I see an attractive woman walking down the street. Her eyes flick over to mine and she gives me a seductive grin. All I have to do is smile at her and she immediately works her way toward me. I draw her off into a dark corner because all sense of wariness has left her. Her walls have completely dropped to the point where she doesn’t see any issue with any of this.
“Hello, handsome,” she purrs.
“Good evening,” I say as I back her up against a wall. I tip her chin to the side as she wraps her arms around me, like she wants to pull me into her and hold me captive.
I simply brush her hair back before sinking my fangs into her throat. She moans like this is the best sex she’s ever had, one hundred percent enamored by me.
While I’ll only take enough to sate my thirst, I know that even if I wanted to take it all, she’d give every last drop to me. She either won’t remember what happened or might feel like it was nothing more than a vague dream, because the goal is to keep the humans from knowing what we are so everything stays as peaceful as it can.
The issue is when someone decides that they don’t like the way I do things.
And then we have the werewolves. They’re pesky and irritating, just like the one from earlier.
OceanofPDF.com
CHAPTER TWO

JULIAN
“And that is how you draw a centaur with a horse head and human body,” I explain to the class.
Brandy, who is the best artist in the college class I teach, immediately raises her hand.
“Yes, Brandy.”
“I have an issue with all of this. It’s horrifying.”
“Thank you. That is why I’m the professor and you’re the student,” I explain.
“I mean… it’s actually really good,” Malcolm says.
“And Malcolm gets the top score for the day,” I decide, which makes the college students laugh. “Why did we draw this again?”
“Because Malcolm said he’ll never be able to get the head-to-body ratio correct, and you went, ‘With enough experience you can make even a horse head fit a human body.’”
“Ah, right. I think I got off topic,” I say as I walk over to see what Malcolm is struggling with. It’s probably what I should have done in the first place, but it’s an evening class with only ten students, and we all need a dash of fun every now and then.
While everyone works on their current project, I walk around and assist where I can before I decide that they’ve worked hard enough and end the class a bit early.
Art was my love growing up, but since I really didn’t know what to do with it, I went to school to be a language arts teacher before hitting my third year and realizing that I hated teaching English with a passion… so why not toss in my actual passion?
So I started teaching some fine arts classes at Helmsdale University two years ago and have loved it ever since. I only teach spring and fall classes, which gives me the summer to work on my own art.
After the last student leaves, I grab the elevator up to my office and work on submitting some grades before calling it a night. While I could drive home, there’s a subway station that takes me into the suburbs where my house is, and it’s a whole lot quicker than dealing with traffic. On the rare occasion I’m forced to drive, it takes at least an hour to get home if the traffic proves bad enough.
Tapping my pass, I slip through the gate and hurry down to the subway. I jog a little, making it inside the subway car with about a minute to spare. At this time of night, there aren’t too many passengers, so I snag a seat with ease. But the scent of a vampire grabs my attention as a woman slips into the car a moment before the door closes. Her eyes immediately lock on to mine, probably smelling me much like I’d noticed her. As her hand grabs on to one of the poles, I notice a tattoo of a symbol on her wrist and question whether vampires can get tattoos after they’ve been changed. Would it stay? Maybe I’ll ask the next vampire I con into buying chocolates.
I give her a warm smile which she one hundred percent doesn’t return. Honestly, I didn’t think she would, but what’s the harm in throwing a smile at the undead every now and then? Maybe it’ll toss a bit of life back into them.
She walks past me and takes a seat at the far end of the car, so I turn my attention back to the book I’d just pulled out. As I read, I halfheartedly pay attention to the stops so I know when to get off, but I’ve taken this route so much that it’s like my body is programmed to turn alert when my stop is next. As I’m getting close, I lower my book and notice that the vampire is staring at me, which is not at all creepy.
I make sure she’s aware I’ve caught her staring and give her a “What’s going on?” expression that she answers by staring some more, which simply ups the creep factor. Maybe she wants to make me paranoid, which she’s doing a phenomenal job of, or maybe she’s just socially awkward and thinks that if you stare at someone long enough, you’re bound to become friends.
When my stop comes up, I stand up and hurry out of the car, which leads to my new best friend following right behind me. Does she think I’m going to take her home with me at this point? Break out some beers and play Monopoly while we gossip about what boys we like?
I decide to veer off and head into the bathroom that is as nasty as I predicted. Even so, I go into a stall where I awkwardly stand for an uncomfortable amount of time before trying to decide if I should flush the toilet even though I didn’t use it.
With that under control, I step outside and look around the subway station. This station isn’t in a popular area, but there are still five or so people heading in or out and not one vampire is among them. I can’t sense her anywhere, and when I step outside and take a deep breath, I realize her scent leads off to the left.
Clearly, I’m being paranoid for no reason.
My phone rings and I see it’s my mom after pulling it out. “It’s your favorite child!” I announce.
“Oh, Rhett, I thought I called Julian. I’m so sorry,” she says.
“You are downright evil,” I decide.
Mom laughs, evidently pleased with herself. “Hey, you’re the one who answered that way. You know lying is frowned on.”
“Ha. Ha. So funny. I’m definitely your favorite,” I declare. “I mean, if Rhett was so good, why’d you need to have a second kid?”
“You were an accident.”
“No! I won’t hear it!”
“You’re ridiculous. Are you coming over for dinner tomorrow?”
“Yeah, we’re eating at six, right? I have a class until four and then I’ll head over,” I say.
“Perfect. If you get here early enough, you can grill the chicken.”
“Hold on… am I a guest or the chef?”
“Depends on whether you want to be better than your brother or not,” she teases.
Suddenly the hair on the back of my neck stands on end, making me hesitate. I turn fast a moment before something slams into me and I’m thrown back. I drop the phone that skids out into the road as I turn to face a male vampire who hit me with so much force, I’m left scrambling to keep on my feet.
“A wee little doggie walking home all alone,” he says, voice taunting. “Aren’t dogs supposed to be on a leash?”
“I thought it stank out here,” a woman says as she steps out of the shadows.
“Do you understand how illegal it is to even harass me?” I ask. “It’s punishable by death.”
“Well… there’d have to be someone alive to tell them,” the female vampire from the subway says as she walks up with a third woman.
Fuck.
I quickly look around, trying to see if there are any humans nearby to run to, but I’m alone on this dark road. If I can get back to the subway station, there should be an employee there that could help me, but they’re blocking the path. I doubt I can outrun them, but I sure as fuck can try.
I fling my bag at them and grab my shirt, tearing it open and sending the buttons flying as I leap forward and urge my body to shift.
While many weres struggle with the ease of shifting, it’s something I’ve been able to do for so long that my shift is fluid. But even if it takes mere seconds, that’s seconds that I’m at a disadvantage. Seconds before I hit the ground on four paws and bolt.
“Where are you going? Aren’t we here to have some fun?” the woman from the subway calls after me.
At first, I question why they’re not chasing. Were they just here to harass me and get their kicks scaring me and now they’ve had their fill?
Are they actually going to let me go?
And that’s the moment something hits me.
Pain spikes into my side as my ears register that the sound was that of a gun going off. What the fuck would vampires be doing with a gun? Are they trying to make it look like they weren’t involved?
Quickly, I dive down an alley, knowing it connects to a busier street where someone will be walking. I know I’m not supposed to allow humans to see me, but even if they just think I’m some kind of wolf hybrid and it keeps the vampires off my back, I’ll deal with the consequences.
Pain spears through my body like I’ve been hit with electricity. My foot falters and I nearly fall as I realize that I’m wrong…
Very fucking wrong.
They didn’t just shoot me… they shot me with silver.
Agony pulses through me as the silver rips through my body.
Suddenly, the male vampire comes to a halt in front of me, laughing as I quickly stop to keep from running into him. It’s hard to even focus on him with the way the pain has latched on to me.
“What’s wrong?” he taunts with a grin.
The three women crowd behind me, boxing me in as I bare my fangs at them. If I don’t get the bullet out soon, it’ll kill me… hell, it might already kill me depending on what kind of bullet it is. And they know it. They probably want my death to look like a Hunter got me, and no one will be any wiser. They just have to keep me boxed in here until I’m dead.
The pain of the silver feels like lava coursing through my body as fear clutches at my chest.
I lunge forward and sink my fangs into the man’s wrist, tearing through his skin faster than he can react. “Fuck,” he hisses as he flings me off him, but the moment I hit the ground, I dig my nails in and lunge forward. Did he really think I was just going to take this lying down?
One of the women comes at me and I turn to her, springing off the ground where I latch on to her neck and clamp down. I hear the bones break as she tears into my stomach with her nails. Pain spikes inside of me, but it’s nothing like the silver eating through me. It feels like it’s burning its way through all of my veins.
I drop off her as she staggers and slumps into the wall, but I know it’ll be mere minutes before she recovers. The three remaining vampires rush at me and I want to fight them off me, I want to run away, but everything hurts and when they hit me, I’m driven to the ground onto my back. I go to bite them but in my delirium, I realize I’ve shifted back. My fangs are gone and my human fingernails do little against them.
I’m practically smacking at the vampires who have me down and are leaning over me, prepared to kill me. The male vampire’s fangs tear into my throat and fear rips through me as the realization that this is it, this is how I’m going to die, takes hold of me.
And just as the male is reaching in to finish me off, he stops then stumbles back a moment before his head hits the ground and his body collapses. The women jerk back… but what could make these ruthless killers afraid? I can’t see what happens to them, all I can do is smell the stench of blood, but isn’t that my own blood?
I’m… I’m dying, aren’t I? I’m fucking dying.
Someone’s leaning over me, and I slowly look up at the vampire staring down at me as I choke on my own blood while the silver burns like acid inside me. His brown eyes are watching me closely, like he doesn’t know what to make of the scene before him. His dark-blond hair highlights his stone-cold face as he steps out of the shadows a moment before he says, “Fuck,” and I pass out.
OceanofPDF.com
CHAPTER THREE

CASIMIR
“Well, this doesn’t look good,” Shandy says as she walks into the alley where I’d just killed the vampires I’d been looking for.
The issue is that it didn’t happen until after they’d taken down the wolf.
“Fucking hell,” I growl.
“It’s just a wolf,” Shandy says as I kneel down to compress the wound on his side.
“This is Terrance’s son,” I announce.
“Oh fuck is right,” she agrees.
I can still hear his heart beating, but it’s strained, and as I lean in and get a whiff of his blood, I see why. He’s been poisoned with silver. There’s no fucking way he’s going to live through this. If Terrance learns his son was killed by vampires, he’s going to wage war against us, and while I have no doubt we will win, the death toll will be substantial.
The guy won’t live, there’s no way he’ll live through this… do I hide the body? Do I try to reason with Terrance that I tried to save him? I should have known this kid would be trouble the moment he thought he could con me.
“Someone’s coming,” Shandy says as she turns to peek out beyond the alley before she goes “FUCK” and leaves. Just straight up runs off.
My day literally couldn’t get worse, could it? No… no… watching Terrance race around the corner tells me that it very much could.
It could get so much worse.
Terrance freezes when he sees his son on the ground, death right around the corner as his blood oozes out between my fingers.
“What the fuck did you do?” he yells.
“Four unpermitted vampires attacked him. I killed them.”
Terrance reaches for his son but I shove him back. “What the fuck are you doing?” he growls.
“He’s been shot with silver. His blood is coated in it. You don’t want to touch him.”
Terrance is shaking as he holds his hands out, like he will deal with the consequences just to get to touch his son. I never thought I’d feel anything but dislike for him, but at the moment, I feel a twinge of pity. He asks, “Did you call for a doctor?”
“No… Terrance, it’s not…” I pause because the best way to keep Terrance from flinging the blame onto me is to go along with what he has to say. “I didn’t have time. Call them now.”
He hesitates before grabbing on to my arm, his fingers digging into my flesh. “Can you drain the silver out of his blood?”
I glance down at the dying wolf. “He’s… he’s already bleeding so quickly that if I drain any more blood out of him… he’ll just die faster. Terrance⁠—”
“Give him your blood,” he says, eyes boring into mine.
Every time I’ve faced Terrance, he’s threatened to tear out my throat, and yet here he is pleading… begging for me to help him.
“W-What? Terrance, he’s a wolf, my blood wouldn’t do shit to him,” I protest. The only way my blood would save someone is if I turned them into a vampire, but werewolves are unaffected by vampire blood.
“Please try. Please,” he says.
I know it’s useless and I have to assume he knows it is too, but if it keeps him from placing all blame on me, which in turn would collapse the pact between the vampires and wolves, then I’ll play along.
“Of course,” I say. “I will have to drain some of his blood to do it… it might result in him dying faster.” And I’m not sure how much faster he can die. Honestly, I’m surprised he’s hung on this long. How did the silver alone not kill him already?
Terrance hesitates as he realizes what I’m saying.
“Terrance, he doesn’t have long. I need to know what you want.”
“Do it! Please,” he begs.
“You can’t blame me if it kills him.”
He nods and I don’t know if he’s telling the truth or not, but I feel like I’m going to get blamed either way. I gather the werewolf’s limp body into my arms, pulling him up as he hangs like a deadweight. Avoiding the area the vampire ripped into his throat, I bite down and draw out the poisoned blood. It’s so thick that I’m shocked it hasn’t already killed him. The silver doesn’t affect me in any way, so I drain as much of the tainted blood out of him as I can.
Pulling my fangs from his neck, I bite my wrist until there’s a steady stream of blood which I let drip into the wolf’s mouth.
In all of my years, I’ve never turned a human, but I’m also well aware this won’t do anything because it’s impossible to turn a wolf, but maybe it’ll appease Terrance… hell, hopefully it will.
When the blood has stopped flowing from my wrist, I draw my arm back as Terrance hovers over him. His hands shake as he reaches out and touches his son’s face.
“Julian? Julian, please?” he begs, sounding so desperate. I had absolutely no idea that Terrance could act like this. He’s generally such an annoying brute that whenever I see him, I’m filled with horrible disgust. Any time I have a meeting with this man, I have to prepare myself for a full twenty-four hours to keep myself from killing him on the spot, so I assumed he only knew how to be a jackass.
But that man is nothing like the one before me right now. The one whose hands are being burned by the silver just so he can touch his dying son. I guess I’m rather unfamiliar with this level of… affection toward someone.
My eyes shift back to his son as I feel surprise that the wolf is still alive. I mean… I have to give the kid some credit for fighting so hard, but for what reason? The end is going to be the same no matter what when he has so much silver in his veins. The beat of his heart is so slow that I can barely hear it. He’s dying, and then I’m going to have to convince Terrance that the vampires of this city had nothing to do with it.
As I’m reaching out to touch him, I hesitate before pressing my fingers against the wolf’s neck.
How… fascinating.
OceanofPDF.com
CHAPTER FOUR

JULIAN
I’m caught up in a whirlwind of darkness and confusion. I want to lift my arms, but they feel like heavy weights. It’s like someone filled my limbs with sand and my mind is caught up in a weird foggy mess.
When I manage to finally focus, I realize that there’s someone looming over me.
He’s being all creepy and loomy, and I feel like I’ve been drugged or something. “Hmm…” I mutter. “Ammm I… dead?”
“Surprisingly… you’re not,” he says. “It’s rather fascinating.”
“Fascinating,” I repeat, and then I realize I’m talking to myself. Was there ever actually anyone there? Was I imagining a sexy vampire with a stone-cold stare? Am I, with my dying breath, thinking about how I sold him five hundred dollars’ worth of candy bars instead of replaying the best moments of my life? Was that one of the best moments of my life? If it was, I kind of sucked at living.
“Julian!”
I turn my head and see my mom hovering over me. She looks like a wreck. Honestly, she looks like she jumped headfirst into a tornado and was spit out the other side.
“What happened…”
She quickly tries to answer, like she’s afraid if I talk too much it might hurt me worse. “You were attacked⁠—”
“No… what happened to your hair,” I say.
Her eyes narrow. “You… you…” She takes a deep breath. “I’ve grieved by your bedside nonstop for two days and begged and prayed and pleaded that I wouldn’t lose you, and the first thing you comment on… is my hair?”
“Yeah,” I say as I reach out to pet it.
And because she loves me, she sighs and lets me pet her wild hair, which fills me with some weird sense of glee.
I close my eyes for a moment as I try to figure out everything that’s happening. I remember being chased… the vampires… the silver…
Maybe I really am dead. I mean… why else would the sexy and mysterious vampire have been looming over me and breathing heavily?
“Am I dead?”
“N-No,” Mom says, getting choked up. “Sorry, it’s been a rough couple of days. When… when I was on the phone with you… and I heard… I heard them, I called your father right away and… I was afraid he didn’t get there in time. Thankfully, Casimir was nearby and saved your life.”
“Should I feel guilty that I charged him four… wait, no, five dollars a candy bar?” I mutter. “It’s a wonder he saved me at all.”
“You did what?” Mom growls.
“Wait… oh no… I can’t hear you… the light… I’m going toward it—” I tease.
Mom sighs and sinks down in a chair. “You… just… you…”
“Me,” I concur.
She reaches out and takes my hand, squeezing it tightly.
“How come I didn’t die?” I ask, highly confused. “Someone shot me with silver.”
“I don’t know,” she admits. “The strange thing is that there’s still traces of silver in your blood.”
I decide that I’m hearing things and close my eyes while that slowly digests. “I think you heard them wrong or they read their reports wrong.”
“Yeah…”
And with that, I drift off to sleep. It’s a fitful sleep filled with vampires hunting me and no matter how fast I run, it’s like I’m running in place as they laugh and jeer and tear me apart piece by piece until there’s nothing left.

I wake with a start, jarring my stomach, which makes pain course through me. I bite it back, and when I open my eyes, I see Mom and Dad fixated on me.
“You okay?” Mom asks.
“Fine, I just jerked my stomach. I’m really thirsty.”
Mom hands me a cup and even goes so far as to push the straw at my lips, like she’s afraid I can’t do it myself.
“How do you feel?” Dad asks.
“Like I got pummeled to the ground and my stomach was ripped open, my neck gnawed on, and then someone gave me some wonky drugs,” I say.
“Nothing else feels weird?”
Like that wasn’t enough? “No… should it? Did I lose a limb and can’t remember or something? Am I like a clone you made to replace your favorite son since your second son couldn’t fill the hole in your heart?” I ask.
“I heard that.”
I look over at the door as my brother Rhett walks in. I toss him a grin as he comes over to squeeze my hand. Gruffly, he says, “I’m glad to see you here with the living.”
“Sorry you couldn’t take my place as the favorite.”
“I didn’t want to tell you this, but when Mom told me what happened, she was like ‘I’m just glad it didn’t happen to my favorite son.’”
That makes me laugh, then I immediately cringe. “Oh god, don’t make me laugh. It hurts.”
While werewolves do heal faster, they’re not like vampires who can heal immediately. A wound probably takes a quarter of the time a human would to heal, yet for me, it generally takes a little longer to heal than it would for other werewolves.
Because of weres’ ability to heal, Dad’s pack uses a specific doctor who is also a wolf. While his crew isn’t made up of all werewolves, they know about them, mostly from family members having been turned.
“Am I imagining things or did Mr. Vampire Lord Casimir himself come visit me?” I ask.
“I’ve been here nearly the whole time, and unless I was asleep when it happened, I don’t recall such a thing,” Mom says.
“And Mom would know. Last time he was on TV, I heard her go, ‘Damn, that man could suck the life out of me,’” Rhett says.
Mom slowly looks at him. “And do you remember me telling you that you were not to share that information with anyone?”
“Huh. Did that happen?” Rhett asks.
“It did,” Mom grumbles.
Dad, who hasn’t been in a relationship with our mom for, oh… twenty years, fixates on her. “You said what about a vampire?”
“Oh, here we go again,” Mom mutters. “Rhett, this is your fault. Do not forget this.”
Rhett seems rather proud of himself, and I find myself drifting off to the sound of my father explaining why vampires are the spawn of Satan. It’s all very conspiracy theory, which Dad lives for, but it’s also phenomenally good at putting me to sleep. Next time I have insomnia… I really should give him a call.

I’m absolutely thrilled to get to go home. I’m still sore as hell and my stomach is slowly improving, but the idea of getting out of the emergency center after spending four days in it is absolutely magical.
“I’m free! I’m finally free,” I whisper as I’m wheeled outside like I can’t use my own two legs.
“Settle down,” Mom barks as she tries to force me to stay seated until she can get the car door open.
“I was convinced you guys weren’t ever going to let me out,” I say as I quickly scurry into the car and slam the door shut before someone can change their mind.
“You are being dramatic,” Mom says as she gets into the car with me.
“I’ve never been dramatic in my life besides that one time Dad brought home a rabbit for me. I was so excited. I thought she was my new pet—I’d already named her Big Foot—and then Dad told me that I had to chase and kill her! Kill that sweet little fluffy thing.”
Mom sighs. “Don’t remind me. You grabbed it and hid in the treehouse with it until I picked you up on Sunday.”
“I cried a lot too.”
“And I ended up having to help you take care of the dumb thing! This is why your father and I could never work.”
“Because he got ten-year-olds live rabbits to murder?”
“Your father tried so hard to mold you into an image of himself that he ended up driving you away.”
“Right? Now when I see him, I just run.”
“He was really worried about you, though… I’ve never seen him like that. The moment… the moment he called, I knew it was bad.” She swallows hard, and for some reason, it makes me feel guilty.
“I’m sorry I made you worry.”
“Don’t be,” Mom says as she passes the road to my house and heads toward hers.
“Where… are we going?”
“I’m taking care of you.”
I glance over at her as she gives me a look that tells me I have no say in this. “I’m fine, Mom.”
“It’s me or your father. Now pick.”
“I’m looking forward to being in your care.”
She smirks at me. “That’s what I thought.”
“I’m just hoping you’ll brush your hair,” I whisper, and despite being human, she sure has some good hearing on her because her narrowed eyes lock on to mine. It makes me laugh, which hurts… but it’s worth it.
“It’s not my fault you can get mauled, spend four days in a hospital, and still have such phenomenal hair.”
“Right?” I ask as I run my fingers through it. “It’s a lot of work being this amazing.”
“I bet.”
“I’ve just always wondered where I got the hair from until I met our mailman…”
“I wish you were the mailman’s son,” she mutters.
I grin at her as she pulls into the driveway. As she parks, I push the door open, thrilled to finally escape. There’s absolutely no way she’s going to let me care for myself, but it’ll be nice to at least be semi-free.
When I stand up, she comes rushing around the car as I feel a weird burning sensation that makes me hesitate.
“See! I told you to wait for me, but you’re just so stubborn all the time! See why I know you’re not the mailman’s son? Because he knew how to listen!”
“Oh? So while I was off hiding the rabbit you were off playing hide-and-seek with the mailman?”
“I sure was,” she jokes… or at least I think she’s joking. “Take my arm.”
I really felt fine when I left the hospital, but when she offers me her arm, I don’t hesitate to take it. Instead, I wrap my fingers around her wrist while it feels like hot oil is being pushed through my veins…
Just like when the silver had rushed through me.
“What’s wrong?” Mom asks, her grip on me tightening.
“N-Nothing,” I say, not wanting to worry her because I’m sure it’s fine. “It’s just…”
Pain courses through me as I gasp and my vision darkens. If she hadn’t been holding on to me, I’m sure I’d have fallen.
“Julian? Julian, what’s wrong?” Mom asks as she tries holding me up.
“It… it feels like silver… it feels like I’ve been… injected with silver,” I whisper as pain ripples through my body. Mom tries to catch me as I’m falling and keeps me from hitting my head as I hear her quickly calling someone. “I’m fine, I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine!” she snaps, and I can tell she’s panicking. “Can you get back in the car?”
“Yeah,” I say as she grabs me and starts dragging. It’s like the world is spinning, but with her pulling me, I somehow find myself hitting the seat a moment before I pass out.
OceanofPDF.com
CHAPTER FIVE

CASIMIR
“We’ve managed to ID the man as a vampire named Karl Jones,” the doctor says as I look down at the body of the vampire whose head I’d cut off.
Since vampires don’t need doctors, I’d asked the werewolves’ doctor to examine the bodies and see if I could get an ID on any of them to figure out why they’d ended up here.
The doctor is not thrilled to be dealing with me, and the amount of looks I’ve gotten from the weres has just been a nuisance.
“And the women?”
Dr. Hernz seems irritated by my questions, like the two whole things I’ve said since arriving have brought him much pain and suffering.
“No IDs on them.”
“Hmm…”
A nurse rushes in and the moment her eyes touch mine, she scowls before remembering that she’s here for a much more important reason. “Doctor, we need you again.”
“Coming,” he says. “Excuse me.”
And with that, he’s off. I’m not sure if he plans to come back when he’s done or if he’s finished with me, so I find myself wandering between the bodies, trying to think if I’ve ever come across any of them at any point in my life. I doubt they were too old or they surely would have heard me before I killed them.
Did they honestly not realize this territory is mine? And why shoot the wolf with a silver bullet first? To make it look like a Hunter got to him, and when he didn’t immediately go down, they decided to drag it out?
Who knows.
I shut the door behind me as I leave the room and head down the hallway where I catch the scent of the wolf who nearly died.
The better question is, why didn’t he die?
Outside the room is a human woman who is pacing, her face drawn, looking shaky. She doesn’t even see me as she paces, too fixated on what’s happening within.
But if the wolf made it—what? Four days? What could be the issue now?
When the doctor comes out, he glances at me before turning his attention to the woman and guiding her a bit down the hallway and through a door.
Pure curiosity leads me to walk into the room where two nurses are hovering near the wolf.
“What are you doing in here? Get out,” the woman who’d glowered when she’d seen me earlier says.
The other woman decides to just drop what she’s doing and leave. And now that it’s just me and the nurse, we’re caught in a stare-off that she is not going to win. I will stand here until she dies of old age if she so chooses.
She must have some level of intelligence because she ducks her head and scampers out of the room, leaving me alone with the wolf. I walk over to his bed and peer down at him as I realize they’d been giving him blood.
Interesting.
“You like me or something?” the wolf mutters before opening his eyes.
“Honestly, just curious why you’re not dead yet.”
He gives me a halfhearted nod. “So am I… I think I’m dying right now, though.”
“You look it. You look rather ghastly.”
“Thank you, thank you.”
I walk over to him and pull the blanket off, pushing his gown to the side so I can look at the wound on his stomach. It’s healing, so what exactly could be the issue?
I grab his arm that’s limp in my hand and bite it. I don’t suck on the blood, I just taste it… or more accurately, taste the blood coated in silver.
The type of bullet the vampires used is one that Hunters had spent hundreds of years perfecting—one that would release silver straight into the bloodstream and kill the wolf the moment the blood reached the heart. None of them lived to see what happened after… though in this case, it seems like it’s still coursing through his veins, but why? And better yet… how is he still alive?
“Do you mind?” the wolf says as he glances at the arm I’m still holding. “I mean… people generally ask before they start eating me.”
“Have you been like this all along?”
“No, no, I was discharged earlier. They don’t know what happened… I guess the silver really is taking its sweet time to kill me.”
“Interesting.”
“Is it? I kind of feel like it’s a bit more… you know… shitty or something. There are things I wanted to do, like con more vampires into buying candy bars.”
“You didn’t con me. I chose to buy them.”
“I totally conned you. Let me die feeling like I conned the big bad vampire. Actually? Can you put it on my tombstone? I think it’ll look sick.”
I step up so I’m staring down right into his eyes. The blue irises are dull and I notice they’re bloodshot and discolored. Another sign of the silver poisoning.
Leaning forward, I sniff his neck, but he doesn’t smell any different. He still stinks like a wolf.
“Wow, I even got sniffed by the great Lord Casimir. I can finally die peacefully,” he mutters. “Please, put that on my tombstone too. I don’t know what the allotted word count is, but make it fit.”
Clearly, he’s still alive enough to crack jokes, so I’ll be on my way before he dies in front of me and it somehow becomes my fault.
I turn just as he jerks toward me. I shift my attention to him, though he wasn’t reaching for me, like I thought, but his water, when his entire body tenses up and he falls into the tray. I grab him just as he starts crashing toward the ground and haul him up as he desperately claws at my arm. I don’t think he’s even aware he’s doing it; he’s caught up in some kind of seizure or something that quickly passes before I push him back onto the bed.
His entire body shudders as he heaves out a deep breath.
“Don’t die while I’m in this room or they’ll point fingers at me,” I order.
“I wouldn’t dare cause you more pain than making you buy a hundred…”
I realize he’s fixated on something and look down at my arm that he’d clawed open with his nails. The wound has already healed but there’s some blood smudged from his fingertips.
Without thinking too hard about it, I grab the bag of blood that’s currently being fed into him and tear it open before squeezing some into his mouth.
He reels back, spitting and coughing as he looks at me in horror. “What the fuck was that for?”
“What’s it taste like?” I ask curiously.
“Blood? What the absolute hell did you do that for? Was it payback for the chocolates?”
Why the hell did I think that would work? He’s a wolf and wolves can’t be turned into vampires. Hell, if I had turned him into a vampire, he would have died the moment the sunlight touched him. I knew what I did wouldn’t work, but I’d done it just to appease his father.
But his… fixation on my wrist…
I bite my wrist and shove it against his lips. He immediately tries pulling back before I feel the tension leave his body and he desperately grabs on to my arm like it’s the only thing keeping him alive.
A moan escapes him while he clutches at me, like he wants to devour every last drop of me. When I try to pull my arm free, he growls at me like a feral animal, and I’m forced to shove him off. Then I grab his face in my hand and look down at his eyes that are now a clear and vibrant blue staring up at me.
How interesting.
Yes, Terrance, how fucking interesting this is.
The door opens and the woman from the hallway steps in before seeing her son coated in blood from the bag. She gives me a look of horror before rushing over to him, but I walk past because Terrance owes me a fucking explanation, and I’m going to get it one way or another.
“What did you do?” the female nurse growls as she tries to stop me.
I simply stare down at her and she ducks her head and runs.
But she’s right… what the fuck did I do?

When I reach Terrance’s pack’s location, the wolves are immediately out to welcome me with bared fangs and snarls.
Ignoring their irritating display, I walk right into the bar Terrance owns and calls his pack’s home.
The bar doesn’t seem to be open, but I find Terrance pacing the floor, wolves in both human and animal form strewn about.
“Terrance, a word,” I growl.
He’s already pissed but I don’t give a shit. “You are not permitted on this land,” he says.
“EVERYONE OUT,” I order. “Unless you don’t want to talk alone?”
Terrance hesitates before he gives his pack a nod. At first, none of them move until he barks, “Out!” and they scowl at me as they leave.
“What?” he asks, back to being the dick I love to hate.
“What the fuck is your son?”
Terrance hesitates. “He’s a werewolf. I can’t fathom that you aren’t aware of that.”
“Werewolves aren’t affected by vampire blood, but do you want to take a guess who was just lapping blood off my arm like a starving man?”
He pauses then shakes his head. “No… if he was turned, the sun would have⁠—”
“That’s right. But werewolves can’t be turned. Now tell me, for someone who knows that, why did you beg me to try? You knew I was willing to do what I could to keep the peace between us.”
Terrance is looking a bit uncertain, refusing to meet my eyes. “I was desperate to save my son.”
“Yes, but why did you even have me try?”
Terrance grits his teeth. “He’s not a full werewolf.”
“What does that mean? How can someone not be a full werewolf?”
“He was born with the curse,” he says. “I didn’t turn him like people believe. He was born with the affliction. So… I thought that maybe it’d be different for him.”
“Werewolves can’t be born.”
“Well, he was.”
“Was your wife bitten while he was in the womb?”
“No, she’s human.”
That’s right… I met her and she was fully human… but there’s no way a child was born with it. That doesn’t happen. That isn’t possible.
What the hell is he?
OceanofPDF.com
CHAPTER SIX

JULIAN
I can tell Mom is terrified to take me home. She asks me every minute of the drive how I’m feeling, and no matter how many times I assure her I’m fine, she asks me again.
The issue is that I feel unsure of whether I should tell her why I’m fine. Not because I don’t trust my mom, but because I don’t trust what my brain remembers during all that dying nonsense.
Clearly it was a fever dream, right? I didn’t really tell an ancient vampire to carve that he sniffed me into my headstone, did I?
Oh, and suck down as much of his blood as I could like I was starving to death.
What the hell is even happening?
While my brain keeps telling me it was a silver-induced fever dream, I can’t deny the way that I feel nearly back to normal. My wounds are even healing faster than I feel like they should, and while I’m not one hundred percent yet, I’m doing far better than a werewolf who was shot with silver should be doing. I actually don’t think I’ve ever heard of one even living when shot with a bullet like the one I was shot with—which is why it’s a death sentence to even be caught carrying one around.
Mom stops the car and looks over at me. “How are you feeling?”
“I… kind of feel like… chasing a ball,” I say.
Her eyes narrow, obviously not finding me funny in the slightest.
“Julian.” The tone itself tells me she’s definitely not finding me funny.
“I’m fine.”
She scrutinizes me for another long minute. “Yeah?”
“I feel like I could go for a run, I feel so good.”
“Please don’t.”
“I feel like I could brawl with Dad.”
“The last time you brawled with your father, you called me crying,” Mom says.
“Yeah, because I was a dumb child! I thought we were going to wrestle like the kids in the movies do with their loving fathers! I didn’t know I was going to end up running for my life.”
“Your father brought you a bunny home to slaughter, and you really thought you were just going to have a fun tussle?”
“Mom, I thought we already went over this. I was a dumb child!”
“You were like fifteen. Beyond child.”
“I was a dumb preadult too. Hell, I might still be dumb; I told the ancient vampire I wanted to con him some more!”
Mom stares at me in disbelief. “Why?”
“I thought we already went over this!”
She sighs. “You’re not dumb. Your father is dumb. Compared to him, you’re Einstein.”
“I’m… not sure if that was a compliment or not, but I’ll take it,” I say as I push open the car door. Mom rushes around to assist me, but I’m feeling just fine since I snacked on an ancient vampire.
The real question is how? Why? Did whatever happen to me in that alley lead me to needing blood? But after the vampire left, I tried licking a bit of the human blood he spilled on me and was instantly repulsed and horrified I’d done such a thing… and a little bit embarrassed.
So then… what is happening to me?
And better yet… will it happen again? Maybe it’d be best to make nice with the vampire in case it does. He really seems like the kind of guy who’d love to make some new friends, and I’m sure he wouldn’t mind adding me to that list.
When I get into the house, I realize Mom is well prepared for me as she guides me over to the couch that has blankets and pillows oozing off it. As I try to find an actual place to sit, she rushes off to get me some water with ice.
“Mom, I’m fine.”
“You will sit here and let me pamper your ass, do you understand?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Good.” She sinks down on the couch next to me. “Don’t do this to me again, kid.”
“I won’t.”
She won’t stop staring at me, like she’s waiting for me to keel over like the last time we arrived here, or maybe hoping I’ll do a magic trick. I know literally zero magic, so she’s going to be waiting a while.
“I’m good, Mom, I promise.”
“I will make the decision myself,” she says, but ten minutes later she’s passed out on the couch, leaving me to turn the TV up to drown out her snores. She’d slept next to me every night I was in the care center, and even then, I don’t think she got much sleep, especially in the crappy chairs provided.
And even if she won’t let me go home, I’m happy to be somewhere familiar.

It takes two full days before I convince Mom that I will be fine alone and that she shouldn’t miss her dinner plans with a guy she’s gone on one date with because she “isn’t getting any younger.”
Even though it’s been two days since she brought me home, she’s refused to stop staring at me. I’ve assured her that if I feel strange at all, I will contact her immediately. So she’s agreed to go to her prescheduled dinner plans with her date who could be a cardboard cutout and still be superior to her ex-husband, aka my father. I think at this point, she’s just left to find a new son.
The moment she leaves, I toss a text her way.

Me: Mom, it’s so creepy not having someone stare at me constantly. I feel afraid.

Mom: Don’t be a smart-ass.

Me: How am I going to get my own water? How do I open the lid? Do I turn on the faucet to the right or left?

Mom: I’m going to come home and kick your ass if you don’t stop sassing me.

Me: Mom, there’s a squirrel… I must… chase…

Mom: I will send your father to watch over you if you don’t quiet down.
Pleased with my tormenting, I settle down and watch a couple of shows before my phone rings again. This time, I see that it’s Dad and reluctantly answer.
“Hellllooo?”
“Hey, my car won’t start. Is there any way you could pick me up and just drive me to my place?” Dad asks. It’s already dark out and I honestly have little else to do.
“Will you talk during any part of it?” I ask. “Wait, you can talk about kittens. That’s it. Deal?”
“Deal,” Dad says.
“Send me the address.”
He sends the address to me and I quickly text Mom so if she comes home she doesn’t immediately assume I’ve keeled over somewhere. I know she won’t be happy, but I’m not even planning on getting out of my car that Rhett brought over for me yesterday.
I’m stiff and a bit achy, but it actually feels good to get up and stretch my legs. Driving to the address Dad gave me, I find myself outside of the council hall… as in the council hall for vampires and werewolves. Which is fine. I’m sure my father constantly finds himself running headfirst into meetings where he can irritate the vampires. What’s not fine is that it sure seems like people are going into the hall, not out of it. I mean, it did just get dark enough for the vampires to emerge half an hour ago.
Dad comes to my window.
“Kittens only,” I growl.
“There’s a kitten in that hall there that you need to see,” he says. “It’s real cute. Fluffy.”
“Was this just a con to make me go to the meeting?” I grumble.
“The howling kittens would like to hear what happened to you so the fanged kittens can understand that they’re worthless pieces of lying shitty… kittens.”
I groan, prepared to throw the car into reverse and scoot my ass out of here, when I see everyone stop and stare as Casimir casually walks across the parking lot. You’d have thought he was a live bomb from the way they’re all acting. But… in a sexy way…
No time like the present to make a new friend, right?
“Alright,” I say.
Dad hesitates. “A… Alright?”
Clearly, I’ve inflicted confusion on the man as I get out of my car and head toward the building. My father quickly rushes after me, and I realize that I really don’t want to be seen with him. It’s like in middle school when you run into a group of classmates at the county fair and want to pretend you’re not hanging out with your parents. But in my case, I’m thirty-one and my dad is sketchy at best.
I’ve never been to a council meeting before, but I see a single chair that will leave no room for my father to sit by me and head over to it before Dad grabs my wrist. “You can’t sit on that side.”
“Why?”
“The vampires sit on that side.”
“So? Isn’t this like a meeting so the two sides can get along?” I ask. Let’s be honest, I’d rather sit absolutely coated in bloodsuckers than have to sit next to my dad. But my father proceeds to body block me until I’m forced in a chair on the “werewolf side.”
Casimir is standing at the front of the room, and when he looks over at me, I smile and wave at him.
He does not, in fact, wave back.
“I was told there were kittens in here, but it just looks like a bunch of grumpy people,” I say to Dad as he sits next to me.
Casimir clears his throat and everyone, even the wolves, turns quiet.
“I’m aware there is some unrest over recent events, but the issue has been dealt with. That is all,” he says, like that’s going to be the end of the meeting.
Honestly… that’s my kind of meeting! I lift my hands and give him the best slow clap I can muster, although I quickly realize that no one else is clapping and stop.
“Wow, I didn’t know these would be so fu… n.” Of course it couldn’t be too fun because my dad stands up and it sure doesn’t seem like he’s standing up to leave.
“This city is getting out of control with vampires! You promised us that you’d keep vampires from coming here and not only did they invade our city, they attacked my son. Go on, Julian, tell them.”
“No, no, that’s okay,” I say. “I didn’t prepare a speech, but thank you.”
“Julian, tell them what happened,” Dad urges.
Casimir’s narrowed eyes fixate on my father. “As you’re well aware, Terrance, I know what happened,” he says. “The vampires who attacked your son are dead. I killed them myself, as you already know.”
“Why kill some vampires over a fucking dog?” one of the vampires asks.
Dad immediately looks prepared to punch the man’s face in.
“The vampires were not permitted on my territory. That alone gave me permission to do with them as I chose. And we came to an agreement just last year that vampires and weres would not touch each other,” Casimir says. “Even so, I cannot stop accidents like this one from occurring, but I can deal with it and the criminals can deal with the consequences.”
Heads being ripped off consequences.
“You can say that all you want but they’re constantly wanting to egg us on,” a vampire yells.
“Yeah, because all of you think it’s fine to hunt and terrorize us!” a woman from our side shouts.
“Vampires have absolutely no morals. They don’t care who they slaughter or why! They tried to kill my child for some sick satisfaction,” Dad yells.
And just like that, everyone is at each other’s throats. I’m the only one still seated as I wonder what the absolute hell I got myself into. Someone from our side flings a chair and I watch a vampire punch through it.
Honestly… it’s kind of entertaining. I wonder what would happen if Mom walked in. I bet she’d mama bear the shit out of the situation. She’d make those vampires and weres run.
“GET. OUT,” Casimir growls and everyone freezes. Hell, his aura is enough to even make me feel a bit like the best course of action would be to scoot out of here.
The weaker of the lot leave without hesitation, but the more stubborn ones, like my father, hesitate. “I SAID GET OUT,” Casimir says, and with that, even my father leaves, though he’s the last one to do so… I mean, besides me.
Casimir’s staring at me as I realize the two of us are the only ones left.
“Does this mean I win the most stubborn award? I really thought that’d go to my father,” I muse.
He doesn’t say anything, just turns and heads for the back door, maybe planning on slipping out and going home so he doesn’t have to deal with this stupidity.
I get out of my seat and hurry over to him. “That seemed to go well.”
“Did you not hear me when I said to leave?” Casimir asks as he turns to me.
“I did! It was very impressive. I wish I could learn to do that so that maybe my father wouldn’t annoy me so often. But as I sat back there and watched the wolves and vampires contemplate tearing each other apart, I realized how tenuous the relationship between them really is.”
“Out,” he says as he waves at the door, just in case I didn’t know how to find it.
“How long did this meeting last? Two minutes? Has anyone ever called you Casimir the Patient?”
He stares at me before making another sweeping gesture toward the door. I take a step forward and he actually looks relieved, making me realize he assumed I’m leaving, which I very much am not planning on doing!
“So what happened in the hospital?” I ask.
“With?”
“You know.”
“I don’t recall… wait… you look vaguely familiar… were you the dried-up corpse I noticed on my way out?” he asks.
“I was! I have been revived just from seeing you.”
“I see.”
“So? What happened?”
“I don’t recall anything happening.”
“Your blood healed me.”
“No, if it had healed you, you wouldn’t have tried dying the second time, now would you?”
I consider that for a moment before realizing that he’s quite right. “So, then? Have you turned me into Frankenstein’s monster?”
“Has anyone chased you with a pitchfork?”
“Lately or ever?”
“You want my honest answer?”
“I’d love it.”
“I simply don’t care,” Casimir decides.
“But why? I’m amazing!”
He shrugs, weirdly not feeling the same thing.
“You have a bit of a mess on your hands and I’d like to help.” I give him my brightest smile to show him how helpful I’ll be.
“If I yell at them enough, they’ll go away… unlike you.”
“What you really need to do is draw the two sides together so that during times like this, they work together instead of fixating on playing the blame game.”
Casimir looks thoughtful. “I have considered locking them in a room together until they’re either all dead or they reach an agreement. Last time that went poorly, though.”
“Excuse me… last time? That sounds like a horrible idea.”
He shrugs again. “Got rid of my prior problem, so I’m not quite sure it was all bad.”
“I’m thinking something fun to bring them together instead of like… murdering them all. What about a festival? Wolves love festivals.”
“Sounds traumatic,” he says.
“What, having fun?”
Casimir shudders. “I’d prefer to go with my idea of locking them in a room together battle royale style.”
“Wait, now you’re anticipating the slaughter?” I ask.
“I should probably have a cleanup crew on standby.”
“You know… call me old-fashioned, but I actually have an idea that wouldn’t result in bloodshed. Do you want to hear it?”
“No,” he says curtly and turns his attention to pretty much everything but me.
“What if we fake date?” I suggest.
His attention snaps onto me. “Excuse me?”
“While I’m not alpha, I am the alpha’s son, so everyone knows me and is pretty respectful of me, and you’re… you. So if we fake dated, we could con people into thinking that vampires and werewolves can get along. They’d be like ‘Wow, look at our lord and savior… I mean Casimir the Great getting along so well with that super-cool werewolf. I bet Casimir’s a kind guy and respects werewolves; I should too.”
“I would rather lock them all in a room together… hell, I would rather lock myself in the room with them than do that,” he decides.
“It’s not like we’d be dating for real!” I try pretending like he hasn’t just admitted that he’d rather potentially get murdered than date me.
“And what exactly would you have to gain out of this? You really care about the relations between vampires and wolves that much?”
I avert my eyes as I lie with ease. “Of course I do!”
“Excuse me while I make the battle royale preparations. Those still living at the end can be permitted… something. I should reward them… dogs like rawhides, right? I’ll get some rawhides for the dogs and virgins for the vampires.”
“I feel like we should all be very worried having you as our leader.”
“Thank you. Now go on. Shoo. You’re too lively this time. I think I preferred the other you better. You talked a whole lot less,” Casimir says as he brushes me off.
“No! We’re supposed to become friends so that if something happens to me again, you’ll eagerly feed me your blood.”
“Ah, that’s what this is about.” He looks around and picks up a Dixie cup. Then he proceeds to cut his arm and drain some blood into it before handing it over. “Go on, now. Shoo.”
Not really knowing what else to do, I take my Dixie cup of blood and step outside to where my dad is waiting.
“What were you doing?” Dad asks as I hold the weirdest party favor I’ve ever gotten.
“Looking for those kittens you promised me were inside.”
Dad sighs. “Julian, I’m being serious. What were you doing?”
“Trying to get a date with the vampire,” I respond as I head toward my car.
“You’re hilarious,” he says as he follows me before noticing my cup. “What’s that?”
“Tea.”
“Julian!”
“I told you, it’s tea. Now did you actually need a ride home or were you lying to me?” I ask, but the look on his face tells me it was one hundred percent a lie.
“Terrance!” someone calls before my dad can say any more, and I take it as my cue to flee.
Once away, I get into the car and take a whiff of the blood, expecting to be repulsed. Instead, I’m fixated on it. It’s like an overwhelming desire to just… consume. I need it more than I’ve needed anything in my life.
My hand is shaking as I lift it to my lips and take the tiniest sip but as the sweet taste touches my tongue, I need all of it and I need it now.
I tip the cup back like a feral animal that’s been starving. The blood nearly chokes me, I try to consume it so quickly, chugging it until there’s nothing left. Yet there has to be more. There must be more. I try to lick the inside of the cup, crushing it as I fight to get every last drop. It’s so good… how can anything be so good?
In my hazy stupor, I’d managed to rub the blood all over my face while mildly consuming the cup in an attempt to get it all before I come back to my senses.
What… the fuck was that?
I feel someone watching me and slowly look over at Casimir who is staring through the window. He looks rightfully disturbed, which makes me pull the crushed cup off my face. Not sure how else to make this more awkward, I roll the window partway down and go, “’Sup.” Head tilt and all.
I, Julian Nicolas Evans, just… ’supped the oldest vampire I’ve ever met with his blood all over my face.
“Battle royale… definitely a battle royale,” he mutters as he hurries away, as though any part of this display could make me undatable… hell, fake undatable.
I grab a napkin and do my best to try to wipe the blood off my face as I drive to my mom’s house. I want to assure her that I’m fine alone, but one look at myself in the rearview mirror makes me second-guess that fact. Fucking hell, I’m a mess.
Hurrying into the house, I freeze when I see Mom in the foyer. Since I was so preoccupied, I hadn’t realized she’d beaten me home, especially with her car in the garage. She takes one look at me and her eyes go wide.
“It’s okay, it’s not my blood!” I hurriedly assure her.
“Who did you kill?” she asks.
“No… one. I just…” If I stand here long enough, will she forget it all?
“Julian?” she asks.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but I really… really like vampire blood,” I admit.
That clearly wasn’t what she was expecting. “Excuse me, what? You bit a vampire?”
“No! He gave me his blood willingly! He even put it in a little Dixie cup for me. It’s no big deal.”
“It’s… please, Julian, please explain which part of any of that isn’t a big deal?” Mom asks.
“You’re right, it really wasn’t eco-conscious to use a Dixie cup. I should have used a reusable cup,” I say before rushing toward the bathroom.
“Julian!”
Quickly, I close the door and sink down on the floor because I have absolutely no idea what I’ve just gotten myself into… and… fake dating? Where the fuck did I pull that out from?
I feel achy from all of this movement and my brain is an absolute mess, so I just lie on the bathroom floor and consider where the fuck I went wrong.
OceanofPDF.com
CHAPTER SEVEN

CASIMIR
I’ve just woken up and already there is an irritant outside my door. With a sigh, I wander over to it and pull the door open before looking out at Dan who I’ve seen more of in the past few days than I have in months. It all started the night he wanted me to look into an area where tourists were disappearing, which led to us finding the abandoned building.
“What happened now?” I ask.
“Two vampires were found dead. You… you need to see this,” he says as he urges me after him.
“What do you mean two vampires were found dead?”
“That’s all I know. I was told to get you,” Dan calls as he heads for his car and I go for mine. It’s often quicker to just take a vehicle than continually making sure we wouldn’t come across any humans.
I feel like I should have a headache. While as a vampire, I can’t actually get a headache, it sure as fuck feels like one should be brewing. A massive one.
The drive is only ten minutes, but what that tells me more than anything is that someone obviously has no fear of me to kill only ten minutes from my home.
Or is that why they did it?
Dan pulls off on the side of the road where another car is waiting. I recognize the car as one that belongs to a vampire named Ezio, who’s in charge of vampire and werewolf related disputes, crimes, and other things. It’s not a legal position since the humans think we are nothing more than folklore, but Ezio has a knack for crimes and was happy to take up the position I’d given him.
Even if he is a bit annoying.
As I head toward the darkness of the woods, the moon shines down on us. It won’t be full for another week or so, which is the only good thing I have going for me. The last thing I need right now is some cranky werewolves roaming about.
Once we enter the woods, I don’t need Dan to even lead the way, I can follow the stench of blood and, before long, the yells of a woman.
When I come onto the scene, I realize that it isn’t just Ezio, but a whole group including two wolves in their human forms and a female vampire.
“Just in time, Casimir,” Ezio says with an exasperated look. Ezio isn’t exactly known for his phenomenal people skills. His “people skills” consist of flirting with anyone who moves and if he can’t flirt with them, he’s as good as useless.
“They killed them,” the female vampire screams as she points at the two wolves who give her incredulous looks at the conviction.
“We were kind enough to alert someone that we found them and now we’re being blamed? Do you honestly think that if we killed them, we’d have run off to tell you?” the female wolf growls.
“I told you to let them rot,” the male wolf says.
I walk past the disputing group as my eyes are drawn to the crime scene. A male and female vampire have both been pinned to the tree trunk with a wooden stake through each of their hearts. It tells me that whoever did this lifted them up and staked them there, where they either couldn’t get away before the sun rose or were dead when it hit.
Their skin has been charred black, like fire had eaten across it from their exposure to the sun, but I can’t tell what killed them first.
“There’s no way a vampire killed them that close to daylight! It had to have been a wolf!” the woman declares.
Ezio sighs at this accusation. “As I’ve already explained, oh, fifty-five times, it could have been an older vampire, it could have been a Hunter, and it could have been a wolf,” he says. “She doesn’t listen. They don’t listen. No one listens. Usually when I speak, everyone stops what they’re doing with enraptured attention.”
I ignore him since it’s clear he really isn’t providing anything of use.
“I’m used to just Casimir not listening,” he mutters, like he must still chatter away to get the attention he deserves… or needs or something equally annoying.
“How long ago were they found?” I ask.
“These two were out for a run when they smelled the bodies an hour or so ago. They stumbled upon them and called Terrance, who contacted me. Knowing that Nikki here was turned by Geo, the male vampire who was killed, I called her. We have now wasted approximately half an hour bitching about who it could have been by pointing so many fingers! Fingers here and fingers there!”
“Hm.” I hate people.
“Ever since that wolf was attacked, they’ve been at our throats,” the vampire named Nikki says.
“There was a dispute yesterday as well, but no one was hurt there,” Ezio explains. “Someone did bite me, though! I was afraid I was going to get rabies!”
“You’re not helping,” I growl.
“Oh, right. I mean… this adorable mutt chomped on me like a feral beastie!”
How he possibly thinks that’s more helpful, I don’t know. So I end up ignoring him just in time for Nikki to lunge at the wolves. I shove her before she can touch them, and the look she gives me is one of shocked betrayal, like she really thinks I should just let this situation escalate.
“That is enough,” I snap, having had it. “Everyone but Ezio, leave. I will be in contact with all of you later.”
The three of them seem rather reluctant to leave, but with much hesitation, they finally do so. Dan, who I kind of forgot was there, scurries off with them, pleased for an excuse to not get involved.
“Well, seeing as weres have a better sense of smell than us, I was going to have them see if they could do some tracking, but now it’s just you and me,” Ezio says. “We could call Terrance.”
“I would rather set myself on fire,” I grumble.
Ezio thinks this is hilarious, which makes me decide that if I have to call Terrance, I’ll also set him on fire. It’s not like he wouldn’t heal just fine, but maybe it’d shut him up for a few minutes if I singe that hair of his off.
“The look on your face is kind of creepy,” Ezio says, reminding me that we have actual dead vampires to deal with.
Two attacks in a little over a week? Was the first attack really not a one-off? Or did someone in the community do this because tensions are getting out of control?
“You have access to the IDs of all weres, right?” I ask.
“I do!”
“I need the phone number for Julian Evans.”
Ezio’s eyebrow perks up. “Terrance’s son?”
“Yes.”
“Do you think he did it?” he asks. “How fun would that be? Prodigal son of the werewolf pack strikes in revenge!”
I stare at him until he caves and reads me the number which I call. The call is immediately ended, like he thought I was some telemarketer or something!

Me: Answer the damn phone.

Julian: Weirdly… the venom coming from these words makes me not want to answer even more. For some odd reason, I feel like this brightly shining star who has graced me with his lovely presence is none other than the Great Lord Casimir!

Me: I have changed my mind.
“Do you have a scale for irritation level on these wolves?” I ask. “Maybe we can pick one to help by using that scale.”
“They’re all irritating,” Ezio says. “But there’s that absolutely lovely human detective who knows about our kind, though. Let me try him!” His call doesn’t even last a minute before he simply puts his phone away.
“Didn’t you harass him into blocking you?”
“I sure did!”
Why he sounds so proud, no one will ever know.
My phone starts ringing, and I see that it’s Julian’s number, so I reluctantly accept the call.
“Well hellloooo, this is Julian speaking,” he says, sounding far too cheerful.
“Come. Now.”
“Ooh, are we going to play fetch?” Julian asks.
“Now.”
“I need an address.”
I hang up and text him the address.

Julian: I feel like you could have ordered me just as well through texting. Did I really even need to call?

Me: Yes, it felt much more enjoyable yelling at you over the phone.

Julian: Makes sense. Looks like it’s a fifteen-minute drive for me, so I’ll be there in twenty. I hope you found a good stick, although my favorite is a squeak toy.
I ignore the message and continue to walk the area until I hear Julian coming.
“As I was driving over here, I was like ‘This address seems to be in an abandoned wood somewhere. I sure hope he’s not plotting my murder.’ And now that I see your face, I find that I’m even more positive that you are.”
“I wouldn’t kill you without having you dig the hole first, so don’t worry,” I assure him.
“Splendid! Now… what is that smell?”
I start walking and he follows me before stopping, startled as he sees the vampires.
“Oh shit…”
“Are you too wounded to shift to see if you can get a scent?”
“No… that should be fine. This is awful,” he says.
“Did you know them?” I ask, confused about why he’d care.
“No, but if you permitted them in your territory, I have to assume they didn’t deserve this,” he says.
Ezio clears his throat. “I am Ezio since I apparently am being ignored like I’m no longer even here,” he says as he looks at Julian.
Julian immediately beams at him and holds out a hand to shake. Ezio looks a bit disgusted by it. While he obviously wanted attention on himself, he didn’t want to actually touch the wolf.
Julian is undeterred and soon enough, Ezio passes over his hand for a shake. “I’m Julian. It’s nice to meet you in person. I’ve seen you around. Last time I saw you, my father was throwing his coffee in your face.”
“Ahhhhhhh. Your father is such a charming man!” Ezio says, even though he told me he nearly threw the wolf off a bridge after that happened.
“Alright, I’ll shift and see what I can find,” Julian says.
Julian pulls his shirt off and folds it before taking his shoes, socks, and pants off. The ground is pretty muddy since it rained recently, which seems to be why he’s stuck looking for a place to put his clothes before his eyes lock on to me. With a smile on his face, he holds his clothes and shoes out to me.
Ezio proceeds to choke as he does so, which one hundred percent pleases the wolf.
“Can you hold my clothes?” he asks.
I glance down at the items being offered to me. “Absolutely not.”
“Why?”
“Does it look like I’m a clothing rack?”
“I don’t want mud on my clothes. Now hold them.”
I snap my fingers. “Ezio, hold his clothes.”
“Wait… but… I…” Ezio then deflates as he walks over to Julian and takes his clothes as I gloat, pleased by my ability to force others to do my bidding.
Then Julian pulls off his underwear and tosses them at me. I simply throw them at Ezio who looks quite disgruntled.
“Don’t look, I’m naked,” Julian says before winking at me and shifting.
His shift is quick and within seconds, he’s on all four paws. Admittedly, I don’t pay much attention to wolves, but I don’t know any who can shift so quickly. Is it because he was actually born with this ability? It makes me wonder when he first shifted. And how did they keep it quiet that he was born with it?
As a wolf, he’s tall, with rich black fur from muzzle to tail. He could truly disappear into the night. He trots over to the bodies and sniffs them before looking back at me, his blue eyes standing out against the darkness.
“You’re not a wolf, but I can sense your mind, how peculiar,” he says, words bouncing around my head.
The words startle me. How peculiar indeed. I’m aware the wolves can speak to each other through what they consider their pack link, but then how can he speak to me?
“Have you joined my pack?” he teases. “Ooh, am I now your alpha?”
And if he can’t hear my thoughts… how can I speak back? Or do I need to talk out loud? But if I do, Ezio will question what’s going on.
“Just… stay focused,” I mutter.
“I am very focused. I’m focused on how cute it is you’re now in my pack. Pack of two. I’m going to pretend it has nothing to do with the bloodletting you did all over my face and one hundred percent to do with the fact that you like me. Being my fake boyfriend is sounding better and better, isn’t it? You can buy me everything I ever wanted with your towering wealth, and I can look at the others and go, ‘We tight,’ which will make them trust you instantly.”
Is he saying this shit because he knows that I won’t reply? I hurry over to him before kneeling down and grabbing his muzzle in my hands. “No.”
He leans into my hands and I swear his eyes are sparkling. “I’m so glad you rushed over to tell me that wealth of information.”
“I need you to use your snout and sniff your way to finding the culprit.”
“Here’s the thing, whoever did this had an idea that someone would be out here scenting them because I mostly smell… deer.”
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“Unless a deer did this, someone likely removed anything that could leave their natural scent behind and covered themselves in the scent of deer to blend in. It does a good job because there’s a deer trail that passes through and they seemed to have followed it.” And off he trots.
I breathe in deeply and realize that if he’s right, that’s why I didn’t pick it out before. While vampires’ eyesight and speed are generally superior to that of a wolf, their sense of smell exceeds ours.
Now that he mentions it, I realize that I can tell a difference, but it’s so minimal that I don’t know if I’d ever have picked it out alone.
Ezio, who looks confused while carrying the wolf’s clothes and shoes, follows along behind me as I trail after Julian.
“They went this way. I bet they got in a car or did something to break off the scent so you can’t track them,” Julian says as he moves through the darkness of the woods.
We go about two miles before he hesitates. “Weird…”
“What is it?”
“I think they went up into that tree stand… and didn’t come out… but I have to assume the two staked vampires died last night or early morning, right? The killer would have had plenty of time to flee the scene even if they hid out here during the day, since it’s now been dark for hours. I don’t currently hear anyone, do you?”
I listen, but I don’t hear anyone at all. That doesn’t mean there’s not someone there, though, so I step toward the tree stand that isn’t very well blocked from the sun. If it was a vampire who did this, they had to have remained under something to protect themselves.
“Wait here,” I order as I step toward it. The door is already open, so all I need to do is jump up and get a good look. But as soon as I make my way toward the stand, someone falls out through the doorway. They hit the ground on their hands and knees a moment before I hear an odd ticking sound.
Quickly, I grab the wolf and jerk back as the world explodes around me.
OceanofPDF.com
CHAPTER EIGHT

JULIAN
I’m slammed to the ground, a weight pinning me down as my ears painfully ring. Debris rains down around me as I’m dragged back and set on my feet before the vampire turns to face whatever just happened.
I notice his clothes have been melted onto his back as burns coat his skin.
He says something, but I can’t hear shit as I shift back into a human and grab my ears. I see that Ezio is writhing on the ground as Casimir walks over to where the explosion originated, creating a hole in the earth and causing the tree to be blown into chunks. The tree stand is gone and the person who’d dropped down seems to have been reduced to nothing.
And I realize how fucking close I just came to dying.
Yeah, the vampires could live through it, they put enough distance between them and the explosion that even Casimir is already healing… but if he hadn’t grabbed me…
Casimir turns to me and says something, but I shake my head, my ears still ringing.
“What?” I ask as he comes over and tips my chin to the side to look at my ears. He doesn’t say anything else, and instead goes over to Ezio who is still writhing on the ground. He clearly isn’t as old as Casimir and seems to be struggling over healing.
Casimir disappears, moving so quickly that I have trouble tracking him before he returns in less than ten seconds with a whole damn deer that he just tosses at Ezio who immediately latches on to it. And while Ezio is busy with his deer, Casimir turns his back to him and faces me before biting his wrist and pressing it against my lips.
I have to assume he doesn’t want Ezio to see but the moment I taste that sweet blood, nothing else matters. Desperately, I latch on to his arm, dragging it toward me as I suck on the sweet liquid, forgetting all about the ringing in my ears and the ache in my body.
How the fuck can anything taste this good? It makes me feel so amazing. This is pure bliss. Absolute euphoria. It makes me⁠—
Casimir shoves my head off his arm as I realize that he’d been trying to get me to detach for some time, which I’d refused to do. “That’s enough,” he says, making me realize I can hear again, probably because of his blood.
“What the fuck was that?” I ask as I look over at Ezio who has completely drained the deer, but at least he looks alive again.
“I believe that’s what they call a bomb,” Ezio says.
“No shit,” Casimir retorts. “That person just… went on a suicide mission in an attempt to… kill us?”
“Could you tell what they were before they turned into little chunks?” Ezio asks.
“No. It happened so fast. What a fucking mess. It’d be too much to hope that this is over with… that the killer decided to kill themselves.” Casimir sighs the ultimate sigh. Like even he’s too tired to deal with this shit. “Ezio, get someone out here to deal with this mess. Julian, you can go home.”
“I would love to, but my keys were in the pants pocket of those clothes that got blown up. Oh look… here’s a chunk,” I say as I hold up a piece of the key fob’s shell.
“But hey, your phone made it,” Ezio says as he tosses it to me.
“Thank god, I don’t have to retake all of those tasteful nudes I had on there. Anyone have spare clothes I could borrow?”
They look down at their hole-filled attire that hangs off them like rags before looking back at me.
I sigh. “I think nude is best, yeah? Just… let it all out. Not awkward in the slightest. Did I tell you I’m a teacher and that indecent exposure is very much frowned upon for teachers?”
“Here!” Ezio says as he picks up the dead deer and tries handing it to me like I’m just going to clothe myself with a carcass.
I grimace and decide that I’m good.
Casimir is silent as we walk back to his car. His face looks like he’s borderline enraged, but his stride is very calm and collected.
“You’re pissed,” I announce as I get into Casimir’s car.
“Fuming.”
“I can tell,” I say as I pop open the glove box and find a single napkin. I like to imagine he uses the napkins to dab at the blood on his lips after devouring someone. I unfold it and drape the napkin over my groin, not quite sure it’s doing the job, but I have little else to use in this pristine vehicle that my muddy ass is sitting in.
Casimir sighs. “This is going to be an absolute mess. The wolves and vampires are already at each other’s throats. And then we have this? I’m sure tales of what happened are already running rampant.”
“Well, fortunately for you, my father just texted. I’ll read it to you.”
“Oh lucky me.”
I clear my throat to make sure I sound just like an asshole when I start. “‘The vampires have struck again. The madness, I say! This time, they slaughtered their own kind and are placing the blame on us. They are ducking assholes.’ I think that was supposed to be fucking.”
“I got that. Is there more?”
“Here, let me write him back with: ‘I hate it when I have to deal with ducking assholes. I did hang out with two vampires today, though. One tried to give me a deer to wear, which was as awkward as it sounds, but I think we’re becoming fast bros.’”
“It’s a wonder your father claims you.”
“Right?” I ask with a grin. “Ooh, he’s already texted back.”
“I can’t wait to hear what this says.”
“Right? He’s kind of fun if you torment him enough. Let’s see: ‘Julian, do you not understand the gravity of this situation? If this goes on, you will need to fight for your kind so we don’t get trampled down and treated like lap dogs.’ I am replying with: ‘If there is a lap dog position opened, I would like to apply. I’m really good at playing dead and fetching balls.’”
Casimir shakes his head before glancing over at me. It reminds me how very naked I am beneath this flimsy napkin. “Are you sure you are your father’s son?”
“Sadly. My fake dating is starting to sound better by the minute, isn’t it? Think about it—we show the vampires and werewolves how well we get along, and it helps them understand that we do care about them and their feelings.”
“But I don’t care,” Casimir announces.
“We pretend to care about their feelings.”
“I only care about myself… and my dog.”
“Seems a wee bit greedy, but you can pretend at least, right?”
The look on Casimir’s face tells me that he very much can’t pretend to care about anyone but himself.
“I’ve considered driving out all vampires and werewolves and living in this giant territory all alone where I’ll be surrounded by food,” he says.
“This… seems a bit sketchy. Would you drive me out?”
“Definitely. You’d be the first to go.”
“That’s… I mean… fair enough.”
“Thank you,” he says as I direct him to my mom’s house since she still won’t let me go home. The moment he pulls into the driveway, we are immediately blocked in by my dad’s car.
“Oh fuck.”
Casimir growls, and I’m starting to wonder if he’s actually the wolf. “You know… if you were to dispose of him, the vampires would praise you heavily,” he tells me, as though this is something I can do.
“I can’t kill my father!” I protest.
Casimir continues to look at me, like he’s positive that he could change my mind. What I am positive about as Dad comes around to the side of the car and looks in at my absolutely naked ass and Casimir who still looks oddly prestigious in his hole-filled attire is that I don’t have to kill him with my own hands.
Seeing us together like this will do the trick.
“Heh.”
I look over at Casimir, positive he wasn’t the one who just made that noise, but sure enough… there’s a pleasant smile on his face. It makes my father all that much more pissed as I open the door while doing my best to keep my groin covered with my napkin.
“What. The. Fuck?” Dad hisses.
“What happened?” I ask, and just narrowly hop out of the way as Casimir takes off, literally driving through my mom’s yard to get around Dad’s car. So much for him taking me back to get my car.
I hurry inside as Dad trails after me while trying to find some logical reason for my current state of undress. It’s not like we wolves aren’t used to being naked in front of others; it’s that we’re not usually naked with the head of the territory.
“I don’t even want to know,” Mom says.
“It involved Casimir,” I tell her.
She freezes. “I do want to know. What the hell did you do now, Julian?”
“It’s fine! I was out doing dog stuff and my clothes got ruined, so he drove me home like a gentleman!”
“And the blood on your face?”
I rub at my face. “Not mine. Mom, once I’m dressed and find my spare keys, do you think you can drive me to pick up my car?”
“It looks like your dad would love to.”
Oh hell no.
I hurry into the bathroom where my phone beeps.

Evil Vampire Lord: Fine.

Me: As in my ass was mighty fine as I walked up to the house? Although you were too busy driving through the yard and nearly running me over to see.

Evil Vampire Lord: I’ll pick you up tomorrow for our “date.” Don’t annoy me. And be convincing.

Me: I can’t wait.
OceanofPDF.com
CHAPTER NINE

JULIAN
“There’s an art festival in Elmswood next weekend that could be a good place to get some inspiration for your final,” I say to the group of students from the evening class as we approach the parking lot.
Class is over, and since I didn’t need to go back up to my office, I ended up walking out with some of them.
“Ooh, that sounds fun. Do you know which days?” Brandy asks.
“I think Saturday and Sunday. A lot of them work on art at their stalls that you could watch,” I say.
“I’m not allowed to go to those places,” Malcolm informs us.
“You do remind me of someone who is prohibited from entering a location. I can already see the ‘Wanted’ sign with your face on it,” Brandy teases as the other students make various noises or gestures of agreement.
Malcolm, who clearly would love Brandy’s approval, gives her a look of mock surprise. “No! I meant I buy too much stuff so I can’t be trusted to go. Why the heck did the rest of you agree? The only one who didn’t is Julian.”
“That’s because he’s not allowed to,” a quieter girl named Melanie jokes.
I nod. “That’s right, it’s in my contract that I ‘Cannot make fun of Malcolm. He cries easily.’”
“I do,” Malcolm agrees. “This is already the seventh time this week Brandy has made me cry and now Melanie is going to! Melanie, I thought you were the only person left with some kindness in your heart!”
“No! I wasn’t being mean!” Melanie protests as our attention snaps over to the black car skidding to a stop in front of us.
“Wow, look at that car,” a girl behind me says.
“I wish I was rich,” Malcolm whines. “Maybe you guys would be nicer to me if I was.”
“Probably shouldn’t have picked a career in art, then,” Melanie teases.
The window rolls down and I look over at the one and only Casimir.
“Get in,” he says, simple as that. It definitely sounds more like a threat than an invite.
“Is this a hostage situation?” I ask as I lean down to get a good look at Casimir. “Where is the love?”
“Oh.” He rolls the window back up, and I assume I’ve annoyed him to the point where he’s going to drive off, but nope, a few seconds later he rolls the window down. “Hey, sweetheart, get in the damn car.”
“Okay, started out good but there were a couple of… let’s say issues,” I inform him.
He rolls the window back up as I hear someone whisper behind me, “Isn’t that Casimir Madry?”
“I don’t know who that is.”
“How do you not? He owns like half the businesses in the city.”
“And… he’s picking up… Julian?” Malcolm mutters.
I turn to look at Malcolm. “Why do you sound so skeptical, as if you think someone like Casimir wouldn’t pick up someone like me?”
“Well…” he starts until he sees Casimir get out of his car and come around to my side.
Casimir opens the car door and then literally picks me up and crams me inside, like any part of this could be considered romantic.
“Wow, so gentlemanly.” I make sure it’s drenched in sarcasm too.
“Uh… Professor, are you being abducted?” Brandy asks.
“I’m not quite sure,” I say as the door immediately slams shut with me locked inside. Then I watch in confusion as Casimir passes each of the six students fifty dollars.
I don’t know why… they sure don’t know why… but when the job is done, Casimir looks pleased and comes around to the driver’s seat as I roll down the window and look out at my students.
“Did he just pay us off to not call the cops?” Malcolm asks.
“I mean… I’ll take it,” Brandy says.
“I’m sure it’s fine. Have a good night,” I tell them a moment before the car takes off. “Is that generally how you interact with humans?”
“Is there another way? During my many years on this earth, I have learned one thing… humans love money.”
And while I can’t deny that, it does lead to a different, much more interesting question. “How old are you?”
“Older than you.”
“Wow, never would have guessed. Aren’t we supposed to be fake dating?”
“Right. So I’m taking you on a date,” he says.
“No, I mean, you should be nice to your date.”
“Then people will know it’s fake,” he explains.
I think about that for a moment. “That… I mean… you do have a fair point there.”
“Thank you.”
“I’m excited to see where the king of vampires is taking me on our first date,” I tell him.
“Definitely not the king… possibly ultimate high ruler,” Casimir says.
“Sorry, I know it’s hard for you to not be modest.”
He gives me a curt nod. “It is.”
While I’m expecting a fancy restaurant where he’ll flaunt me before the other supernaturals, he instead parks in front of a large home improvement store.
“Is this some kind of secret vampire hangout or something? Like you have to knock four times at different intervals to be let in?”
Casimir looks at me like I’m the strange one as he gets out of his fancy car and starts speedwalking toward the store, one hundred percent leaving me behind. At no point during this interaction do I feel like I’m the beloved partner on a fun date.
As confused as ever, I hurry after him and only manage to catch up as we step inside and I realize that no… no, this is one hundred percent just a regular store.
“What are we getting on this fine date?” I ask.
“A robot vacuum. Someone at work said that they were very nice,” he says. “I like the idea of it doing my bidding.”
“A… vacuum. Okay…” Is this some kind of innuendo that I’ve never heard about? A sex move I’ve missed in my years of being a lackluster dater?
Casimir looks over at me. “Why? Have you heard bad things about them?”
Nope. No, the handsome and prestigious vampire is one hundred percent talking about regular robotic vacuums. “Besides the one that rose up and slaughtered the whole family in one night after they kicked it… no, I haven’t.”
He stares at me for a long moment. “If we are fake dating, am I supposed to laugh even if the jokes are horrendous?”
I grin at that. “You are. You’re also not supposed to take me to buy a vacuum on our first date, but you do you.”
“Good. Ha. Ha. You, wolf, are hilarious.” Casimir glances at me, like he’s seeking approval. “Is that better?”
“It was so fake that it almost sounded too fake to be fake, so in turn, it almost seemed real,” I decide.
“Just what I was aiming for.” And off he goes on our lovely florescent light-bulbed walk to the vacuum aisle… I mean, come on, a moonlit walk would be far too normal. “Do you have one of these?”
“I do not.”
“Here, I’ll buy you one,” Casimir says as he hands me the smallest handheld vacuum I’ve ever seen.
“Oh, wow, thank you. I’ll cuddle it at night as I think back on all the fun we had together.”
“Just keep your clothes on while doing it.”
“I’m so glad you were able to make me seem creepy. Thank you.” I set the vacuum back on the shelf because there is absolutely no part of me that is willing to get on my hands and knees to vacuum.
“You’re most welcome,” he says as he finally finds the robot vacuums and begins staring at them while I question what the hell I’m doing. He seems to be trying his hand at staring at them until one wows him enough to scoop it on up and hurry it home.
“You’re rich, so just get the most expensive one.” This feels like a pretty valid method.
“I’m rich because I know how to manage my money,” he says. “I would like one that can clean up liquids as well. Or do they not do both?”
“What… kind of liquid do you need to have cleaned up?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“The vampire says, ‘Don’t worry about it,’” I mutter.
“If I were going to kill you, I would have grabbed the tape and shovel first before you could think too much about it.”
“Haven’t you watched Dexter? You also need plastic… lots of plastic.”
“No idea what that is.”
“It’s about a serial killer who kills serial killers.”
Casimir stares at me for a long moment. “You sound delighted by this, but if I was like ‘Hi, I’m Casimir, I’m a serial killer who chops up other serial killers and drinks their blood,’ I feel like our date would be going much differently.”
“I’m still confused about whether this is a date. Like… dates should be sexy and fun.”
He eyes me before waving at a vacuum. “That one looks sexy.”
“Between us! Oh my god, not the vacuum.”
Casimir just shrugs as he grabs the “sexy” one and starts carrying it toward the checkout. About halfway there he hesitates and looks back at me. “Are you saying this isn’t a good date?”
“I’m… well… I’m not having an awful time but I’m also questioning what’s happening,” I answer.
“Sounds like a good date to me, then,” he says. “Oh, I need some other stuff.” And that’s when he plops the robot vacuum into my arms.
Ah yes… the date of my dreams.
Fake or not… I’m positive this isn’t what I had in mind.
He grabs a bathtub mat as I stare at him. “My last one… got messy.”
“Messy doing what?” I ask, highly concerned.
“Don’t worry about it.”
“This is so freaking weird. Anyone who sees us is going to think I’m your new assistant!” I say as he sets the bathmat on top of the vacuum I’m still hefting around because he never thought to grab a cart. I guess why grab a cart when he brought me along!
“It’ll be fine.”
“It’s looking less fine by the minute!” I protest as he walks off with nothing in his hands as I lug all of this after him.
“These look nice and soft,” Casimir says as he hurries over to some hand towels.
“What do vampires even need to wash their hands for?”
“To wash the blood off,” he responds as he stacks some of them on top.
“No!”
“No?”
“No, you don’t get light-colored ones!”
He points a finger at me. “I knew I brought you for a reason,” he says as he pulls them off and grabs some navy ones.
I sigh but am pleased when we finally make it to the cashier.
“That looks heavy, let me help you,” Casimir offers as he takes the load off me for the two seconds it takes for him to set it down in front of the cashier.
“Thanks,” I say sarcastically.
And then because he’s reduced me from fake date to pack mule, I grab a handful of candy and toss it on his pile while looking him in the eyes.
His eyes narrow before he goes, “Oh shit. I forgot you need to eat.”
I sigh.
“Would you like to be fed?”
“That’s a strange way to put it, but sure, I’d love ‘to be fed,’” I say.
“Good, good.”
I wait until he’s paid and we’re a distance away before I add, “Maybe someplace where vampires are in order to show off our new lovely relationship.”
“I hear you,” he says.
“You say you hear me, but I’m going to be real honest, after our last thrilling and romantic adventure I’m not sure how much more I can handle. You might need to slow down.”
“Funny. Now… do you want roadkill? I passed some on my way here.”
I give him a look as he stares at me with a serious expression on his face, nearly tricking me into thinking he’s being serious.
“You look like a wolf who would like roadkill.”
“Do I?” I respond dryly as we return to his car and get in our seats.
“Do you have a preference? Rabbit? Deer? Raccoon? But if you roll in it, you can’t get back in my car.”
“Is there another vampire I can set up this arrangement with? Maybe it’s not just your blood that’ll help me but the blood of other vampires.”
“I got it,” he says as he throws the car in drive and takes off.
I have absolutely no idea what he’s “got” and am already aware that it’s probably not good. I’m going to regret it but here I am, going along for the ride because I’m a sucker… and am also semi-amused. I mean, what else was I going to do tonight? Go home to my boring house now that my mom’s finally permitted me to leave?
We reach a park, which I wasn’t expecting, and he pulls into a parking spot. This time of night, the place is pretty dead, especially because it’s supposed to be closed after dark. Casimir pops out of the car and hurries off, leaving me to jog to catch up, and when I do, I promptly wish I hadn’t wasted the energy.
He waves to a whole flock of ducks sleeping in the middle of the pond. “A feast fit for a king.”
I raise my eyebrow. “I am literally starving over here and you’re the absolute worst,” I decide.
He seems pleased with himself. “They are good and plump. They haven’t been prekilled, so they’ll be nice and fresh. Would you like me to fetch you one?”
“Yes, please.”
And in a flash, he’s returned, duck in hand. The poor thing looks confused and gives me a startled “Quack?” like it also wants to know what it’s gotten into. “Here you go.”
“No! Put it back!”
“Want me to drain it first?” he asks.
“Don’t you dare kill that cute creature,” I say as I pluck it out of his hands and try to send it back into the world to live another day.
Casimir tsks, like there’s some problem with this.
I glance up and notice a vampire heading our way, so I reach for Casimir’s hand. His response is to jerk his hand away like I was planning on tossing some acid on it.
“What are you doing?” he asks.
“Trying to hold your hand.”
“Why?”
“Because that’s what people do on dates, and we want this lady to know we’re dating.”
“I will simply announce, ‘We are dating. Look how lovely we are together.’” And then he pets my head like I’m a dog. “She’ll immediately understand.”
“Will she?” I ask. “Just… hold my hand.”
He sighs but holds his hand out and then proceeds to clasp it like you do at those awkward dinners where they make everyone hold hands before you’re allowed to eat, and you get stuck holding the hand of the creepy guy who just wants to talk about conspiracy theories.
I pull him to a stop and stare at our hands. “This is the most awkward hand-holding I’ve ever experienced, and I went on a lot of dates with girls in high school while being thoroughly uninterested in them.”
He flips his hand the other way, which now feels like he’s trying to do some kind of ultra martial arts move on me.
“Ow! My arm doesn’t bend that way!”
He sighs and I realize he’s literally not trying to be funny. “Why are you so much trouble? How else is there?”
“Hold on… excuse me… do you really… not…” I try to comprehend this for a moment. “Have you seriously never held hands with someone?”
“God, no. That sounds absolutely dreadful. I fuck and leave. Generally, I leave before they can even start that pillow-talk shit. Sometimes, I leave while we’re fucking. Even if they’re in my bed, I just leave.”
“You’ve never held someone’s hand?” I whisper, waaaaay too giddy about this. Honestly, I shouldn’t be so giddy.
“The look on your face is causing me irrepressible anger.”
“This is crazy delightful,” I announce. “Have you never watched a romance movie?”
“Sounds traumatic.”
So there we are, facing each other in some weird kind of handhold/torture technique as the vampire slowly walks by. She’s staring at us like she’s never seen such a spectacle. I can’t quite tell what her overall impression is as she continues to stare, and boy does she stare. She’s watching so intently that she slams her leg into a park bench and nearly hits the ground.
“Interlock the fingers,” I say as I force his fingers between mine. “See?”
“And we enjoy this because?”
“Because you’re touching the one you ‘love.’”
“Are their hands usually this moist?” Casimir asks.
“Fucking hell, my hand is not moist.”
“Do you like sweaty or clammy better?”
I gape at him. “No! Stop being difficult.”
“Is there a reason why I need to stop?” he asks as we start walking hand in hand. “I do like that I now have complete control over you. Like if I want to pull you over here…” Casimir gives me a tug and since he’s a vampire with far too much strength, I have no choice but to be dragged along.
“That is not what this is for!”
“I kind of like this. I should hold hands with my enemies.”
I sigh as I stare at him, honestly not sure how much he’s being serious or how much is him being a smart-ass.
“Are we actually going to find something to eat?” I ask.
“Hmm… but there’s fresh duck right here.”
“I’m not going to eat an innocent duck!” I say.
“You’re right, the feathers are a bit dreadful when you get them stuck in your teeth while trying to get your fangs into their scrawny bodies.” With his free hand he’s miming all of this, which is equal parts fascinating and horrifying.
I stare at the monster I’m currently holding hands with. It’s a good thing the woman already walked past us because the look on my face probably wouldn’t convince anyone that we are out here with love in our hearts.
“Come along, Toto,” he says.
“Toto… What the hell? I’m not a dog,” I remind him, which I feel like I shouldn’t have to do.
“You’re right… I doubt a dog’s paw would be this moist.”
“If I didn’t currently need you to guarantee that I wouldn’t die, I’d leave your ass so quickly.”
“That’s understandable,” he says as he leads me across the street and over to the fanciest hotel in the area. I know it’s one that he owns, and I realize that I’m going to be eating high-class food tonight.
“What made you decide to move here and buy up half of the city?” I ask.
“I threw a dart at the map.”
“Ha ha… no, seriously.”
Casimir gives me his “I’m serious” look, and I realize that he one hundred percent decided his new location and caused my father unnecessary pain and suffering because of where his dart landed.
“My father would love to know that,” I mutter.
The pleasant smile on his face informs me that he has realized what he’ll tell my father the next time he sees him.
We step inside and I notice that there’s a good sprinkling of vampires here and there that I’ll get to flaunt my new man in front of. The worker behind the counter is one, and another seems to be heading toward a room, stopped by her notice of us. A third vampire had been leading a human woman into an elevator but he’s so shocked by us the woman ends up getting in the elevator that closes and leaves without him.
“Well, we definitely snagged some attention,” I say.
“Does that mean I still need to feed you?”
“It would be nice to give me an option other than a park duck.”
“You’re kind of picky,” he comments as he leads me down a hallway and through a large door. I’m expecting a restaurant or something, but what I’m not expecting is to waltz right into a wedding reception.
“We arrived just in time,” Casimir says as he starts over to a table that has two empty spots.
“What are you doing?” I whisper.
“Getting you food.”
“Do you know these people?”
“Not in the slightest!” he says.
“Someone’s going to notice!”
“Of course not. Watch.” He turns to the two humans at the table and simply smiles at them. “Good evening.”
“Good evening!” the man announces. His voice is packed with delight, like he’s just bumped into his best friend from high school that he hasn’t seen in years.
“Oh! How wonderful to meet you! I’m Anna,” the woman says with the biggest smile.
Did he seriously just allure them?
“We came to eat,” Casimir explains, and the woman quickly holds up her plate.
“Here, you can have all of my food.”
“Uh… no, that’s okay,” I say, but she seems persistent, even after a waiter notices us and rushes over with a plate for me and Casimir.
“This is ridiculous,” I whisper to Casimir, but my eyes are fixated on the slices of steak topped with what looks like butter. To the side is chicken smothered in some kind of sauce with a gorgeous salad.
“It’s this or the duck. Your choice,” he says.
“You’re evil,” I murmur.
Casimir leans in close, a grin on his ridiculously handsome face. “Thank you.”
I cut into the beef with such ease as my mouth waters, and when I take a bite, it’s so tender it practically melts. “Mmmm, oh my god.”
“See? I know how to make someone moan,” he says.
“You doooooo. This is phenomenal,” I whisper as I take another bite. “So much better than the duck.”
“It looked like a good duck. Nice and thick.”
“It did not. Let’s forget about the duck. So… let’s get to know each other a bit,” I decide. “That way if someone asks us, we can pretend we know each other since I only know that you have no idea how to hold hands and like spooning robot vacuums in bed.”
“You were the one spooning it,” he says.
“Yet I wasn’t the one who bought one. Shit, I’m getting off track. Okay, quick twenty questions. Favorite color?”
“The color of misery.”
“Oh my god, this is going to be impossible.”
He’s so pleased by this. He’s like a giddy child getting away with something bad. “Is your favorite animal a squirrel?”
“How’d you know?” I tease. “I also like balls, going for walks, and sticks.”
“I like balls too.”
I decide that maybe I’ll just enjoy my meal, and if anyone asks me any questions about the vampire, I’ll just smile at them.
“Fine. Blue,” he grumbles, like it was painful to tell me.
“Red is mine,” I say. “And my favorite animal would be cats, but dogs are a close second. You?”
“Dog.”
“Do you have any pets?” I ask.
“I do. A dog named Gustov.”
“Do I get to meet them?”
“I bet you two would hit it off. I could throw a ball all evening and knock out exercising my dog and my date.”
“Ha. Ha.”
Casimir seems to notice me eyeing his steak because he scrapes it onto my plate since it’s not like he’s planning on eating it.
“Do you have any pets?” he asks.
“I don’t. Growing up, my dad would only get me animals in the hopes of me murdering them, and my mom wasn’t much of a pet person. When I moved out, I was determined to get a pet, and instead, I got stuck renting places that didn’t allow them.”
“I didn’t want Gustov. Someone left him in one of the hotel rooms with a note that they couldn’t take him and to find him a new home like that’s our job. He proceeded to follow me around, and when I tried pawning him off on someone else, he ran after me and I decided that I would just eat him, so I took him home.”
“Oh my god, you did what?” I ask in horror.
“No one wanted him, and the animal shelters were full.”
That poor dog! “You were going to eat him?”
“But I didn’t.”
“But you were going to.”
He shrugs like he doesn’t see the gigantic fang-filled issue here. “Yeah, until he stared at me and I realized that I didn’t want all that dog hair in my mouth. His coat is so thick, I wasn’t even sure if I could get to his jugular, and I was a little too lazy to try. I mean… I tried a little, but there was so much fur.”
“You are a monster.”
“Yes, I’m aware,” he says.
I look over at our table guests who seem enthralled and not at all disturbed by our talk, likely due to Casimir’s allure. Honestly, I’m hoping that when they go home, they have no recollection of our talk or, more specifically, us talking about eating a dog.
This is why vampires and weres are so different.
“I’m now concerned,” I admit.
“I’m not going around eating pets. Human blood is much more my style.”
“I’m regretting these questions… almost scared to continue. What about… hobbies. What do you enjoy doing?”
“I’m always up for chasing humans,” Casimir says with a smile. The smile just confirms that I’m on a date with a serial killer.
I raise an eyebrow.
“If I’m feeling frisky, I let them chase me back.”
Now I’m confused. “What the fuck? Is this like a porno or something?”
“Sometimes we even chase each other at the same time.”
So he’s being difficult. Of course he is. “Ah, thank you for such lovely information. I love it all. When someone comes up to me and is like ‘Wow, you’re dating Casimir, tell me something about him,’ I can’t wait to go, ‘Ah yes, he loves to take innocent dogs home to eat and has a fetish for humans chasing him, preferably naked ones.”
“I never said they were naked.”
“Were they?”
“I mean… I’m not going to complain if they are. They usually giggle a lot, like ‘Oh, catch me if you can!’”
“I feel like I regret this entire conversation,” I say. “Maybe I should get paid to date you.”
“I’m paying you in my blood. Did you forget that I saved your life?”
Well, he wins that round. “Shiiiiit. You’re right. Okay, okay. So when’s your birthday?”
“Why?”
“Because I want to get you some naked people to chase around.”
“October. I probably won’t even remember you by then,” he says.
“That’s like six months away. Am I that forgettable?” I ask. “I feel slightly offended.”
“I’m going to be real honest… I don’t even remember your name.”
“You are joking, right?” I ask.
He stares at me.
“Oh my god. Are you not joking? So if you had to introduce me to someone right now as your date, how would it go?”
He turns to the humans who are enthralled with us. “Evening. My name’s Casimir and this is my date… Toto.”
“My name’s not Toto!”
“It was close,” he says.
“Not close in the slightest. I have no idea who you’re even going to fool into thinking we’re dating.”
He shrugs before looking back at the humans. “Am I good at this dating thing?”
“The best!” the woman says.
“I wish I was as romantic as you are,” the man says, a dreamy look on his face.
Casimir gives me a smug look.
“Conning them with your allure doesn’t count,” I say.
“Are you certain?”
“Positive.”
“Hmm… I think it does. Do you?” he asks the humans.
“Absolutely!” the woman enthuses. “Would you like to dance?”
Casimir cringes at that. “Absolutely not.”
It’s like he’s broken her heart. “Oh…”
The man perks up like maybe he has a chance now that his wife’s hopes and dreams have been crushed. “Would you like to dance with me, Casimir?”
“Absolutely not,” Casimir repeats before turning his attention to me. “Please don’t be jealous no one asked you.”
“I’m… not jealous.”
“That’s a good boy,” he says before petting me on the head. “Oh look, they’re cutting the cake. Go fetch yourself a piece.”
“You’re just too damn smug,” I realize.
He grins, pleased with himself.
OceanofPDF.com
CHAPTER TEN

JULIAN
“Does someone want to share the artist they picked?” I ask as I sit down on top of my desk.
A few students raise their hands. I’d asked them to pick an artist who was outside of their preferred style and create a piece in their art style, hoping to push them out of their comfort zone.
“Ben?”
“I’d love to show you guys mine so we can all see what not to do,” he says, and the class laughs a moment before the door slams inward, making multiple students jump in their seats.
With my superior hearing, I hadn’t heard anyone outside the door until it was moving, telling me that it’s a vampire and an older one at that.
Sure enough, there’s Casimir waltzing into the room. “We need to go.”
“How did you find me?” I ask, confused.
“I followed your scent because you wouldn’t answer your phone,” he responds, like that’s not weird in the slightest.
“I can’t go with you to buy more vacuums no matter how tempting it sounds. I have class right now, but I’ll be done in fifteen minutes.”
“It’s an emergency,” he says, making me hesitate.
“Oh. Like… a real emergency.”
“Like a dead emergency,” he clarifies.
That sure snags everyone’s attention. So much for subtlety with this guy.
“Okay…” I turn to the class. “I’m going to cut class short today. I’m sure most of you won’t mind leaving a little early.”
“Did someone you know die?” Brandy asks.
“No, nothing like that. Sorry to worry you. Casimir’s… helping… out with… something and I’m helping him… it’s fine, I promise.”
“That was the most convincing excuse I’ve ever seen,” Casimir says.
Even though they don’t seem overly convinced, they grab their stuff and eagerly head for home. As soon as the last student’s out, I hurry after Casimir.
“Maybe being a bit more subtle would be ideal so I don’t lose my job?” I suggest.
“I was being extremely subtle. If I wasn’t, I’d have walked in and gone, ‘Hey, Lassie, a vampire leapt off the top of a high-rise and splatted on the ground. I want you to come with me so it looks like we’re working together on this.”
“How… why? They jumped off?”
“I don’t know. I just got the call,” he says as he rushes out to where his car is running outside the door. What’s concerning is that there’s no road out this back door, just student walkways, which he’s chosen to drive on to reach the door. I get into the car while hoping I’m not going to lose my job, and he takes off. Thankfully, there aren’t many students out at this time of night as he jumps the curb out onto the street.
I hear a weird thump in the back and slowly look toward the rear of the car. “Is there… I’m not even sure I should ask, but… is there someone in the trunk?”
“It’s just Ezio.”
“You say it like that should be less concerning.”
“I was called by Detective Torres, who despises Ezio,” Casimir explains.
“Despises is such a strong word!” Ezio calls from the trunk. “It’s more accurate to say that he’s struggling to let me bust my way into his luscious heart. His heart is like a maze filled with thorns and prickers, but at the end is a beautiful rose.”
“I can see why he doesn’t want Ezio near him,” I say.
Casimir nods. “Right? And you thought I didn’t know how to be romantic.”
The back seat drops down, and I look back at Ezio who is crammed in the trunk. Since he’s around six feet tall, I’m not even sure how he fit. Nothing I’ve heard so far explains why he’s in there.
“I heard the funniest thing. That you two were caught… holding hands. Hilarious, right?” Ezio cackles.
“We are in love. We have slathered each other in love,” Casimir says. It’s the least heartfelt confession I’ve ever heard.
Ezio gasps. “That’s adorable!”
And he believed it. Of course he did.
“I mean… once we get past the manwolf thing, it’s super cute!” Ezio adds.
“Man… wolf?” I ask with a raised eyebrow.
“Ezio doesn’t like werewolves after one called him ugly like two hundred years ago,” Casimir says, like that explains everything.
“Ah… that makes no sense at all,” I realize.
Ezio’s just beaming at us. “You two are just adorbs.”
“We’re pulling in, get your ass back in the trunk,” Casimir orders.
“I love the idea that you’re going to make all the vampires and weres lose their mind with this Romeo and Juliet thing you have going on. God, it’s going to be miserable for you two and delightful for me,” Ezio says before sinking back into the trunk while laughing, like the idea of our misery amuses him.
When we drive up to the location of the incident, a human man walks over and looks into our car before motioning for Casimir to roll his window down. “I’m going to have you pull in behind my car there,” he says with a soft Spanish accent, so Casimir gives him a nod before parking the car.
“Ohhh, I heard him! His voice sounds like a million lovebirds singing, his face is like a million beautiful roses,” Ezio says from inside the trunk.
“That’s the man Ezio is harassing?” I ask.
“It sure is.”
“You don’t feel guilty smuggling Ezio in the trunk if the detective doesn’t like him?”
“No,” Casimir says as he gets out, so I get out with him.
The human is waiting for us. He’s a man in his thirties with an athletic build and a handsome face with an expression that seems a bit too serious. He looks tired and worn down, but he gives Casimir a polite nod. “Thanks for coming.”
“Of course. Ezio’s in the trunk just in case you have your taser on you.”
The human hesitates before looking down at the taser at his side, clearly considering it.
“How disappointing that people are around,” he says before lowering his hand. “And you are Julian Evans.”
“I am…” I confirm, surprised he knows my name.
“Cyrus Torres,” he says as he holds a hand out for me to shake. “I’m a detective who also knows a bit about vampires and werewolves. I’m surprised to see you here.”
“With the tension between the vampires and werewolves, I thought it’d be best for us to show our community that we can get along,” Casimir announces.
“That’s a good idea. Now come along,” Cyrus says as he leads us after him.
“You’re allowed back here?” I ask Casimir. “The police don’t care?”
“I can allure them into thinking it’s fine that I’m here,” Casimir explains. “And if that doesn’t work, I just give them money.”
Ah, Casimir with the misconstrued idea that money fixes everything.
“Now this is pretty… gruesome. Are you sure you’re okay seeing it?” Cyrus asks me.
I’m not positive about it, but I feel like as long as I don’t stare right at the body, I’ll be doing my job of being involved. Really, I’m just here to look the part, right? “Yeah, it’ll be fine.”
“Good,” Cyrus says as he leads us down an alley when I notice Ezio creeping after us. Cyrus tosses a glower back at him, surprising me that the human even noticed him since it seemed like he was being very quiet.
“Oh! Cyrus… so strange just running across you here. I was going for an evening stroll, and I must have been drawn to you like a sunflower to the sun.”
“I guess I should have invested in weedkiller, then,” he mutters as he walks a little faster, like he thinks he can outwalk the vampire.
Ezio just laughs, overly pleased with himself.
When we reach the area where the body is, there are several police officers positioned around it as some examine it. Right in the middle is the body, and while I’d planned to not look at it, my eyes are immediately drawn there.
A man is lying on his front, blood sprayed out around him, a wooden stake driven into his back and through his heart. It must have been done immediately after impact, or I feel like the vampire would have tried to heal himself.
“Any signs of a struggle?” Casimir asks.
Cyrus shakes his head. “No. He jumped.”
“Willingly?”
“Yes. We have a video. The building had been dealing with some vandals on the roof, so they put a camera up. The guy is completely alone as he walks to the edge and just jumps off.”
“Yet someone was waiting at the bottom to stake him?” Casimir asks, clearly confused.
“If it was a suicide, why not just wait for sunlight?” I ask.
“Because someone wanted to make a statement, and right in the middle of the fucking city,” Casimir says. “Fucking hell, this is ridiculous.”
“Did he have an apartment here?” I ask.
“No. Come on,” Cyrus says as he leads us through the front door before trying his hardest to slam the door shut in Ezio’s face.
Ezio catches the door before it crushes his foot and has to use his strength to open it wide enough to slip inside, which makes Cyrus tsk. “Cy, I feel like you didn’t see my beautiful face there as you shut the door. You are looking mighty fine this evening. You make life surge through my veins.”
Cyrus looks disgusted as he hurries away from him before turning to Casimir. “I thought I told you that I’d stop involving you if you brought him?”
Casimir shrugs because I’m fully confident he’s enjoying this. “He is our detective.”
“He could barely find his way out of your trunk, and if there’d been a mirror in there, he’d have stayed in there all night,” Cyrus says.
That makes Casimir and me both grin, telling me that maybe we have more in common than we thought, even though Ezio doesn’t strike me as being particularly vain.
“Well, let’s hope the killer doesn’t carry any mirrors around, then,” Casimir says as he follows Cyrus into a room where a man is sitting in front of several monitors.
“Or let’s hope they do,” Cyrus mutters before turning to the man. “Could we see the video?”
“Of course!” the human says as he plays a video of the vampire entering the rooftop. He walks straight across it and without hesitation, he climbs up onto the fence that is meant to keep people from doing just this and leaps off.
“We’ve IDed him as a man named Grady Johnson, but that’s probably not his true name. Do you recognize the man?” Cyrus asks Casimir as the security guard replays the tape.
“I’m going to be real honest… I don’t remember the faces of most of my people who live here,” he says. “Ezio?”
“I do believe he’s permitted to live here… but he’s not a man I’ve ever engaged with,” Ezio responds.
What’s so strange to me is how out of it the man seems. There’s no hesitation, no desperation, and no fear. He climbs up, he jumps off.
“Do you mind if we have the room alone for a moment?” Cyrus asks the security guard.
“Of course not,” he says as he gets up and leaves.
“Could someone have allured him?” I ask.
“Vampires can’t compel vampires,” Casimir says. “We can only allure humans, and it only works if the human is already interested.”
“Like how I have absolutely no interest in Ezio, so he couldn’t allure me,” Cyrus announces, sounding quite proud about this. It’s quite the jab at Ezio and makes Casimir look very pleased.
It results in Ezio glowering at Casimir even though Cyrus was the one who’d inflicted the damage. “You don’t have to look so damn happy about that.”
“So you’re telling me all the people you allure want you? That sounds suspicious,” I say to Casimir.
“Everyone wants me,” he declares.
“Casimir’s allure is stronger than most,” Ezio explains. “But he’s also older than most of the vampires you’ve met.”
“Make sense,” I say, wondering again how old he is.
“I know what you’re saying though, Julian,” Cyrus says. “It really does look like he’s been caught up in an allure to be so… emotionless while it happens. If we saw a human do this, we would have to consider drugs.”
“There are no cameras that show the ground floor?” Ezio asks.
Cyrus almost seems reluctant to have to answer Ezio’s question simply because he doesn’t want to interact with him, but when he realizes the rest of us are waiting for the answer, he can’t just pretend it didn’t happen. “No. We’re checking with the surrounding businesses to see if they have any that might have captured the scene, but so far we haven’t seen anything.”
“Can I go up onto the roof?” Casimir asks.
“Of course,” Cyrus says as he leads us out of the room and over to the elevator which we take up to the top floor. It’s set up with outdoor furniture, some of which has graffiti on it, likely one of the reasons why they’d installed a camera. I sniff the air, but in this form, the vampires’ sense of smell is likely superior to mine.
There are two officers wandering around trying to survey the area to look for anything of interest, which keeps me from shifting.
“Can someone stand in front of the camera and ask the others to step out?” I ask.
“Of course,” Cyrus says as he walks over to the others and tells them that they’re needed downstairs. Believing him, they both head to the door which he then parks himself in front of as Ezio covers the camera. I step behind Casimir so that if there is any way someone is watching, they can’t see me shift. I even make him hold my clothes, which he seems as displeased about as normal.
“Why can’t they sit on a chair?” he asks.
“They’ll get cold.”
“It’s not even cold out!”
“You don’t know, you’re a vampire,” I say before shifting. Catching the dead vampire’s scent, I follow his trail from the doorway straight over to the fence, but there are different layers of smell. The most recent is the strongest, but it tells me that the vampire had come up here more than once.
“And we’re sure he didn’t live in this building?” I ask into Casimir’s mind, since I can’t ask the others.
“Did the vampire live in this building?” Casimir asks Cyrus.
“Grady did not. He lived…” Cyrus hesitates as he checks his phone. “In an apartment on Wicker Avenue.”
“He sure frequented here a lot for not living here.”
“Was he alone each time?” Casimir asks.
There are so many different scents up here that it’s hard to pinpoint if someone had been here with him. Making it even more difficult, vampires don’t have as strong of a scent as humans, so it gets washed away by the other much stronger smells unless I know what to look for.
“Is the hallway clear?” I ask.
Casimir walks over to the door before pulling it open. “It’s clear.”
I move into the building, following the scent down the steps before stopping before a door leading into the hallway on the tenth floor.
“Open it,” I say as I paw at the door.
“Your fingers don’t work?” Casimir taunts.
I step down on his foot, putting as much weight as I can on it, making sure to dig my claws into his shoe.
“Depends on what you’d like me to do.”
He pushes the door open and I trot down the hallway a moment before he grabs my tail, skidding me to a halt.
I give him an incredulous look. “What⁠—”
The expression on his face tells me that he’s sensed something.
“You smell his scent down here?”
“I do. It’s as thick as the rooftop.”
“And do you smell anyone else?”
“No.”
“Move quietly in case something is off,” he whispers.
With a curt nod, I slow down, walking forward on silent feet as he follows behind me.
“They could be the same people who killed the vampires in the woods. If they are and they bomb this place… how many humans are there?”
“I’ll keep an eye out,” he says as he slowly follows me over to the room where the scent ends. “This one?”
I nod and he tries the door, but it’s locked.
“I don’t hear anyone inside, but they could be refraining from moving,” Casimir says. “Cyrus, can you get this door unlocked for us?”
“Of course,” he says as he turns and hurries to find someone to unlock the door.
Meanwhile, I find that there really is only one scent that leads into the room, and it one hundred percent belongs to the vampire who died.
“Could a vampire climb up this many floors to the window? What are we at? Ten floors? I’m thinking that Grady could have possibly been meeting someone here who was coming in through the window.”
Casimir nods. “I’d have to look at the exterior again, but it’s likely.”
“Otherwise, it’s only the scent from the man who died,” I say.
Casimir hesitates and then looks up.
“What is it?” Ezio asks.
“You hear that?”
Ezio is quiet for a moment before shaking his head. “No. Someone’s walking upstairs? If they are, they’re quiet.”
“I’m going to go check it out. Ezio, stay here with Julian, and if something seems off, get him out of here.”
“Shouldn’t we stick together?” Ezio asks.
Casimir stubbornly shakes his head. “They likely know we’re here, so I want you two watching this door while I flush them out from upstairs.”
“Fine, fine,” Ezio agrees as Casimir takes off after setting my clothes on the ground.
I’m kind of with Ezio on this, but Casimir seems like he’s out for blood and is gone within seconds, probably prepared to tear a head off and deal with the consequences later.
Ezio walks over to me before staring down at me. We’re in a stare-off for a ridiculously long time before he reaches out and cups my face.
“Oh my god, I can’t not like you, you’re just too cute!” he says as he smooshes my face. “You’re so soft and fluffy!”
What the fuck is this?
I try jerking my head back, but he won’t let me go as he proceeds to rub his face against mine. “Don’t fight it, love it. Enjoy it,” he urges, and even as he tries to get some fur out of his mouth from when he’d rubbed his face against mine, I find it doesn’t deter him.
I show him a bit of fang since I feel like that is what’s necessary, but he just grabs me like I’m a lap dog and squeezes me to him tighter, which is how I’m left suffering as Casimir does who knows what.
OceanofPDF.com
CHAPTER ELEVEN

CASIMIR
As I reach the next floor up, I look around for what had snagged my attention. It wasn’t a sound so much as a presence, telling me that the vampire is likely older, but I have no way of knowing how old.
I step into the hallway, but it’s empty. There doesn’t seem to be anyone here, but I can still feel that presence. Quietly, I move down the hallway, trying to pinpoint where the person is. They’re clearly here. They’re watching us try to figure out what they did and probably enjoying every moment of our incompetence.
Slowly, I continue down the hallway, knowing he could be in any one of these rooms, but I can’t see or even hear him. I inch forward step by step, trying to see what I can find before they make a run for it or attack.
I reach the end of the hallway, but I don’t sense them any longer. Instead, I find myself looking out a window as I question where the fuck they went. Did they leave the moment they heard me coming? But then why did I not sense them passing me? Unless they didn’t go past but went up or down.
That’s the moment I sense something beneath me…
No, no, no… they’re beneath me? Did I pass them? Wait… like Julian said, there’d only been one person going in and out of the door the vampire frequented, but instead of climbing ten floors to the window, he was likely jumping down from the floor above, which means he’s now down with Ezio and Julian.
Is there any way to speak to Julian like he can speak to me? To warn him?
Julian? Julian?… Fuck… all I’m doing is talking to myself! I have no idea how he does it so simply, and I don’t even know if I have the capability of doing it, so there’s no sense in wasting time trying.
Running down the hallway, I hit the door for the stairwell so hard, I end up busting it off its hinges. Dropping the remnants of the door, I jump down the stairs, stopping at the tenth floor, expecting the worst. When I open up the door revealing the hallway inside, though, I see Ezio squeezing Julian like he’s some stuffed animal. Julian appears displeased as they both look at me.
“What’s wrong?” Ezio asks.
“They’re down here,” I say a moment before the door they’re standing before is flung open and Ezio and Julian are dragged into the room, out of my sight.
I rush into the room after them just in time to see Ezio’s body slam into the floor-to-ceiling window so hard it shatters. Ezio tries to catch himself, but the vampire kicks him hard enough he’s flung out of the window and disappears. I want to rush forward, but I can’t when the vampire has his hand around Julian’s throat, lifting him off his paws. Julian flails, teeth latching on to the wrist that holds him.
“Step into the room and I’ll crush his throat,” the man says in a lilting English accent as he looks over at me.
He’s a vampire I don’t recognize, a man young in appearance with a cruel expression twisted across his face. He’s handsome with long hair pulled up out of his face. He smiles at me as his nails dig into Julian’s neck. Hopefully his fur is thick enough it’s creating some kind of cushion against the attack.
I’m left standing in the doorway, teeth gritted, anger coursing through me at the idea that this man would literally refuse to listen to me.
“Let him go.”
“You’re too nosy, Casimir. Far too nosy,” the vampire says in a teasing tone.
“You are trespassing in my territory.”
“I’m simply doing a few good deeds,” he replies with a smile.
I’m livid because I can’t rush in and rip his body apart. This man would honestly stand up against me? If he didn’t have a hold of Julian, I would kill him where he stands. “LET HIM GO. Remove yourself from this territory before I remove you myself.”
Julian releases his fangs from the man’s arm before he shifts into his human form.
The vampire looks at him with a peculiar expression on his face, and I find that I’m also questioning why he’d choose to put himself in his more vulnerable form.
“Why?” Julian asks, voice calm.
The vampire’s expression slowly turns curious, then he laughs, like he thinks Julian is ridiculous. “Why… the wolf asks why?”
“I do. Is there a reason you’re killing them? Did they do something?”
The vampire laughs harder, and the anger he’d flicked toward me seems to smooth out, like he’s intrigued by the strange man in front of him.
“Did they do something?” he repeats. Then he smiles as he tips Julian’s chin up. I notice Julian’s neck is bleeding, his blood running over the vampire’s fingers making my anger deepen. This vampire really thinks he can waltz into my territory and do as he pleases? Hurt and touch who he wants?
“It doesn’t matter,” I growl. “You do not have permission to be on my land. You don’t have permission to even live.”
He leans forward and whispers something to Julian before smiling again. And just like that, he flings him toward the floor-to-ceiling broken window. A look of shock crosses Julian’s face as he stumbles back, trying to catch himself, but Ezio had destroyed all that was left of the window when he’d been kicked through it.
I could kill the vampire, but if I do, I won’t have time to save the wolf and he knows it. He knows it’s the only way he’s getting out of this situation alive. Rushing past him at full vampiric speed, I hear him chuckle and the rage that fills me makes me want to tear him apart, but I can’t when Julian is in danger.
Dropping out of the window immediately after Julian had, I push myself forward so I can catch him before he gets too far from me. Thankfully, I’m fast enough that I manage to grab him with ease, wrapping an arm around his body and tucking him into me. His fingers dig into my sides, squeezing tightly onto me as I hear his heart racing. I twist my body so he won’t get hurt, and with my free hand, I grab on to the decorative edge.
“Fuck… fuck…” he whispers, squeezing tightly onto me like he thinks I’d actually have let him fall.
Eh… I guess when you can’t just immediately heal, being tossed out of the tenth floor is a bit scarier.
Using my free hand, I pull us both up.
A man and woman who’d likely come over to the window to see what was going on stare at us with peculiar expressions, likely confused why I’m holding a naked man outside their window.
“What a fucking mess,” I growl as Julian tightly digs into me. His heart is racing out of his chest as he clings to me.
“Oh fuck… oh fuck…” he whispers, fingers shaking.
“Stop, you’re fine,” I say. Does he seriously think I’m just going to drop him to his death at this point? Hell, I could jump from here and still be fine.
I leap up, catching onto the edge above me, and drag us both back into the room. The vampire is gone, and honestly, there’s no sense in chasing after him. He’ll have used the time it took me to grab Julian to make sure I won’t catch up.
Julian seems reluctant to let go of me, even now that we’re on solid ground. “Fucking hell, thank god you catch people better than you hold hands. I nearly died. I thought I was going to die.”
“And you had to sass my hand-holding,” I grumble as the sweet smell of his blood assaults my nose. I tip his chin up and lean down, wanting to taste the blood that coats his neck from that dreadful man’s nails. I run my tongue over his neck, not planning on biting him, but wanting to clean the blood away, and you’d have thought I’d been the one who chucked him out the window.
He tears away from me, jerking back before I can even get much of a lick.
It was such a good fucking taste too. It makes me want more. It makes me want to sink my fangs into him and soak in that delicious… wait… why the hell would it be delicious? I’ve bitten him before and he tasted as disgusting as wolves generally taste, but not this time. This time his blood is almost intoxicating. But what the hell would cause that? Wolves taste borderline toxic—let alone a wolf with the taste of silver still coursing through him. Vampires are not much better, so why does he taste so⁠—
I hesitate as I get a look at his expression and realize I can sense the panic racing through him. His eyes are wild, and his heart is back to being out of control. He’s literally terrified and I didn’t even notice.
“Julian…”
He shakes his head and lets out a breath he must have been holding. “Sorry… I think… I think it was from… being attacked by that group… when they… tried ripping my throat out. Sorry.”
Why the hell is he apologizing to me? “I didn’t mean to terrify you.”
Julian clears his throat. “I… I’m fine if you want to chase that man or check on Ezio or… something.”
“I’m sure Ezio’s fine. If he’s not, it’s also fine.”
He gives me a weak laugh as he rubs at his neck. “Right. Uh… should I shift or put my clothes on…”
Julian steps toward me, like he wants to reassure me that I did nothing wrong when I clearly did. I didn’t even notice his fear because I was so hung up on how his blood tasted. When he moves toward me, I realize he’s leaving bloody footprints.
“You’re bleeding. You must have stepped in some glass when you were shoved.”
“Oh… it’s fine. Sorry I didn’t… I was…” He seems weird, and I don’t know what to do about it, especially knowing that I made it worse.
“I’m not going to catch up to him at this point,” I say. “What did he say to you?”
“Oh, right. He said, ‘The liars will continue to lie which means they have to die.’”
“What the fuck is with his rhyming ass? How stupid. He should die just for that.”
The door opens and Cyrus looks in at us. “You guys okay?” he asks as he shuts the door behind him. “I saw Ezio fall and tried rushing up as quickly as I could.”
“Fine,” Julian says, and even though he’s plastered a smile on his face that looks pretty convincing, I can still hear his heart beating out of his chest.
“Good.”
“Ezio okay?” Julian asks.
Cyrus shrugs. “I don’t know, I had to walk past his body to get here but didn’t bother to check.”
“He’ll be fine. A fall like that won’t kill him,” I say.
“Walk past? You STEPPED on me,” Ezio cries as he looks in through the doorway looking like something out of a horror movie with all the blood on him. “Then again… I kind of liked it.”
“I should have stepped harder,” Cyrus says dryly as he hurries over to Julian and starts checking him over. “I’m sorry you got injured. Let’s get you dressed, and we’ll get you cleaned up.”
“I’m fine, I promise,” Julian says with a smile. “Thank you.”
I guess that’s what a decent person does instead of licking them.
Cyrus gives him a reassuring look. “Oh, your feet look bad. Once you’re dressed, one of the brutes can carry you out. Ezio looks like a pack mule. Wait… no, that’s mean toward mules.”
“Oh, I’m fine,” Julian assures him, looking a little flustered.
“No, your feet are really bad,” he says as he fetches Julian’s clothes from the hallway and carries them over to him. As he helps him get dressed, I look around the room, but nothing seems out of order. The room looks like a regular empty apartment, waiting for a new renter.
I glance over at Julian who is being assisted by Cyrus. “Cyrus, switch with me. I don’t know how to do detective work. I know how to tear heads off,” I growl.
“Umm… that sounds concerning. Are you sure that’s who I want to give me first aid?” Julian asks as I come over to him.
“I assure you that your head will most likely stay attached during my medical examination.”
“Are you going to lick my feet like you did my neck because if you do… I’m going to be honest… I don’t think I could handle that.”
“I’m not,” I say, even if he smells absolutely delicious. Even if I want to sink my fangs—what the hell is this? Obviously, I’ve hungered for blood, but I’ve never desired someone’s specific blood like this.
After he gets dressed, I pick him up and carry him out of the room to give Ezio and Cyrus space to check out the area.
“Oh god, I don’t need to be carried. This is embarrassing.”
“I can make it less embarrassing,” I assure him as I cradle him like an infant.
Julian looks up at me with a raised eyebrow. “How is this any less embarrassing?”
“I could drag you. Would that please you?”
“None of those sound like good options.”
“When we’re sure no one’s looking, I’ll give you some of my blood. Here,” I say as I pull my shirt over his head.
“What are you doing now? Breastfeeding me?”
“I’m trying to give you blood where no one can see! Why are you so damn picky?” I ask as I bite my arm and stuff it under the shirt.
“Being picky? You’re carrying me like an infant while I’m left to suckle on your blood under your… shirt…” He clearly stops caring as he latches on like a ravenous beast. He moans from beneath my shirt, which, let’s be honest, is ten times weirder than whatever he claimed I was doing to him.
He’s persistent, even after my arm has healed up and the blood has stopped flowing. Julian seems determined to suck me dry as I try to retract my arm once I feel like he’s had enough. He whines as he tries to take it back from me.
The door opens and Ezio steps out with Cyrus.
“Do I even ask what’s happening?” Ezio asks.
Cyrus seems to be momentarily at a loss for words. “Casimir… I thought you were normal compared to Ezio.”
I growl at them as I turn away and hurry the wolf off. He seems so blissful that he doesn’t even start crying about the embarrassment until the elevator opens on the ground floor. Then he extricates himself from the shirt and looks up at me in horror.
“Please don’t… ever repeat what just went on. Why did you do that? Why did I do that?” He groans as he closes his eyes like he can forget it all happened.
“Which part?” I ask. “The part where you were moaning under my shirt?”
“Every part.”
I nod so he knows I agree with him. “I was embarrassed for you.”
“You’re the ass who shoved me under your shirt!”
“How do your feet feel, though?”
Julian looks down at them before wiggling his toes. “Huh. I mean, they’re not like completely healed, but they sure healed faster than they normally would.”
“Right?”
“I’m so glad I conned you into being my date. You’re now my personal nurse. Reminds me of a porno…”
I drop him into the passenger seat of my car and stare down at him for a moment as I try to think about this absolute mess. I should have torn that stupid vampire’s head clean off his body and chucked it out the fucking window. Instead, I was absolutely useless! What did I even accomplish?
“I can literally read you from here. You know you can’t do everything, right?” Julian asks.
“Of course I can. I’m Casimir the All Powerful.”
He raises an eyebrow. “Stop being a smart-ass, I’m trying to be nice.”
I grumble at that. “Niceties should be left for humans and… I guess wolves. Although the wolves I’m used to are cranky and smell like wet dog.”
Julian gives me a gentle nudge with his mostly healed foot. “Listen here because I know best. You can’t blame yourself for not stopping him. You helped me, which—I might be biased—I feel like is significantly more important. I know this whole city seems to think that everything falls on your shoulders when it comes to disputes between wolves and vampires, but you’re only one person.”
“Correct. I am the best person, which is why I control the whole territory. This is also why I shouldn’t be tested or provoked. And why I will tear his weak head from his body and proceed to shred it.”
“Ohhh, how lovely. I’m so glad my heartfelt talk turned into a bloody massacre.”
I shrug, not seeing the issue. “Well, your talk was boring. What do you think you are? A therapist?”
“No, I’m an artist.”
I hesitate. “You are?”
“Yeah. I mean, I teach art.”
“You must come over to my home. You have no choice but to paint Gustov. I will pick you up tomorrow.”
“That was a weird shift in topic but okay, yeah sure.”
“It is settled.”
“I’m always so confused dealing with you.”
Now I just need to keep from allowing rage to consume me, and by envisioning Gustov’s portrait, I might be able to do just that.
“You, wolf, are more useful the longer I know you. If you do a good job capturing how elegant and dignified Gustov is, then I might even play fetch with you.”
“Oh joy.”
OceanofPDF.com
CHAPTER TWELVE

JULIAN
My sleep is fitful at best. Since I was up all night, I try to sleep during the day, but wake around ten in the morning when I hear something, positive that whatever I heard is in the house. Even though I’m well aware that there is nothing in the house beyond my own anxieties, I still get up and check every corner before climbing back in bed where I have to convince myself to close my eyes and try to sleep.
When that doesn’t work, I shift into a wolf and climb under the covers. That way if something is in the house, I’m already in “Fuck you” mode with fur and fangs.
I give up around noon and get ready for the day by slumping down on the couch. It’s ridiculous feeling anxious when nothing bad really happened yesterday besides having my throat nearly crushed, getting chucked out the window, and being licked by Casimir, which… shouldn’t have been as horrifying as it was.
My phone rings just after dinner as I’m trying to figure out a time for Casimir to pick me up to paint his dog.
When I see that it’s my father, I debate blocking the number. Honestly… I’m surprised it’s taken this long for the news about Casimir and me “dating” to reach my father. I’d started to wonder if people were straight up too scared to tell him and how much bloodshed happened when they did.
My phone almost immediately beeps, telling me I have a text since I’m doing a phenomenal job of ignoring the call.

Dad: Answer.

Dad: Your.

Dad: PHONE

Me: I don’t wanna.

Dad: Fine. Meet me at my bar in ten minutes.
Before I can answer, my phone starts ringing, and I notice it’s Casimir who seems much more fun to talk to.
“Hello, this is Julian. I have ten minutes left to live, so make it fast,” I announce.
I hear a chuckle from Casimir, like the thought of my life nearly ending is amusing. “Oh? But you have to paint my dog.”
“I like how you’re not concerned about why my life is in danger, just that I might not have time to paint your dog.”
“Well… those are the real concerns,” he says.
“My father is insisting I meet him.”
“It was surprisingly okay knowing you. You might be missed when I think about how fun it would’ve been to have a painting of my dog. Do you know someone else who could take your place? Maybe one of your students is decent?”
“No! You’re going with me.”
Casimir hesitates. “Am I?”
“Yes, I’d like you to meet my parents. That’s what people on dates do.”
“I already met them. I’ve actually met your father about one hundred times too many, and your mother was the one who looked like she had a bird’s nest on her head. I later realized it was just her hair.”
“Oh my god, you’re seriously going to make fun of my mother’s hair because she was sitting in the hospital with me and never went home to brush it?” I ask as if I hadn’t done the exact same thing.
“I am. I’ll be over in ten. Bring your paints. If you live, you will paint Gustov, and then I will parade you around town or something as your reward.”
“Lovely,” I say as I get up and get ready. About the time I’m finished, Casimir is pulling into the driveway.
As soon as I’m in the car, he takes one look at me and reaches out to rub my cheek. It’s quite strange and makes me think that I possibly had something on it.
“What’s… going on?”
“I have googled the art of the flirt,” Casimir explains.
Why’s he so freaking suspicious? “Uh…”
“It says that I should touch the person while staring them in the eyes. How is this?” His rich brown eyes lock on to mine, staring into my soul while he proceeds to finger my face, much in the way an alien would touch a human it was uncertain of.
“As awkward as it sounds.”
“Perfect.” Casimir shrugs out of a thin gray button-up he was wearing as an overshirt and hands it to me. “You look cold.”
“I’m not.”
“Well, you do,” he says as he forces it on me. As in, grabs my arm and physically forces it onto me. It’s weird, beyond weird, but the smile on his face is really what just tops it all off.
“Did Google also tell you to force clothes on them? How is this romantic? And why are you smiling like that?”
“Yes, yes it did.”
And then he gives my face a light smack like that could be romantic in any way, and off we go to hell.
“Did you find anything else out about last night?” I ask curiously as he pulls out of the driveway and starts toward my dad’s bar.
“I did. I found out that Ezio can’t fly.”
I try not to laugh about that and then feel like maybe I’m a horrible person because I nearly laughed! “Well… is that something you didn’t know before?”
“Cyrus said that he wasn’t confident and would like to perform more testing.”
“Why does Cyrus hate him so much?” I ask.
Casimir shrugs. “I mean, have you looked at Ezio’s face?”
“I have… and?”
“It just seems easy to dislike, right?”
I think about the man’s handsome face. “I… don’t know about that, but sure?”
He drives for a bit before reaching out and petting my head.
I narrow my eyes as I shift them over to him. “What is happening?”
“You’re a good boy,” he says, like that could possibly explain these actions.
“I’m not a dog!”
“That’s why I said ‘boy.’”
I stare at him. “‘Good boy’ is literally a dog thing.”
“I don’t see the problem.”
“There are a lot of problems.”
He pets me again, which is as weird as the first time he did it, but he does seem rather jolly as he drives, which is making me even more suspicious.
“Why do you seem so happy?” I ask.
Casimir shakes his head. “I’m not. I’m actually miserable.”
I eye the man who literally is beaming. I’ve never seen him look so happy. “Are you really this excited about having your dog painted?”
“I even gave him a bath when I got home so he’d look perfect for you.”
“I hope I can paint him well enough. I’m a bit worried now that I see how excited you are about this.”
“As you should be,” he says as he pulls into the parking lot of my father’s bar. I don’t even want to get out, but I honestly just need to get this over with. With a sigh, I exit the car, body like a heavy weight as if someone’s replaced my limbs with sandbags. Oh, but not Casimir, who zips around to my side of the vehicle and holds his hand out, like I hadn’t just taught him how to hold hands literally days ago.
“I am not holding your hand as I go in there.”
His smile drops. “You’re going to refuse to hold my hand?”
This man! “Yes! You know how in nature, some animals will eat their young? That is one hundred percent what will happen if I walk in there holding your hand,” I say.
His smile has returned in full force, hand still extended.
“You are the worst.”
Casimir tries to give me a pitiful look, but it’s not convincing at all when the grin is trying to break through. “I thought we were boyfriends… lovers… what do you call it?”
“Heart bros.”
“I’m pretty sure that’s not what it is. But if that’s what it takes for you to hold my hand, then I will be the best heart bro you’ve ever had.”
“I’m not holding your hand; my father would murder me.”
“Yes, but as your partner, it would be my duty to protect you.”
That’s when it dawns on me. “You want an excuse to kill him!” I realize.
His satisfied look returns.
“You are a monster.” And still so very handsome.
“You just now noticed?” he asks as he walks beside me while trying to snag my hand.
With the bar currently open, I go around back since I’m sure my father won’t want to murder me in front of the patrons. One of the workers, a wolf named Benny, is smoking in the back when we come up. He flinches when he sees Casimir, but I know he’s a pretty decent guy.
“Hey there, Julian. Casimir.” He gives us both a nod.
“Hey,” I say.
“Your father is in a mood. I think if I was you, I’d probably start running now.”
“He’s in the back?”
The door flings open and slams into Benny who is chucked off the step he was sitting on. First my father looks at me, and then he looks at Casimir before growling. Benny scurries off as my father struts up to me and stops directly in front of me before leaning in and taking a deep breath that results in a sour-faced scowl.
“You reek,” he announces.
Oh.
My.
God.
Casimir didn’t think I looked cold. He wanted me to strut right up to my father wearing his shirt. And he wasn’t petting me because of some… Google nonsense. He literally wanted to wipe his scent all over me. Which he did! While I dumbly accepted it!
I look over at Casimir who is so thrilled that he looks almost giddy. How I ever thought that this man was some prestigious vampire, I will never know.
“What have you done?” Dad asks.
“Well, after Casimir saved my life, we started talking and realized that we have a lot in common—” Good start! Good start!
“Like?” Dad asks, and I try to think back on what hobbies Casimir said he enjoyed but weirdly, the only one I can remember is the one about chasing naked people.
“Um… a lot of stuff. We just hit it off. Dad, I think it’s really important to show that a werewolf and a vampire can get along well enough to be together,” I say as I realize that nearly all of the damn pack is standing here, watching in morbid fascination. Clearly, someone took it upon themselves to call them all in to enjoy the show. There was probably the promise of bloodshed.
“I look forward to being your son-in-law,” Casimir says because he is literally a monster who doesn’t want to just fan the flames, he wants to dump a barrel of kerosene on them, all because he wants to watch my father try to eat me.
Dad looks prepared to tear out of his human skin and eat the first person he can reach, which I’m sure as shit going to make sure is not me.
“Dad!” I snap.
“What?”
“It’s not your life, okay? I know you want to herd me into your pack, and I know you’re used to taking care of everyone in your pack. And I know that everything inside you tells you to dislike the vampires, but there’s nothing horrible happening here. We just really like each other.”
“They are conniving, they only care about themselves⁠—”
“And yet, he saved my life, didn’t he? When you had no one else to turn to, you relied on him and he saved my life.”
Dad growls, like he’s forgotten all about that—or maybe he’s trying to forget about every piece of it.
“Am I wrong?”
“Yes.”
“Which part?”
Dad makes a noncommittal noise that sounds somewhere between a grumble and a growl. “You are making a mistake. Right now, the tension between vampires and weres is at an all-time high. You know it looks bad on me that my son has chosen to run off and join the vampires.”
“I didn’t join them. I also didn’t join the pack. Why can’t I be my own person? Why do I have to conform to whatever others expect of me? Maybe, more than anything, we need to band together and figure out what’s going on instead of pulling apart. Maybe me being with Casimir can help others do that?”
“Just go.”
I nod. “Okay. Come on, Casimir,” I say as I grab his wrist and pull him after me, but when he hesitates, I’m brought to a stop. I look back at him and notice he’s staring at my father.
“Sometimes it’s hard to stand up and be brave enough to face both sides when it would be so much easier to hide in the middle of a group or a pack,” Casimir says. “I guess it doesn’t matter how old we get, we always have room to learn from others.”
Dad stares at Casimir but doesn’t say anything as I realize that I’d just gotten complimented. And a pretty damn nice one at that.
I make my way back to Casimir’s car as the pack watches me. Half of them stare at me in disgust over what I’ve done, not seeing it as me choosing for myself, but seeing it as me having picked the vampires over them. But maybe with time, they’ll grow to understand things.
“Hey, Julian,” Willow, one of my friends in the pack, says. “Please, just be careful.”
“I am,” I assure her, not at all planning on telling any of them about last night’s events.
When I get in the car and Casimir pulls out of the parking lot, I glower at him.
“What could that look possibly be for?” he asks. “I was a lovely gentleman! I didn’t threaten your father once!”
“You know what it was for!” I growl. “You rubbed your scent all over me and you put me in your shirt.”
He’s back to grinning. “I took pity on you because you looked cold.”
“Cold, my ass,” I grumble as I gently jab him in the side with my finger. “Are you happy?”
His smile sure tells me he is. “I complimented you! Where is the praise over that?”
“What? Were you feeling a bit guilty after your last treatment of me?”
Casimir laughs as he speeds off toward his home. “Well… I’m going to be honest… I just really need you to paint Gustov!”
“You are ridiculous,” I decide. “When’s your next super-secret vampire meeting?”
“There’s one tonight with the vampire council—heads of neighboring territories as well as some of the older and more powerful vampires—that I have no plans to go to, and wolves are not permitted.”
“Not even your partner? However will we show them how in love we are? Imagine the looks of displeasure on their faces,” I say since that seems to sway him more than anything and sure enough, that pleased look returns.
“You are right! We must go! Oh! I almost forgot, I got you something,” he says as he reaches into the back seat and grabs a little gift bag that he hands me.
“If this was from anyone else, I would be excited, but from you…”
I reach in and pull out a doggy bandana that says, “I Woof You.”
“Wow, thank you,” I say as I tie it around my neck. “I feel beautiful. My only regret is that I didn’t get to wear it in front of my father to prove to him that we really are equals.”
Casimir glances over at me, clearly approving. “I’m pleased you like it. I got Gustov a matching one.”
“Yay, so kind. You want to know something? I’ve actually seen your house before.”
“Oh? Stalking me?”
“No, my dad abducted me and drove me there and then he went and pissed on your bushes. It was… weird. He was drunk. I ended up taking a nap in your garden as he stalked around because he was confident you’d murdered one of his buds and buried them in the backyard. I guess they just went on vacation and my dad forgot or something. So I just curled up on your lawn furniture and napped. It was quite comfortable.”
“Ah, makes sense. I thought that lawn furniture smelled weird,” he says.
“You are the least romantic person I have ever met,” I decide.
He’s pleased.
“I’m going to paint your dog so badly.”
He is no longer pleased. “Excuse me? I have warmed you up, I kept you company, I was prepared to smack your father down to keep you safe, and you would possibly paint Gustov as anything less than the majestic and mighty creature he is?”
I tug on my bandana. “No idea why.”
Casimir parks the car and gets out. “I thought you were a better person than that.”
“Why has this now become me being the monster?” I ask as I jump out of the car to follow him with my bag of paint supplies.
His house is as gorgeous as I remember. It’s a grand three-story home with a large porch and unique black pillars. It gives it Victorian vibes while still looking slightly modern. He reaches the front door and swings it open, and I hear a scrambling of claws as a dog—who I presume is Gustov—comes barreling around the corner.
I… I’m not sure what I thought Gustov would be. Like… maybe a German shepherd or a Belgian Malinois or something. But nope, what comes skidding around the corner, fur fluttering back, is the fluffiest standard poodle I’ve ever seen in my life.
He’s a reddish color with the traditional poodle cut, but the hair on his head is long and currently tied up with a red band that keeps it out of his eyes and causes it to poof out on top. He skids right past Casimir, unable to get traction on the ceramic tiles before he slams right into me, kicks a rug out from under his feet, flips onto his back and leaps up like all four legs are made of springs.
A noise escapes me, something that’s sort of reminiscent of a laugh as the fluffy hair tied up on top of the dog’s head bobs all around while Gustov comes in for round two.
Casimir’s attention snaps to me. “What was that noise?”
“I’m sorry! His entrance was cute! Are you going to be mad because I think your dog is cute?”
“He is not cute. He’s majestic and dignified!” he declares as Gustov starts smacking the ground in front of me with his paws because I haven’t graced him with a pet yet.
“Oh yes, so macho with your little hair bow,” I coo as I cup the fluff on his head.
“Men can wear hairbands,” Casimir says.
“And your cute little poofball cut,” I add.
“He doesn’t have his summer cut yet! You had one job. To come over and paint my dog.”
The dog is thrilled by my attention. “Now tell me, did he come with the name Gustov?”
“He did! It said Gouda right on his collar, so I assumed they meant Gustov.”
“Makes total sense,” I say as I kneel down and my fingers sink into the poof on his head. It’s so soft and fluffy. “Gosh, you are cu—I mean… rugged and dashing.”
“That’s acceptable.”
“Oh thank god. Is your owner always this picky?” Then something hits me as Gustov tries to climb onto my lap even though he has to weigh like sixty pounds. “You were going to eat him?”
“Do you see the issue?” Casimir says as he reaches out and I assume it’s to pet the dog, but no, it’s to pluck at his curly fur around his neck. “Every time I tried, all I got was a mouthful of this.”
“The issue is that he’s adorable!”
“One could consider you adorable and those vampires still tried eating you,” he reminds me.
That makes me feel weirdly… complimented as he starts off into the house while his dog bounds off my lap and bounces after him.
“Do you like how your bandana matches his?”
“No, it just makes me feel jealous how much better it looks on him,” I say as I grab my bag and hurry after him.
“Do you want something to drink? I have… warm tap water and… cold tap water. I clearly don’t get many visitors.”
“How will I ever choose?”
“You could also share Gustov’s bowl.”
“Gus, your owner couldn’t fake a date if his life depended on it,” I say as I head over to the kitchen table and start spreading my stuff out.
“What about a mix?” he asks as he grabs a cup and runs it cold for a few seconds before flipping it to warm, all while staring me in the eyes.
“Whoever ends up with you is going to be a damn lucky man. Like I know this is all fake, but my heart… it won’t stop thundering.”
“Do you think I should call a vet? Could be a heart murmur.”
“Oh my god. You are ridiculous. Let me have that water.”
“I’m joking. I’ll get you cold water.”
“I need it for painting,” I say, so he hands it over. “Do you think your dog will sit still so I can get a decent look at him?”
“It’s questionable,” he admits as I pull out a scrap piece of watercolor paper. While Casimir struggles to get the energetic fluff ball to listen, I squeeze some colors onto my paint tray and dip my brush in the water. With only water on the brush, I proceed to paint a massive cotton ball shape which I feel totally represents Casimir’s dog who is now rolling around on the ground, firmly believing that he’s far too cute to listen to any commands. Grabbing a mix of brown, I drop the paint in and watch it spread to all of the areas the water has touched. I push it out and then with a pen, I add two eyeballs to my cotton ball and pass it over.
“It’s still wet, so don’t tilt the paper.”
Casimir stops what he’s doing and grabs it before staring at my “masterpiece.”
“I’m sorry, the constriction of the bandana is prohibiting me from painting well,” I say as I motion to it.
Casimir is saying nothing, so I wonder if I offended him or if he didn’t get that the ball of fluff with two eyes was a joke.
“It was a joke, I just wanted to check that I liked the color I mixed for him. You can toss it.”
“No, it’s mine,” he says, and I realize he likes it. He actually thinks it’s cute!
Oh my god, how is this man real?
He’s holding it like it’s something precious. “It looks just like him after he gets blow-dried.”
I grin as I think about this ancient vampire buying a blow-dryer for his dog while I grab a larger sheet of paper. “Well… that sounds pretty cute. You know, most men I go out with teasingly want me to draw them naked when I meet them. And you… you just want your dog.”
“Why the hell would I want a painting of myself? What would I do with it?”
“Make Christmas cards out of it and send it to my father.”
Casimir’s eyes snap up to mine.
“No!” I say.
He yanks his shirt open, allowing my eyes to travel down his chest that I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to see more of. “I’m ready.”
“NO! Oh my god… maybe. But your dog first.”
“I’m good with that,” he says as I do a super-light sketch just to get a good feel for how I want him since I highly doubt the dog’s going to hang around for long.
“What determines when you have a meeting with the vampires and werewolves?” I ask.
“Someone usually insists on it,” Casimir says as he watches me swipe up some paint and begin. “That someone is not me because the idea of being locked in a room with all of them makes me think bad thoughts.”
“You’re actually evil deep inside, aren’t you?”
“Thank you.”
“So am I.”
“You’re literally the nicest person I’ve met.”
“Back in high school, I did win the classroom vote for nicest person. Others got things like ‘Most likely to be president.’ And there I was with ‘Nice as fuck.’ They had no idea I’m a vicious werewolf.”
“Explain to me how long you’ve been a werewolf.”
I hesitate. “Wait, you’re getting me off track. I think you should call a meeting between the two sides. We’ll invite your little vampire council as well, and we’ll ask them to help us identify the man from the apartment.”
“How well do you think that’ll go?” he asks.
“Not well in the slightest.”
“Then why would we do it?”
“Because people like it when you rely on them. It makes them trust you; it makes them realize that you’re willing to listen to them and that you care about what they have to say.”
“Sounds horrific. And I really don’t care what they have to say.”
“Yeah… but…?” I ask as I grab more water to help pull the paint down to the edge.
“I guess it might work. When we’re done here, we’ll go rain on the vampires’ day,” Casimir decides.
“Oh? I’m invited too?”
“Well yeah, if they get mad, I want someone to blame,” he says.
“Makes sense,” I respond as I add some dark brown for some shading. I have to be careful that the colors don’t bleed into each other since the reds aren’t dry yet. “I know you refuse to tell me about your hobbies, but I’m determined to figure out what you enjoy all on my own. I already know what you love more than anything is a fluffy poodle named Gustov.”
“Hmm.”
“That in front of others you’re stoic and a bit cold, but when you’re around the cool people like me, you’re really funny and nice.”
“I think it might be too close to the full moon, you might be hallucinating.”
“Nah, we still have four days,” I assure him.
“Being what you are, can you control your shift?”
I hesitate and glance up at him. “What I am?”
“Your father told me you weren’t bitten.”
That surprises me. My dad tends to keep that info to himself. “Oh. Huh. I guess he told you to explain why your blood might work on me,” I say. “No, I still can’t control my shift during a full moon. I’m probably not as feral as others get, and we’ve also questioned if I could even turn a human if I bit them on a full moon, but ever since I was young, my mom would lock me in a crate. When I was really little, she’d sit outside it to make sure I didn’t hurt myself. I vaguely remember her singing to me, but I don’t remember much from my forced shifts. So you think that’s why your blood works on me? Because I wasn’t turned like the others?”
“Likely. I’ve just never heard of such a thing.”
“Right? No one has. When you licked me yesterday… could you still taste silver in my blood?”
“I could.”
“I just… feel like that shouldn’t be the case… right?”
“Unless my blood stopped some of your human qualities… Like when a human is turned into a vampire, their body is frozen in time.”
“So maybe your blood saved me but also condemned me because it locked the silver from ever leaving? Like a vampire is frozen in time, so there are parts of myself that could also be frozen?”
“Possibly.”
“I didn’t think about that. Fuck, that would suck if I can’t get rid of the silver…”
“We don’t actually know that the silver poisoning won’t go away or that you’ll be affected by it when my blood wears off,” he reminds me.
“True, but I’m going to keep sucking on you until I’m positive it doesn’t,” I mutter.
“Is that also a part of fake dating?” he asks, voice teasing.
My eyes flicker over to his. “I mean… I’m definitely not going to say no.”
Casimir smirks at me, and I try to tell myself that I’m busy painting a dog… not jumping into bed with the handsome ancient vampire lord I’m fake dating.
“I just hope your skills in bed are as beautiful as your skills at holding hands,” I joke.
“Would you believe me if I said they were even better?” he asks.
“Be still my thundering heart… could that even be possible?”
“It is. It is.”
I laugh as I wash my brush out to grab a different color. I find it ridiculously fun talking to Casimir as I finish up the painting. It’s refreshing talking to someone who knows what I am, but isn’t judging me for not being with a pack. Gustov eventually decides to take a nap, allowing me to have better access to his features—even if he’s lying down and in the painting he’s standing up. With some blues blooming behind the dog, created by the paint hitting drops of water I’d already laid down, I finish up.
“It’ll look a little different once it’s dried, but is it everything you hoped and dreamed of?”
Casimir hurries over to examine it and I find myself feeling weirdly anxious about it. Like super weirdly. I’m never anxious about my art, and why would I really even care about what he thinks of a painting I did of his dog?
“This is the best thing I’ve ever gotten,” he decides. “It’s perfect. I want another one. One of him lying down. Oh! He also lies on his back. I want one of those. And sometimes he carries stuff in his mouth, so there should be one of those.”
And now I’m weirdly pleased by the compliment. “Uh… I thought we had plans to go harass some vampires?”
“Yes, but this has taken top priority.”
“You think this is more important than vampires invading your territory?”
“I’m thinking that I’d like at least two paintings per room. There are six bedrooms, two living rooms, and then we have the kitchen, dining⁠—”
“Casimir.”
He glances over at me. “What?”
“I love that you like it, but let’s go get this other nonsense over with.”
The look on his face tells me that he’s not feeling that idea. “It looks just like him too. Look at this, Gustov! I can finally get rid of this hideous thing,” he says as he pulls a landscape painting off the wall and chucks it while I sit at the table and watch him with a grin. Gustov is just as thrilled by it as he is—or more accurately, just excited that Casimir is so pleased.
“Come on, you goof. Let’s go,” I say.
Casimir growls, displeased, but grudgingly puts the painting down and follows me.
OceanofPDF.com
CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CASIMIR
“Okay, so give me a rundown. Tell me a bit about these people so I can be confident as I strut in,” Julian says as I drive toward the casino where we’ll meet the others.
I glance over at him. “The first step is putting your bandana back on.”
“But… I want to only wear that for you,” he teases.
“Okay, so there will only be three vampires we care about. Baldin is the head vampire in the territory to the north of us. He has a lot of sway and is quite old.”
“Old as you?”
I ignore the question.
“You just look old,” Julian adds. “Like if you were a human, you’d need a walker.”
“I was in my twenties when I was turned! Your physical appearance is older than mine!” I declare.
“Oh shit… is it really? You look older than me. You look mature and sophisticated. How deceiving.”
I sigh, wondering if it was a horrible idea to bring the wolf along. “So Baldin is short-tempered, but he cares for all of his people no matter what they are, so you’ll have the easiest time winning him over.”
“What’s he look like?” Julian asks.
“He looks like if a gargoyle shat out an old, wrinkled potato.”
“Oh lovely, I’m sure I’ll be able to pick him out of a lineup,” Julian says sarcastically. “The real question… is Baldin bald?”
“The last guy who asked him that no longer has a head.”
He grimaces. “Well, I’m glad I asked you instead.”
“It was hilarious. I wish you’d been there.”
“That’s more than mildly concerning.”
I think about the next person he should probably know, which I guess would be Genevieve since I’d consider her the second strongest. “Then we have Genevieve who just floats between territories but has recently settled in mine. With her harem, she has quite the pull.”
“Harem, eh? Tell me more.”
“I joined it once. For five minutes. Worst five minutes of my life.”
“Why?”
“She told me I was the prettiest one in a room of women.”
“That… doesn’t sound horrific.”
“Gustov was also in the room. Everyone knows he’s the prettiest.”
Julian starts laughing. “You are ridiculous. What’s she look like?”
I think about it for a moment. “She has two eyes.”
“Okay?”
“A nose, and two ears. But don’t hold me to that, I haven’t seen her in about a week.”
“Ah, makes sense that she could have lost one of those items in the past seven days. Hit me with the third one.”
I scowl at the thought of the third person. I honestly hate considering him a person of interest. “Third person is Steve.”
“Steve sounds like a nice kind of guy.”
“We don’t talk to Steve.”
“Do I get any other explanation?”
“Nope.”
“Wonderful. And what does Steve look like?”
I contemplate this. “You know what a hairball looks like? You know, after a cat’s puked it up? That’s Steve.” That’s probably even too kind.
Julian’s laughing as he looks over at me. “Your descriptions of people are the absolute worst. Do you even look at them?”
“I try not to. Don’t forget, you’re the one who picked this over painting Gustov,” I remind him as we drive to the casino which is parked right on the edge of my territory.
“You own this place too?” Julian asks.
“I do. You’d be surprised how easily humans sell off properties when you wave some money in front of them. Wolves you toss a rawhide, humans you toss a wad of cash.”
“No, wolves like wads of cash too. We’re smart enough to know we can get many more rawhides with the cash,” Julian says.
“Makes sense.” The wolf is weirdly fun to tease, and I enjoy that he gives it right back. Most of the people I interact with do nothing but irritate me. Some of them irritate me without even talking… like Steve.
I park the car right out front before getting out. The moment Julian reaches the front of the car, he beams at me and holds his hand out.
“Let’s see… is he going to figure out which way the fingers go… do they go between, around, upside down? I will watch with bated breath!”
His commentary is clearly not needed. “Aren’t you supposed to pretend to like me?” I mutter.
“Says the man who calls me Toto.”
“Fair,” I say as I spread my fingers out as wide as they can go while I aim them for him.
“Why is this so much weirder?” he asks.
“How is it weird? You wanted the whole interlocked finger thing, and now I can’t even do that right!”
“It’s because you came at me like that. It felt like some weird secret handshake or something. Here, just do a smooth handhold.” He reaches out and tries to slide his fingers between mine, but after being made fun of, they automatically suction closed so he’s stuck trying to force his fingers between mine.
I hear the click of heels that tells me we’re not alone and I turn my head to look back at who I assume will be Genevieve. Julian uses that moment to successfully take my hand before turning as the woman walks up to us. She’s dressed in a beautiful red evening gown that hugs her curvy body. The slit in the side goes all the way up her thigh.
Genevieve’s grinning as she approaches us. “Oh my, oh my. I heard a rumor that the great and beautiful Casimir had gotten a partner, and I laughed the man out of the house! I was convinced Casimir only ever had eyes for his dog.”
“That makes me sound creepy,” I say.
“But imagine my shock when I find out it’s a wolf! How delightful. The guys are going to love this.” She walks up to Julian and cups his face in her hand. “You are just delectable! I want to eat you right up, you’re so cute. Casimir surely can’t be pleasuring you the way I could. You’d want for nothing under my care.”
“I don’t know… he already bought me a bandana and caught me a duck. Do you really think you could top that?” Julian asks, and I know Genevieve is going to have fun with that.
Genevieve hesitates before pulling Julian in for a hug. “You poor thing, why don’t you come home with me? I will treat you so nicely. You can have your own large room that’s surely bigger than the measly house you currently live in. You will have fabulous meals, and if you don’t even want to feed yourself, I’ll hire someone to feed you.”
“Oh, fancy. I love the idea of being incompetent.”
“My lovelies also get daily massages and pampering. And anything you have ever wanted, I would buy you in a heartbeat.”
“Anything? What if I wanted an elephant? I already asked Casimir and he told me no, which I felt was rather unfair, but I guess it isn’t even our week anniversary yet.”
She runs her nails teasingly over his skin. “Anything,” she purrs.
Julian gives her a sweet smile and it’s quite clear why Genevieve would want to add him to her collection; the man is extremely handsome. “Thank you, but I already got more than I could ever want or need right here,” he says as he lifts our awkwardly clasped hands and kisses the back of mine.
It’s all very convincing.
“That’s disgustingly cute,” she says. “And irritating. I will steal him from you, Casimir. He will soon get tired of you.”
“Are you threatening me?” I ask.
She eyes Julian, and I can tell she’s actually upset that she couldn’t convince him to join her. My guess is she has a lot of success with dragging anyone she wants to her side and probably rarely gets told no. “No, no. Let’s call it a warning.”
“I see,” I say, not at all afraid of losing my fake date. I mean, he’s not really mine to begin with, and Genevieve really does treat her harem well. “The rest are in the back playing cards?”
“They are. They’re going to be shocked you showed up and even more shocked you brought a wolf.”
“Good, maybe Steve will be so angry it kills him.”
“We can hope,” Genevieve says as we continue into the casino. She leads us to a room in the back where we’re scheduled to meet every other week. I never show up unless I get particularly bored—which has never happened—so they’re not expecting me when I walk in. They’re expecting Julian even less.
There are eleven vampires in the room, some I don’t know, seeing as a few of them bring new dates every time they come. The rest I don’t give a shit about. All eyes turn on us as we step into the room and only Ezio looks delighted to see us.
“What are you doing bringing it in here?” a vampire who thinks he wants to be in the running for being as annoying as Steve says.
“Don’t call it an it,” I say.
“You… also just called me an it,” Julian whispers.
“Yes, but I’m allowed to. He is not,” I inform him as I walk in farther. The majority of the people in the room stare at Julian in disgust, but he ignores each and every one of them as I realize how much I enjoy their misery.
“Who is this?” Steve asks, eyes snapping right onto Julian. Julian releases my hand to hold his out.
“Hi, I’m Julian⁠—”
“We don’t talk to that one,” I say as I steer him away.
“What the fuck?” Steve growls. “Is this a joke?”
I ignore him and walk to the front of the room. “I’m here to steal five minutes of your time. As I’m sure you’ve heard, we’ve recently had three vampires who’ve been killed.”
“All because of the fucking werewolves,” someone in the back calls.
“We were there, and it most definitely wasn’t a werewolf,” Ezio says from where he has two women on his lap.
“You were there, yet you two couldn’t handle it?” Steve asks. “Or was our new leader too hung up on a fucking dog?”
I just stand there and watch them while envisioning how I’d shut Steve up. I would like to say that I’d rip his head off but that’d be much too quick of a death. I would start with the arms and⁠—
Julian looks as carefree as if we were at a meeting with a bunch of humans as he gives me a warm smile. “I understand tensions are high and rightfully so. For those who are younger, it’s scary hearing about vampires being killed and targeted, and for those who are older, it’s frustrating that someone thinks they can waltz onto our territory and do this shit without remorse or hesitation⁠—”
“Shut the fuck up, dog. Doesn’t anyone have a muzzle for this thing?” Steve growls.
My hand twitches as I think about how I could probably cut his tongue out. This is why I can’t deal with these people. This is why I’d rather do everything by myself.
“I thought we were supposed to be safe here,” someone in the back says.
“We would be if our boss wasn’t off frolicking with werewolves,” Steve mutters.
“Get out of my fucking casino,” I growl, and everyone immediately shuts up. They tuck their heads like they’re prepared to hand their throats over to me if I so much as asked. Hell, maybe I’ll make them do so. Maybe I’ll⁠—
“Nope, no, no,” Julian says as he sets a hand on me, and it’s like the anger building up inside me seeps out because of that touch. It’s creepy and weird how effective it is. Gently, he squeezes my arm. “Casimir, come on.”
The room is deathly silent, and when I look up at them, all I see are cowering parasites.
“Casimir,” Julian says, voice soft.
“Fuck,” I grumble before turning to deal with them. “You can blame me for the deaths all you want. You can complain about how it’s my fault. I don’t give a fuck. But I want to stop this from happening again. It doesn’t matter if the next victim is human, werewolf, or vampire, we need to stop it. Julian and I believe that the best way to do that is by working together. We’re calling a meeting tomorrow with the weres and vampires, and we’re going to work together to figure out who this asshole is, where he lives, and who gets to tear his useless head from the rest of his body. Understood?”
There’s a lot of “yeses” and Ezio tosses in a “Yessiree!”
“Good. See you tomorrow,” I say as I storm toward the door.
There’s a light chuckle and I look over at Baldin. “I haven’t had this much fun in years.”
“Joy,” I say with a dash of sarcasm as I hurry Julian out of the room.
Julian waits until we’re a healthy distance away before he glances at me. “He really does look like an old man gargoyle.”
“I told you.”
“Do you have an office here?”
“No.”
“Is there like a conference room or something?”
“You want to see the conference room?” I’m not quite sure what he wants one for but maybe that’s his thing, so I head past security and take him upstairs to where the offices are. When I find a conference room, I push open the door and wave him inside.
“Is this a wolf thing I don’t know about?” I ask a moment before he grabs my shirt and yanks me inside with more force than I thought he’d have.
He shuts the door and slams me against it. “It’s a… that was fucking hot kind of thing,” he says as he presses into me.
Now that piques my interest. “Oh? I’m listening.”
“You don’t need your ears for this,” he says with a wink as he drops to his knees.
“Who knew this arrangement could be so fun.”
“You made them fucking quiver.” He unbuttons my pants and yanks them down before rubbing his lips against my cock hidden by my underwear.
“Should I be concerned you found that so sexy? And if you were enjoying it so much, why did you stop me? I could have made them drop to their knees and beg me.”
Julian mouths me as his rich blue eyes latch on to mine. “Because while my dick was going ‘I wanna get sucked by this sexy man,’ my brain was going ‘If you fuck them all up, none of them will help us.’”
“Your dick sounds significantly smarter.”
He grins as the tips of his fingers hook the edge of my underwear. “Let’s just say it’s not.” Julian works my underwear down, drawing it teasingly slowly over my cock that is loving the attention. “No wonder Genevieve wanted you in her harem,” he says as he eyes my erection.
Julian reaches up and playfully glides his fingers down my cock as his tongue runs a circle around the head.
“You want me to suck you?” he asks.
“I do.”
“Then you need to beg for it, sexy vampire.”
My eyebrow shoots up. “Beg? I don’t beg for sex.”
“You will from me,” he says, a grin on his handsome face as his lips bump against the tip. God, he’s so fucking sexy, and I really, really want him to suck me off. And instead, he’s going to make me beg for it? What nonsense is this?
“Tell me what you want,” he teases.
“I want you to suck me.”
“No… beg me,” he says as he reaches back and squeezes my balls gently, but also a bit… not. It’s like he knows I’m going to fucking give in and it feels so fucking good.
“Julian, please suck my cock.” Is that not enough begging? I never have to ask someone, let alone beg them! Who does he think I am and why am I so fucking enraptured by his touch?
He pushes my cock to his lips and sucks the tip, just a taste of it before pulling off. “You’ll need to work harder than that.”
I reach down and grab his chin as I push it up before stooping over until my lips are against his ear. “I want to see you touch yourself while your pretty lips are wrapped around my cock.”
“This sure isn’t begging,” Julian says as he turns his head and nips my lip.
Huh… I really thought that’d work.
“But I suppose I’ll take pity on you this once,” he teases as he shoves me back against the door and slides my cock into his mouth.
I moan as he sinks down on me while he pulls his own cock out, stroking his hard length. He teases the tip of my cock before sinking down as his fingers caress the areas his mouth isn’t touching. The doorknob is digging into my side but absolutely nothing can distract me from the pleasure coursing through me.
His hand drifts back and gently fondles my balls before he returns to my cock. I glance down as I watch him stroke himself, hypnotized by what I see. The way he touches me feels so fucking good. He’s teasing and sucking and rubbing me until I can’t take much more and then he squeezes and releases the base in a steady rhythm before holding the pressure around my cock like he’s going to prohibit me from coming. The pleasure is building up but he’s refusing my release, and it’s making my cock all the more sensitive in his warm mouth.
Julian moans as he comes, and the vibrations travel down my cock a moment before he releases his grip and I come in his mouth. He draws himself off my cock and I assume he’ll fall into my arms like all the others who have gotten wound up in the pleasure of it.
Instead, he smacks my ass, pulls his pants up as he stands up, and tosses me a wink. “Let’s go. I want some ice cream.”
I watch the strange creature leave the room and find myself chasing after him.
OceanofPDF.com
CHAPTER FOURTEEN

JULIAN

Casimir: Where are you?

Me: Working on my world domination plans. You?

Casimir: There’s no way you’d accomplish any sort of domination with that bubbly attitude of yours.

Me: I could dominate the shit out of this world.

Casimir: By rolling over and showing your fluffy belly?

Me: Don’t be jealous that all I have to do is wag my tail and people flock to me.

Casimir: I’m coming over. You’re coming to the meeting tonight whether you like it or not.

Me: That doesn’t sound suspicious in the slightest. I’m at my mom’s. Would you like her address or would you like to just sniff your way to me like you did at the university?

Casimir: Same house I dropped you off at?

Me: Oh yeah, how could I forget you nearly driving over me to avoid my father.
“Who are you texting?” Mom asks.
“Oh, just my new boyfriend,” I say.
She stops fiddling with her stuff for work so she can stare at me. “Just the way you said that already has me suspicious.”
“You’re suspicious that I have a boyfriend? Do I look that unlovable?” I know I’ll tell her it’s fake, but I kind of want to enjoy her reaction first.
“I’m not even sure I’m going to bother to ask for more information.”
“Oh, you’re far too nosy to not ask,” I say.
“You’re right. Who, why, what?”
“Who? Just this sweet old man. Like really old, but you know how they say you should always respect your elders.”
“Yes, respect them, not bed them.”
“Ah… shit. Mixed that one up pretty bad. The why? Because he took one look at me and fell in luv.”
“It’s not good to fool someone like that.”
“Fool them? You think the only reason someone would love me is through fooling them? I thought you loved me.”
“Well, you must have fooled me too,” she teases.
I grab my chest as I look at her in shock. “You wound me, Mother!”
“Are you doing it for the money? Are you trying to con some poor old man out of his money? Do you need me to lend you some?”
“No, I’m already horrified about the time you bought my artwork and pretended like it was some random person to make me feel good.”
“You were like ten and the artwork was… to put it nicely, not very good. But because you thought someone bought it, it encouraged you, and look at you now. You’re a phenomenal artist! You have a good job that revolves around it. If you’d been left knowing that your painting was the only one without a bid—not even a pity bid—you might have been so discouraged you gave up!”
“I will never forget the deception I uncovered when I came across that ugly little painting in the attic.”
“But it encouraged you! And once you found out, I was finally able to hang it in the house.”
“To haunt me.”
“No! To encourage you!”
“You encouraged me to scrutinize everything my deceiving parents say.”
“So you ended up with some trust issues, but you became a phenomenal artist… honestly, I’m going to blame your father for the trust issues. Let’s get back to your new boyfriend. What’s his name?”
“I just call him Sexy McSexy, and I expect you to do the same.”
“And you act offended when I say that I’m suspicious of you dating anyone,” Mom mutters.
The door opens and I look up as my brother Rhett walks in with Nina by his side. Nina seems thrilled when she sees us before racing over and giving me and my mom a hug.
“So? Did you win?” I ask.
She gives me a blank look. “Win what?”
After telling me that the contest was the “greatest thing to ever happen in her life,” has she really already forgotten? “The top prize for selling the candy bars.”
Her eyes get wide as it all comes flooding back. Obviously, she’s had a busy enough life to forget about all of it. “Oh! I did!”
“And? Was it everything you ever dreamed it’d be?”
She thinks about it for a long moment. “Eh, it was alright. I don’t even remember where it is… Dad, do you remember where the Rubik’s Cube is?”
“Nope. Haven’t seen it since you tried it, went ‘this is stupid,’ and ran off to play with something else.”
It takes a bit for this to sink in. “Hold on… hold on. So I… So I had to stand outside selling my soul to people on the street in an attempt to sell candy bars for hours… for a toy you already forgot about?”
“Well… I mean… it looked cool,” she says.
I pick her up and start toward the trash can.
Her eyes get wide as she stares at me like I’m the traitor. “NO! No! Julian, you can’t!”
“Oh, but I sure can,” I mutter as I flip the lid open and aim her for it.
“Nooooooooo, Julian! You’re my favorite uncle. You can’t do this to me!”
“I’m your only uncle.”
“I’m just pleased she talked you into it,” Rhett says. “I was afraid I’d have to go again.”
Nina is hanging on to me with a death grip as I contemplate what to do with her. “You wouldn’t do this to me, Julian.”
“But I would. I will give you one more chance. If you go home and play with that Rubik’s Cube for a full five hours, I will be satisfied.”
“But it’s so boring. It sucks the life out of me.”
“So did selling your candy bars.”
That just makes her laugh, so I put her on the ground and tickle her for some more punishment.
“So are you going to tell me who the mystery man is?” Mom asks.
“Julian’s got a man?” Rhett asks. “Did he have to hire him? Pay him? Bribe him…”
“Julian definitely seems like the kind of guy to blackmail them,” Mom says.
I stare at my family and wonder what I’ve done to cause them to treat me the way they do. Who the fuck did I piss off in a past life to get these two as family members? And clearly, I had to have kicked down a sad old lady to have gotten my father. “Excuse me?” I wave to myself so that they’re well aware exactly who I’m talking about. “Me? I am literally the nicest person alive. Do you not remember that I won the nicest person award⁠—”
“In high school. We know, we know. You literally hung it up for years,” Rhett says, which… maybe embarrasses me a little. Like… was that really my main accomplishment in life? That some kids took so much pity on me they deemed me Mr. Nice?
Mom rolls her eyes as she pulls the baked chicken pasta out of the oven. “Don’t pretend you’re innocent.”
“I’m the most innocent. Nina, who is the most innocent, bestest person?” I ask as I wave to myself some more in case she might get confused.
She scrutinizes me for a long moment before going, “It depends if you’re willing to chase Sarah.”
“Now it’s Sarah I have to chase?”
Rhett’s attention snaps to me. “Do not chase Sarah. We just got done with a parent-teacher meeting with goals and game plans on how to work together better with Sarah.”
Nina pouts, and because she’s eight and adorable, the look is very effective. “She said I cheated when I sold more candy bars than her. Do I look like a cheater?”
“Well,” I say. “You cheated at Sorry! the other day.”
“Uncle Julian, do you ever just think that maybe you’re not very good at Sorry!?”
I gasp. “I am the best!”
There’s a knock on the door and everyone stares at it like there might be Santa Claus behind it or something equally confusing. Even my mom, who knows it’s my new “boyfriend,” feigns a look of shock.
“Is that your date?” Mom whispers.
“It just barely turned dark. What the hell? He had to have left the house when it was still light out,” I say. “I’m sure he has one of those fancy cars that block out the sun or something, but isn’t it still risky?”
“Do not tell me you’re dating a vampire,” Rhett whispers as his eyes meet mine. “But the look on your face tells me that you’re dating a vampire and you are pleased to be annoying Dad.”
I’m nearly giddy. “So pleased.”
Mom sighs as she pushes me out of the way and opens the door. “Well hello there, surely you have the wrong house.”
Casimir is standing there looking ridiculously handsome like always. He has a tight gray t-shirt on with a dark gray overcoat that fits him perfectly. “I’m looking for Lassie.”
“Woof,” I mutter as I walk up to the door.
Mom’s grin shifts to me. “Lassie?”
“Don’t you dare make fun of our ultra-romantic pet names. You do not want me to tell him what you think about him,” I warn her.
The look on Mom’s face tells me that she very much agrees. “Casimir, come in, come in,” Mom says. “I’m Molly. We’d love to know about you. You make my ex-husband’s life miserable, so I already welcome you into the family.”
Casimir turns his attention to her and slowly smiles. “Oh? Do you also enjoy torturing Terrance? This pleases me.”
“I didn’t realize you’d get here so quickly, so I didn’t get a chance to eat. You want to come in for dinner?” I ask.
“I can just wait in the car,” Casimir suggests.
“Oh lovely, yes, please just sit in the car and longingly stare at the house while I enjoy my meal with my family and talk about how nice it is for my date to forlornly wait in the car,” I say.
“Okay, sounds good,” he responds, completely deadpan, but my mom grabs him before he can leave.
“Please, please, come in. Tell me all about different ways you’ve caused Terrance physical and mental anguish.”
He hesitates but that was clearly a selling point because he steps into the house as my brother gawks at him. And while my mom chats his ear off about how Terrance haunts her to this very day, Rhett turns to me.
“You are impressively evil,” he says.
I wave at myself in case they’ve forgotten all about the nicest person alive award. “Surely you’re talking about someone else.”
“Isn’t that the guy you bullied into buying all of the candy bars?” Nina asks.
“I did not bully him!”
She gasps, like some wonderful idea has struck her. “Mr. Vampire!” She races toward Casimir who turns to her.
He eyes the small child before asking, “Is this dessert?”
“Ha ha, funny,” I say, but when he doesn’t smile, I start to wonder if I’ve just invited an evil vampire into my family’s home.
Nina is either oblivious or doesn’t care that an ancient vampire is considering her for a snack as she beams at him. “Mr. Vampire, there’s this girl named Sarah who I’d really like you to chase, please.”
“Well, since you said please, I’d love to,” Casimir says as he proceeds to pet her head like he would a dog.
Nina looks absolutely thrilled even though Casimir is obviously joking… at least, I think he is. Please let him be joking and I’m not actually fake dating a man who would willingly chase young girls around to hear their screams because an eight-year-old asked for it.
Everyone but Casimir grabs a plate and sits down at the table where we can all awkwardly stare at him. He either doesn’t mind or doesn’t notice as I question if I should have told my mom and brother that we aren’t really dating before it goes too far.
“Mr. Vampire, will you explode if you eat human food?” Nina asks.
“I will,” Casimir says matter-of-factly.
“I knew it! I told my dad that and he said that you wouldn’t explode, but I’m pretty sure he doesn’t know anything other than boring things about math and that ‘No, bedtime isn’t 8:02, it’s EIGHT.’”
“He sounds vicious,” Casimir says, and even though Rhett might be taller than Casimir, a simple glance can tell you which of the two is more “vicious.”
“He is!” Nina agrees. “Can you fly? You know… like a bat?”
“That theory was actually tested out on a friend of mine the other day, and sadly, he didn’t fly at all as he was chucked off the tenth floor.”
“Oh my god,” Rhett mutters.
“It’s fine, he lived,” I toss out.
“Is it fine?” Rhett wonders.
Nina’s wide eyes say that it’s not super fine.
“How did you two… decide… to date?” Rhett asks.
“How could I not after he begged me,” Casimir answers.
“I did not… you are the worst.” Of course that’s what he’d say.
He gives us a pleased smile. “Am I?”
“We had a lot in common,” I say. “That’s why we decided to date.”
“Such as?” Rhett asks… which is a question I was hoping not to have to answer.
“Casimir likes to chase people, and I like to chase squirrels, sooo… match made in heaven.”
“It really is,” Casimir says.
Rhett’s eyebrow rises a bit. “Is it?”
“Is it?” Mom echoes.
I know I need to tell her that this is all fake, but I’m enjoying her misery far too much. I’m not sure if she thinks I’m in it just to make my dad’s life miserable or if I’ve made a few questionable choices along the way, but she’s willing to try her best to make him feel welcome in our home.
“How long have you been dating for?” Mom asks.
Well, at least this is an easy question. “Not even a week. It’s pretty new, but we are in it hard.”
“So hard,” Casimir agrees.
Rhett is giving us a confused look. Maybe he’s been married so long he doesn’t know about hard stuff anymore.
“Well… that’s… exciting,” Mom says, sounding rather uncertain. “But surely, Casimir, you made a mistake somewhere along the way.”
“See, Casimir, my mother once said, ‘Damn, that man could suck the life out of me,’ so I know she likes you and is maybe jealous?” I say.
Casimir’s head slowly cocks. “Are you sure she said I could suck the life out of her?”
“Oh, it was definitely about you.”
“Julian Nicolas Evans, I will find a new son,” she threatens.
“Mom, are you calling me a liar? I would never lie about something so… interesting.”
Her eyes narrow. “Interesting, my ass. Casimir, really, I didn’t say anything like that.” Mom’s trying to wave the whole situation off. Like she could possibly wave it into not existing, even after she tortured me.
“Well, now I’m disappointed,” Casimir says.
“Mom, look me in the eyes and tell me that I’m lying.”
She stares at me with an expression that’s somewhat reminiscent of a death threat. I honestly can’t imagine why. Like how could she even think anything bad about me?
“I didn’t… do that,” Mom insists.
“How interesting. I almost… I almost feel awkward sitting here,” Casimir says. “My new mother-in-law is claiming she doesn’t want me to suck the life out of her. I’m almost… embarrassed I got my hopes up.”
“If I were you, I sure would be,” I mutter.
Mom’s trying to hide her face now. “You have been removed from my will.”
“But Mom, I love you and I love this pasta. It’s so good. Thank you.”
Mom grabs my plate and slides it away from me just as I was going in for another bite. “It’s only for good children.”
“But I’m the best!”
“Casimir… please, ignore Julian, he doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” Mom urges.
“But I do,” I whisper as I try to pull my plate back to me. “Mom, please. Would you really starve me?”
There’s no hesitation. “I really would.”
Once Mom finally returns my plate to me, I have to hold on to it like a feral animal to keep anyone from taking it. And while I don’t torture her anymore, the high from doing so stays with me throughout the whole meal.
Now that I have my mother completely terrified about the idea of who I’m dating, I feel like it’s a job well done and head out to the car with Casimir.
“Your mother seems nice. It’s a wonder she brought you into this world, and I feel like she’s prepared to take you out if she needs to. I like that about her.”
“Right? She’s especially sassy today. Like what the hell did I do? I just stood there being perfect,” I say as I get into the car before he starts it and backs out of the driveway.
“That’s how Gustov will stand over the top of the trash can. One look at his face and I immediately forgive him because he just stares at me.”
“You were going to eat him. I feel like that’s why you should forgive absolutely everything he does. That dog could murder the mailman, and I feel like you’re obligated to forgive him.”
“I might even help him. You know what the mailman does? Stuffs my mailbox with fast-food coupons. I do not want fucking fast-food coupons. So I politely told him to take his coupons and shove them elsewhere. And you know what he did? Stuffed more in there. Sometimes, when I’m really hungry, I stand outside his window and think about what it’d be like to eat him.”
Clearly, it’s not a good idea to get on the bad side of this guy. “Wow, that has to be traumatic. I’m so sorry that happened to you. Do you think in all of your hundreds of years of life you’ve ever faced anything so horrific?”
“Something so horrific that I didn’t kill anyone over? No, no, I haven’t. But I’m trying to be a better person.”
“What brought that on?” I ask as he drives toward the council hall.
“It’s for Gustov.”
“I’m glad you decided to try your hand at walking into a brighter and better world… because of your dog.”
“Thank you,” he says, like he doesn’t see the issue with this.
When we reach the council hall, we head inside, and I find myself unsurprised that there’s no one here yet. I’m honestly going to be shocked if people show up without the intent to murder someone—Casimir sure didn’t.
“This is going to become a mess,” I say.
“We could still just close the doors and lock them inside and see what happens.”
“You thrive on violence, don’t you?”
“It’s… possible,” he says as he walks in with a loud sigh. I have to assume this is how he acts every time he opens his mailbox and sees those coupons.
“We should have brought like blood and snacks,” I comment. “Make it seem more like a party.”
“Well… I did bring blood,” he says as he eyes me.
I raise an eyebrow. “I thought you said werewolves tasted awful.”
“They taste like how a wet dog smells.”
“Thank you. I’m so blessed by your presence,” I mutter as I reach the front of the room and sit down on the table. “I guess while we wait, we could stare into each other’s eyes and tell each other what we like most about the other person.” I grab Casimir’s hands before he can escape—because the look on his face tells me that he hates this idea—and pull him forward so he’s standing between my legs, looking down at me. “I like how you keep me alive.”
“Wonderful. I like how you give hea—I mean… paint my dog.”
“Let’s just say I had a good ‘model.’”
“I can model for you in the back room.”
“While I’m super tempted by that, I feel like if my father walked in and we were doing anything frisky, he would probably declare war right where he stood. We need to ease him into it.”
“All I heard is that there is something that would piss your father off,” he says as he grabs me and hoists me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He smacks my ass and trots off for the back room.
“Noooooo. We sure as fuck are not doing that. I’m not joking. My dad would be pissed.”
“You can’t tell me something that will ruin your father’s day, and then expect I will stand by and not do it. And obviously, no one is coming,” he says just as the door opens. Since I’m hanging upside down over his shoulder as he carries me off, I get a good look at the werewolf who peeks in, cocks her head, and looks confused.
“Am I… interrupting something? Julian, are you… okay?” Olive asks.
“Ah yes, I just… didn’t feel like walking to the bathroom, and ol’ goofy here said he’d carry me. Such a goof,” I say as I try to wiggle free. Casimir begins to let me go, so now I’m just hugging his ass as I start going down. Absolutely none of it is graceful, but it’s far too late for regrets as I proceed to slither down his ass and onto the ground. It’s all rather suave and clearly shows how smooth I am as I land in a heap on the ground.
“Hey, are the others coming?” I ask Olive as I get up.
“Nooooo, I was actually just stopping by on my way to the bar to let you know that absolutely none of them are coming. Terrance said that it’s not his issue that the vampires are dying off and that he will waste absolutely no time trying to stop it from happening again. He forbade anyone else from coming, but you’re always so sweet and I really do know you’re trying to do a good deed, so I thought I’d stop by to let you know.”
“Thank you, Olive. Are you heading there now?”
“I am.”
“I guess… we’ll wait and see if any of the vampires show up,” I say. “If they don’t, I’ll swing by and see if I can talk to my father about it.”
“Good luck. He’s been in a mood since this whole…” She eyes the two of us. “Thing. I think it’s sweet and cute.”
With a soft smile, she heads to the door, leaving me alone with Casimir who at least doesn’t try to carry me off into the back room again.
“Well, shit,” I mutter.
He folds his arms over his chest as he leans back against the table I’d been sitting on. “You can go with her, and I can wait here to see if the vampires arrive.”
“The issue is that I feel like if I left you alone, you’d make the situation worse. I have no idea why I think that… but I sure as fuck do.”
“I am a phenomenal speech giver. I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Casimir says as he pulls out his phone and calls someone. The moment the poor soul decides to answer the phone, he barks, “Where is everyone?” His face scrunches up into a look of irritation as he listens. “Well, you tell them to get their asses over here before I make them regret their measly fucking lives. You hear me? Tell them that I will physically throw them out of the city—fucking Steve. Of course he’s going to make my life miserable. Fine. I’ll be there momentarily. But you can warn them that if they say one single fucking word out of line, I will end their useless lives. Okay? Do you need me to repeat that?… You sure you got it?… I can provide details on how I will murder them.” And then he hangs up.
“That sounds like it went over really well. I definitely feel like it’s a good plan to leave you alone with them.”
“It did, didn’t it?” he says. “I’m going to go deal with that.”
“And I’ll go deal with the wolves. Doesn’t it kind of feel like we’re suddenly not very popular? No one wants to hang out with us.”
“I don’t want to be popular. I want them to fear me enough that when I say jump, they jump.”
“Depends how high,” someone says as he peeks into the room and flashes us with his blinding smile.
Casimir grimaces. “I didn’t mean to invite you.”
Ezio appears shocked, like he could actually be surprised by Casimir’s treatment of him. “What the fuck do you mean you didn’t mean to? I was there when you told all of us to come here!”
“Didn’t notice you. Give Frodo your car.”
I give Casimir a look of disbelief. “Frodo? What the hell? Am I a hobbit now?”
“Sorry, sounds like Toto, I got confused,” he says.
“I’m as tall as you!”
“Ezio, car keys.”
Ezio doesn’t seem interested in this idea at all. “But… my baby… I… what if we take my car and you let Julian take your car? That’s a fabulous idea, amiright?”
With a single look from Casimir, Ezio sighs in defeat before digging his car keys out. “How the hell is it that I’m the only good person who shows up on time, and I still get punished?”
“Thank you,” I say as I grab the keys and hurry outside to see what vehicle I might be taking.
When I lay eyes on a car that costs more than my house, car, and life, I hesitate. “Maybe I don’t want it.”
Casimir waves me toward it. “Take the car. Ezio doesn’t mind, do you, Ezio?”
Ezio wipes away a fake tear before rubbing the mirror of his car in a weirdly affectionate manner. “He likes it when you tickle him a little bit before you stuff yourself in.”
I turn to look at Casimir. “Now I just feel weird.”
“A little stroke and tickle and he’ll purr for you,” Ezio says.
Casimir gives Ezio a shove. “Stop creeping out the wolf. I need to keep him around to paint my dog.”
Ezio gasps. “Will you paint me?”
“Will you be naked?” I ask.
“I sure will,” Ezio purrs.
“Then it’s going to be a rather large no.”
“I’m pleased you are thrilled.”
Casimir drags him off before I can question how he could still think I’m interested in painting his naked ass. Instead, I get into the car and realize that I really don’t want to drive this thing. I’m almost terrified to even start it as Ezio stares at me from the back seat of Casimir’s car, like he’s not even allowed in the front seat. I give him a little wave, and in response, he flips me off with both hands like any of this is my fault.
I start the car and pull forward where I immediately drive it up on a curb that I hadn’t seen.
“Fuuuuuuck.”
Don’t look up. Don’t look up. If I don’t look up, I can pretend Ezio hasn’t seen it.
My eyes snap up only to find that Ezio has seen the whole thing. The tire is now up on the curb, so I either have to go forward or back, and I feel like either way is just taking me closer to my grave. It really won’t be long now, but I lock the doors since I feel like the safest spot is inside the vehicle he’d never dream of hurting.
My phone starts ringing, and I see it’s Casimir calling. I debate not answering, but he’s probably the only thing that could keep me alive if Ezio decided to attack.
“H-Hello?”
“Oh, you are hilarious. You just delight me,” Casimir says as I hear Ezio cussing up a storm in the background.
“Let me talk to that fucking mutt,” Ezio growls.
“The delight I’ve felt over Ezio’s screech of anguish has made this day that much more bearable. Don’t let me forget to give you a special treat when we get home.”
“Wonderful,” I say as I slowly get the car off the curb while trying my hardest not to look at Ezio. And of course Casimir is keeping him front and center to witness the whole thing.
Once I’m finally free, I quickly drive off, terrified that Ezio is going to stalk me and see me do something else to his car. After I get away from him, I realize that the car drives like a dream. Hell, maybe I’ll skip going to my dad’s and cruise around instead. And… I likely would have if I didn’t feel the weight of this whole thing kind of perched on my shoulders.
When I reach the bar, I park in the back, catching the immediate attention of the wolves outside. They all look interested in the vehicle until I get out and their interest shifts to me.
“Hey,” I say, but absolutely no one even nods back at me. They all scurry off as my father stalks toward me.
“I’m going to piss on those tires,” he growls.
“Fucking hell, Dad. Don’t piss on the tires.”
He stops in front of me, looks me up and down, then grunts and heads off for the woods that stretch out behind the bar. I realize that the whole pack is here, telling me that they’re planning to go for a run instead of helping us stop some people who are evidently out to murder the vampires.
“Dad, can we talk?” I ask as I trail after him.
“No, we can run,” he says as he gets far enough from the bar that he can shift and rush away from me.
A guy named Keats spits at me as he walks by, and I stare at him in disbelief. Like is it really that traumatic that I’ve helped the vampires? Why exactly can we not get along? I know how upsetting it must be for my father to lose his territory, but Casimir’s allowed him to remain in charge of the other weres. He’s helped me… fuck, he saved my life, which my father was more than happy about, but now he’s back to being a dick.
“Told you,” Olive says with a grimace as she walks past. “Maybe go for a run with us and see if that’ll help them see that you aren’t completely switching sides.”
“What do they think I’m going to do? Start shifting into a bat?” I tease.
Olive scrutinizes me for a moment. “Your ears are looking a bit pointier than normal.”
A group of wolves, who seem offended by my presence, rush past me and follow my father. One of them, who is of course my father’s right-hand man Weston, even takes it upon himself to growl at me. Weston has this weird idea that I’m going to take over the pack when my father backs down from the position, even though I would assume it’s abundantly clear that I don’t want it.
“Well, this is going to go great,” I mutter as I take my phone out and send Casimir a text.

Me: I’m going to go for a run with them. See if that makes them a bit more civil. Could we set up the meeting for tomorrow instead? Would that be acceptable?

Casimir: Depends whether any of the vampires are alive tomorrow.

Me: Please don’t kill them.

Casimir: You get a nice new car if I do.

Me: Why the hell would you kill Ezio?! He’s literally the only one who listened.

Casimir: Looks fun.

Me: You need to work on your idea of fun.

Casimir: I’ve been told I’m a fucking blast at parties.

Me: Was the person who told you that terrified of you?

Casimir: Huh. That’s a possibility.
I follow Olive over to a cluster of trees where her twin sister Willow is waiting for her. I’ve known them both since they were turned at sixteen. They’d been walking home from a concert when they’d been attacked by a werewolf who we later found out had been stalking Willow at the time. Olive had tried to save her sister, but the werewolf was ruthless, and she nearly died trying to get them both out alive. Because they’d both been bitten in the attack, they were sentenced to a life of hiding from the full moon.
Since we were around the same age—I was fifteen at the time—my father tossed them my way. I think he believed that maybe if I had some people around my age involved in the pack, I would actually join. Instead, the three of us became friends and I continued to refuse to join out of pure stubbornness.
Willow glances around to make sure the others are a good distance away before she starts to undress.
Even though Olive transitioned years ago, she doesn’t love to undress in front of the new members of the pack, and I’m pretty sure Willow is paranoid and uses me as a “gay blockade” because she claims her boobs are “safe around me.”
I kind of feel used… but in a fun way.
“You haven’t run with us in forever, I’m so excited,” Olive says.
“You should be excited I’m still alive,” I mutter. “It’s been a bit hairy lately.”
“I love that you’re dating a vampire. It’s such a you thing to do,” Willow says as she undresses.
“A… ‘you thing to do’… are you saying that I’m an idiot?”
“You’re an adorable idiot,” Olive tells me, which is probably not the best compliment I’ve ever gotten.
“Thanks… I think?”
“Of course. Any time,” Olive says as she gives me a wink that I’m pretty sure is like an “Ah, my sweet friend who has chosen to light the world on fire” kind of wink.
“He’s cute,” I say, like that’s an acceptable excuse.
“‘He’s cute!’” Willow chokes out as she tosses her clothes on top of Olive’s so they stay clean.
“It’s like ‘Hey, Dad, don’t die from anger because dat boy is cute,’” Olive says with a huge grin.
Maybe I deserve that… but I don’t have to take it sitting down. “I have decided that my love for the two of you has decreased the longer you both talk,” I say. “And because of that, you get my bare ass to look at.” I turn my back to them as I undress.
“You think that’s how he hooked the vampire?” Willow asks.
“‘Oh nooooo, I’m so sorrrrry. Don’t look at my cute tush as I undress slowly to shift into a floofy puppers,’” Olive mocks. “‘Oh, I’m sorry, you big bad vampire with your Greek god face and your toned abs, don’t look at my fine behind!’”
“Fluff off, both of you,” I say before shifting.
They both laugh at me before shifting as well, and I decide that they’re both horrible people and bite Olive’s tail.
“What the fuck!” Olive yells as she tries pulling her tail back.
“And I didn’t make him look at my ‘tush.’ I just flashed it to him in case he wanted to,” I say.
“You did what?” Dad growls in my head, telling me he’s far too close, and I just announced something that I should have taken to my grave to everyone nearby. While I’m not officially a part of the pack, I think I’m still able to communicate with the others because I grew up with them and knew how to from a young age. Since it’s a bit like talking out loud, only those who are close by can hear—which I didn’t think my father was or I sure as fuck wouldn’t have announced that.
“I’m going to go play dead over here for a while,” I say as I dramatically fall onto my side.
Olive and Willow seem amused as Olive jumps over me before bolting, likely because my father is heading this way. He’s a tall wolf with a menacing aura that I’ve ignored since I was young.
He growls at me to show his displeasure before trotting off. Like… did he really have to come over just to grumble? The other wolves fall into line behind him as I join up, enjoying the chance to stretch my legs. Dad doesn’t say anything, just picks up a quicker pace and ignores Weston as the annoying asshole rushes me, like he thinks he’s going to get me to shy away from him.
“You’re not part of this pack,” he growls as he nips at me. He’s going to be horribly disappointed when I refuse to leave.
Dad would generally tell him to fuck off, but he knows my dad is pissed at me and is loving the excuse to become an absolute pain in my ass.
I ignore him as I join up with Olive and Willow who both hate him—I’m pretty sure he’s the main reason they both feel uncomfortable undressing in front of the others.
“I’ll race you two,” I say as I bolt past them, absolutely loving the spring night air cutting through my fur.
It’s been a while since I’ve run with them and I’ve honestly missed it. I absolutely love stretching my legs, and with it so close to the full moon, my werewolf side is pleased to be out to play. They rush after me, trying to catch up as I race deeper into the woods, but I’m faster than both of them and can stay a decent distance in front of them. I dash past my father who seems to be more preoccupied with seething than running, which leaves everyone in the pack in an awkward mood—at this point, I’m afraid I might be the only one having a good time.
I run between the trees a moment before Olive and Willow draw back, and I turn to look just as Weston slams into me.
“You think you can overtake our alpha? You should submit to him,” he growls.
Since I wasn’t expecting him, he knocks me off my feet and I go skidding down onto my side. I roll back up before turning to look at him with my fangs bared.
I fucking hate this asshole. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
Weston stalks toward me, standing tall, tail rigid as he growls at me. “What the fuck is wrong with me? You are not part of this pack.”
“I don’t have to be part of the pack to run with them. I was running with this pack long before you were a part of it.”
“You give zero shits about the wolves, instead running over to the other side to bend over for that fucking vampire.”
I step toward him, refusing to back down like he wants. “Fuck off. It doesn’t matter at all what I do or who I do it with because it has nothing to do with you. You are so insecure that you’re terrified my father would hand the pack over to me.”
I turn my back to him and start walking away as everyone watches us. That apparently pisses him off just as much since he thinks I should be lying down with my throat exposed. He rushes at me and clamps down on my side which, I’m going to be honest, I didn’t think he’d do, making pain spike into it. I whip around, quickly snapping at him as he jerks back before I can get a mouthful. He cries out and stumbles back as he shifts into a human, and I realize there’s blood dripping out of his mouth and I don’t think it’s all mine.
“What the fuck? What the fuck did you do to me?” he cries as he wipes at his face before realizing that it’s hurting his hands now too.
I’m the one over here that got chewed on and he’s screaming like he just bit into… silver.
Dad rushes over and shifts before grabbing him by the arm and hauling him over to the nearby creek. “Wash your face off,” he snaps as he throws him into the creek with plenty of force. If I weren’t so paranoid about the others finding out that I have silver rushing through my veins, I would have enjoyed the way Weston slammed into the water on his hands and knees.
“What the fuck did he do to me?” he yells as all of the wolves look between us in confusion.
“You okay?” Olive asks as she steps toward me, but I quickly back away, not wanting my blood laced with silver to hurt her.
“Weston, that is enough. This is my fucking pack, do you hear me? You would honestly attack him without my permission?” Dad asks, like he hadn’t been ignoring the shit Weston had been giving me, but Weston is far too concerned with the silver burning his mouth like acid.
“What the fuck did he do to me?” Weston repeats, and the looks others are giving me makes me realize they’re questioning it as well. What the hell do I say or do to answer that question? If it got out, they’d want to know how I was still alive, and then what?
And that’s when I hear the sound of a wolf cry.
I turn to look as the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end, telling me that something isn’t right.
“What was that?” Benny asks.
Dad shifts back into his wolf form and rushes forward a moment before a vampire slams into him, throwing him so hard that the young tree he hits snaps.
“Oh? A party and I wasn’t invited?” the female vampire says in a mocking tone.
None of us heard a thing as she approached, telling me that she’s old. But what’s even worse is that behind her stands the vampire who’d flung me out the window. He’s laughing as he watches my father struggle to get up.
“Oh, Terrance! I heard you were a big bad wolf, and instead, I just found a little puppy dog!” he says.
Fuck, fuck, fuck. I need Casimir. I need his help, but my phone is back near the bar. There’s no way I could reach it and get him here in time.
“Stop toying with them, Yorick. Kill them,” she growls.
“Hazel… you’re dreadfully boring! I’m more of a sit back and watch them run kind of guy,” the vampire I assume is called Yorick says as more vampires fill in behind him. There are at least six of them now, and even though there are close to twenty members of the pack here today, I know it won’t be enough against a group of vampires this old.
The woman Yorick called Hazel rushes for Willow since she’s the closest to her. Olive pushes Willow back as I hurry forward to help. Olive has never been a huge fighter, but I know she’ll do whatever she can to protect her sister, and I’m thankfully close enough that as Hazel slams into Olive, I lunge at her, grabbing the vampire’s arm and ripping her back.
I tear the vampire away just as her nails slice into Olive, but my distraction saved her from a deep wound. My fangs crush the woman’s wrist, but as a vampire it only takes mere moments for her to heal and fling me back.
“Hazel, don’t kill that one. That one’s going to be my new toy,” Yorick whines.
“Then fucking deal with him,” she barks as she tries to turn back to Olive, but I won’t let her.
“Olive, take Willow and run!” I order. Willow whines, and I know they don’t want to leave me, but these vampires are old and powerful.
I clamp down hard on Hazel’s arm and shake my head, tearing through flesh and muscle as she tries to grab me by the throat. I dodge her attack only for another vampire to tear me off.
Fear spikes through me as I remember them ripping into me, tearing me apart and pinning me to the ground.
“Guys, stop! I said I like that one!” Yorick says as he manages to pull me back. He grabs me in some kind of hug from behind, so I twist out of his arms and land on my feet, growling at them.
I hear the sickening sound of bones cracking as I turn my head and look to see one of the vampires crushing the throat of a werewolf. Weston rushes forward, but the body the vampire throws to the ground is lifeless and there’s little Weston can do. Thankfully, as three of the wolves tear into the vampire, my father goes in for the killing blow, but it nearly costs all four of them their lives as the other vampires rush into the fray.
Werewolves are strong, but they’re at their strongest during a full moon. Out here like this… up against vampires who are clearly hundreds of years old, we’re not strong enough. Especially when we’re not fighting as a pack.
Fuck, fuck, fuck. I need Casimir. I need Casimir to come and save us. I need him to help us.
Yorick grabs me again, trying to drag me away from the others as I jerk back. “Come on, pup-pup. You don’t want them to kill you, do you? You can be mine. I will treat you well.”
I growl as I snap at him and my father rushes forward, making Yorick drop his hold on me to deal with my father.
Stepping back, I bump into something and turn, only to realize that it’s another wolf lying dead behind me. Yes, I can fight, but I’m not like Casimir. I don’t know how to fight. I can fight through instinct or I can run, but if I run, how many more will die? Half of the pack has already realized that we are nothing compared to these ancient beings, and if they want to live, the only way is to flee.
Hazel throws my father like he’s a mere child, and I realize that we’re going to fucking lose this fight. We’re going to lose, and they’re going to pin me down and tear me apart unless I run, but I need to help. I need to stop panicking and help them.
Anxiety eats through me as I dash toward the fight and try to get the vampire’s attention off my father. Some of the pack is helping, but others are running as the vampires try to drive them away.
I leap onto the back of a man who was rushing for my father and sink my teeth into his neck. The man reaches back and claws at my side that is thankfully protected by my thick fur as I try to drag him down by pulling him off balance. He turns fast and rips me off him. I hit the ground a moment before another vampire speeds toward me, but before he can make contact, my father tears him to the ground.
“Julian, run!” he yells, but there aren’t many left here to fight them. If I run, that’s one less to fight. The smell of blood is thick in the air, and I don’t know what else to do. Yes, we can keep fighting, but the vampires just keep healing.
Another rushes up to help the vampire, and as I try to move back, I hear Olive cry out and my attention shifts to her, leaving me open for the vampire who grabs me and slams me against a tree.
Terror floods through me as he flashes his fangs at me while he goes for my throat. I thrash against him, trying my hardest to get away, when he suddenly stops moving.
He looks down as his grip loosens, and I realize there’s a wooden stake driven into his back and straight through his heart. He drops down to his knees as I see Casimir’s attention shift to another vampire who’d made the mistake of thinking they’d be next to rip me apart.
Casimir slams into them as the female races forward to draw Casimir off. She’s fast, nearly as fast as him, and now that there are multiple vampires on him, he can’t seem to focus fully on killing just one at a time.
I hit the ground on shaky limbs as I realize I need to help him—at least distract them—but I’m afraid, and that fear keeps me from rushing forward.
“Don’t go, pup-pup,” Yorick says as he grabs me from behind and pulls me back to him. He leans down, mouth close to my ear. “Just watch the fun?”
I thrash, trying to rip out of his arms as he holds me crushingly tight. I twist hard as he laughs like he’s enjoying my struggle. When I’m finally able to fall free, I realize it’s because my father is charging him.
“Oh, I’ll have fun later when Casimir isn’t here. Ta-ta,” Yorick says before disappearing into the night.
My father rushes after him, but he seems to be favoring his right foreleg, so he doesn’t go far. One of the vampires flings Casimir back as they all fixate on him, but he manages to rip into the one closest to him. While it’ll heal, it at least gets the vampire off him for a moment. So I steel myself and run forward, clamping hard onto Hazel’s leg since she’d been focused on Casimir. One of the other vampires kicks me hard, but the momentary distraction allows Casimir to lop off her head and send it rolling. It puts him at risk, and one of the male vampires tries to stake him, but he’s fast and avoids it with ease, using the man’s own makeshift stake to drive it into his heart.
And just as Casimir turns to face the last vampire who is standing, Ezio pops up and plucks their head off.
“You are welcome for saving your life,” he announces as he shimmies back to keep blood from squirting out onto him. “Please don’t all praise me at once!”
Casimir stares at Ezio in disbelief. He’s coated in blood, his clothes are shredded from when he’d been trying to fend off four at once, and he has a stake sticking out of his arm that he yanks out. “What the fuck took you so long?”
Ezio seems to realize that not all is right. “I was checking that my baby was okay.” It comes out quietly, like he has maybe realized there’s an issue.
Casimir grabs Ezio by the throat.
“And I now see that maybe that wasn’t the best idea… ha ha?”
Casimir shoves him without saying a word and looks around at us as I find myself quickly walking over to him, tail tucked. I can’t stop shaking, and right now, he seems to be the only safe space as I press into his leg. God, I feel like an idiot. What kind of big bad werewolf am I, shaking like a fucking leaf and running to the vampire for reassurance.
He reaches down and slides his fingers into the fur on the back of my head, and it’s like his steady hand just washes all of my worries away. Suddenly, I can breathe again as the fear and anxiety melt with just a simple touch of his hand.
I lean into his thigh and take a deep breath.
“Were there more?” he asks.
“Yes, the one who threw us from the window was here.”
“Which way did he go?”
I nod and he starts toward it, but I bite onto his pant leg. “What if there are more? You wouldn’t catch up at this point anyway. He ran off a while ago.”
Casimir hesitates and looks down at the carnage. “You’re right. Many need medical attention. Ezio, get the doctor the wolves work with ready for them now.”
“I can do that,” Ezio says as he grabs one of the wounded and makes his way toward the bar.
I shift into my human form and look around for Olive and Willow. “Olive?” I call. “Willow?”
Before I get too far, Casimir hooks me and pulls me back. “You’re fine,” he says, voice reassuring as I swallow the lump in my throat. “They’re dead or gone. You’re alright.”
I catch his deep brown eyes and give him a determined nod. “Yeah, I am. Thanks.”
He lets go of me and I confidently rush off in the direction Willow and Olive had gone.
When I see Olive in her human form, relief washes through me. “Are you okay? Where’s Willow…”
“Willow ran for help. Benny got hurt really badly trying to help me,” she says as I realize she’s leaning over a wolf. “The vampires?”
“Casimir came and killed them,” I say, not sure how he ended up here, but I’m well aware if he hadn’t, more—or all—of us would have died.
“Oh fuck… Oh, thank fuck,” she says as I reach down and pick Benny up who doesn’t even respond. He’s extremely heavy, but the adrenaline rushing through my body keeps me moving forward as I make my way back to Casimir who is being bitched at by Weston like Weston’s not aware how close we all came to dying.
“If you don’t fucking shut up, I will shut you up,” Casimir says, voice sharp.
“Weston, knock it the fuck off,” Dad barks. “If you have the energy to bitch, help someone.”
“Weston, can you get him back to the bar?” I ask as I hold Benny out to him.
I notice his mouth looks burned from biting me, but he takes Benny without hesitation. When I glance over at my father, I see that he’s shifted back into his human form and seems to be struggling—making me question if he’d broken his arm when he was thrown against the tree—but I don’t know what to do or say to him. He’s kind of been a dick… but he’s always been a bit of a dick. The only reason we’re still on speaking terms is because I continue to forgive him again and again.
Every time, I deal with it again and again and…
Stopping, I turn to face my father. “This is your fucking fault.”
He looks at me like he’s surprised.
And maybe I should stop there. Maybe it’s awful of me to blame it on him and make him feel guilty, but I can’t stop. “If you’d have gone to the goddamn meeting to help keep this from happening, these people wouldn’t be dead. But because you’re so fucking obsessed with your own bullshit that you couldn’t just listen to me, they’re dead. If it weren’t for Casimir, the rest of us would probably be dead as well.”
There aren’t many wolves here who aren’t severely injured, just Olive who is trying to help someone, a new wolf I don’t know the name of, and my father. I’m sure he’s going to get pissed at the shit I’m spouting, but he lowers his eyes.
“You’re right.”
I stare at him in surprise because I don’t think my father has ever thought I was right in my life.
“I fucked up,” he admits.
I don’t even know what to say now that he’s agreed with me. I was prepared to fight him some more, but now, I feel unsure of what to do, so I hurry over to assist Olive. Helping one of the wounded up, the two of us start carrying him back to the bar that should be closed at this point in the evening.
When we reach the bar, I see that the patrons are gone, and instead, the inside of the bar is being used for people who aren’t as severely injured and might just need some at-home care.
“Dr. Hernz is prepared to receive those who are more severely wounded,” Willow informs us. “We’ve already sent Keats with them. And they’re sending someone over to handle the less severe injuries.”
“That’s great,” I say as she hands me my clothes while my father and the others come in behind me. I pull my pants on but just as I’m reaching for my shirt, Casimir grabs my arm and turns me. He pushes my arm up and looks down at where Weston had bitten me.
“What the fuck is this?” Casimir asks, a cold look in his eyes.
“Don’t worry about it. It’s fine,” I say.
He is clearly not pleased. “This wasn’t made by a vampire. A wolf bit you. Who the fuck bit you?”
“Casimir, just drop it, we obviously have other matters to deal with,” I say as I pull my shirt on. Casimir seems to place the burned-mouthed Weston with my injury, and a growl escapes him.
He moves so quickly that no one in the room can even react before he has Weston’s throat in his hand.
“Did you bite him?” he asks, voice eerily even. I feel like it’s worse than if he’d yelled.
“L-Let me go,” Weston growls.
“I asked if you bit him,” Casimir says.
The aura in the room is crushing, to the point where multiple wolves drop to their knees in submission to the vampire, even though their alpha stands nearby.
Casimir leans forward and whispers something into Weston’s ear that I can’t hear, but when he lets go of Weston, the buff asshole drops to his knees in front of Casimir, submitting to him, just like that.
Casimir turns to my father. “You permitted this?”
“I told them to stop,” my father says.
“Yet you have such lax control over your wolves that one would even dream of biting him? If someone from my ‘pack’ bit someone I cared for, they would be dead for even dreaming of going against me to do such a thing.”
Father’s jaw is clenched, but what can he say to that? That he let it happen out of some petty disagreement that ended up resulting in the loss of wolves’ lives?
Casimir walks to the middle of the room as I realize the only people still standing are my father and me, but the only one looking directly at Casimir is me. The power he exudes is impressive. It’s a wonder he even played around with my father so long and didn’t just walk into the pack and make them all submit to him.
“There will be a meeting tomorrow. If you do not show up, I will personally chuck your ass outside of my territory. Are there any complaints?” he growls.
My father forces himself to look at Casimir, who cocks his head. Clearly, he’s prepared to use this as an excuse to send him flying. “T-Thank you for saving the lives of my wolves.”
Casimir grins and I’m sure it pisses my father off, but he doesn’t say anything about it.
“I would have stepped back and watched after the treatment I’ve gotten from this pack, so don’t thank me. Thank your son,” he says as he gives me a wave to follow him.
I hesitate because I feel bad leaving when there is so much chaos going on, but isn’t that because I’m too fucking nice? Because I’ve dealt with them making my life a fucking pain, and I’ve always just… put up with it.
So after making sure no one left at the bar was severely wounded, I turn and walk over to him. Casimir holds the door open for me and I find it almost easy to confidently walk out into the night with him by my side.
I notice Ezio’s car is already gone, so I get into Casimir’s.
After I slide into the passenger seat, he gets in and starts the car before pulling out of the parking lot.
“You… didn’t need to do all of that,” I say. “You know… with Weston in the bar.”
“Fake or not, we are maintaining the image that we are dating, and there’s absolutely no way I would let anyone treat someone I’m with like that. And even if we weren’t, you entertain me enough that I will protect you,” he says. “Why the fuck didn’t you tear that goddamn wolf apart?”
“I… don’t think I’m as good of a fighter as you might believe I am. He’d probably have kicked my ass.”
Casimir stops the car at a stop sign before reaching out and grabbing my chin. His brown eyes lock on to me as he pulls me into him. “You have more power than you realize, wolf. You just need to learn how to use it,” he says, and I find my eyes drifting down to his lips. When the hell did I become so entranced by his power? By his protectiveness? By his care?
Nah, it’s just because he’s sexy. That’s all there is to this. None of that other stuff. Definitely none of that…
“You could become pack alpha if you wanted. You could knock that man down to his knees if you pushed aside your kindness,” he says, voice a soft rumble that makes me feel like I really could be all-powerful. “You could make that man kneel for you.”
I raise an eyebrow. “I think you might have a misconstrued idea of me.”
He grins at me, flashing me his fangs. “Or maybe I recognize true power. Pure brutality and strength aren’t all it takes to become powerful, Toto.”
“Seems like having a sexy and powerful vampire helps too,” I say, matching his smirk.
“Maybe,” he says before rubbing his thumb over my cheek. When he pulls back, I see there’s blood on it that he licks off. “Let’s get you home and cleaned up… or if we don’t want that blood to go to waste, I could lick you clean.”
“I… I’m a little disturbed that my dick liked that idea.”
Casimir winks at me. “I’m not.”
“Of course you’re not. And I would totally take you up on that if I didn’t feel like death.”
“You need to learn how to heal faster,” he says.
“Some of us just aren’t fancy healing machines.” I sink back against the seat. “Thank you… like… really thank you. I don’t think we were going to win that fight… hell, I know we weren’t. And thanks for…” How embarrassing is it to have to thank him for patting my head? I guess I don’t have to. “Stuff.”
“You’re welcome for ‘stuff.’”
He pats me on the head again, like he knows exactly what I was referring to. “I couldn’t let you get eaten. I have use for you.”
“What? To paint your dog?”
“Yes, and because of you, when I went in to talk to the vampires, I stepped in with the intention of tearing heads off and staking hearts… but then I went, ‘What would Lassie do?’ And I told them that they were going to show up tomorrow or I’d tear their heads off. And then I left to go tell you how annoying it was that you changed me.”
“Is… is that what Lassie would do? I kind of feel like I didn’t get that impression, but eh, I guess if it worked for you,” I say.
“You want me to take you to your house?”
I hesitate because the idea of going to my house and staying there alone while that vampire is still out there makes me feel uneasy. “Uh… I mean… but if I go to your house, I could draw your dog.”
Casimir glances at me. “You know you could just ask to go to my house, right?”
“I… I’m a bit freaked out, if I’m going to be honest. I…” I rub at my neck that they’d torn into when they’d tried to kill me. “Just keep thinking about nonsense.”
“You can snuggle with Gustov. As soon as I realized he wasn’t edible, I also realized he was fun to hug.”
“That’s… stop mentioning how edible he was! That poor dog.”
“He loves it.”
I’m not sure what part he’s claiming that Gustov loves, but I’m happy that he takes me to his home. I mean, I know that Casimir isn’t invincible, but he’s sure as hell a lot more hardy than say… my mom. And while I know my mom would give her all to protect me… there’s a bit of a difference between an ancient vampire and a human who loves me unconditionally.
Once we walk into the house, I glance over at him. “Can I take a shower?”
“Down the hall there. I’ll find you some clothes.”
“Thank you.”
“Oh… and I guess I should go buy like… a first aid kit or something, right? Hmm… I’ll be right back. No one’s going to dream of waltzing into my house. You’ll be fine here.”
“Alright. Gustov, you’re coming with me. You’ll protect me with your wicked ponytail,” I say as I pat the fluff on top of Gustov’s head. His tongue lolls out of his mouth, clearly pleased by this.
While Casimir leaves, I step into the shower and proceed to spend far too much time trying to figure out how to even turn it on because normal people like me only have a handle to turn. When the water does come out, I’m assuming it’s going to come out of the showerhead and not drop down on me like a fucking arctic rainstorm from the ceiling. I jerk back and glance up at it, displeased by the cold shower, but it thankfully warms quickly.
I’m exhausted from the fight and from my odd new sleep schedule of staying awake most of the night and sleeping during the day, waking only to make it to my classes. I regretfully have two afternoon classes and an evening class tomorrow to teach, so sleep sounds delightful.
While the cold-water blast was a shock, now that it’s warm, I stand in the middle of the shower as water beats down on me and realize that I could probably just live in here at this point. Closing my eyes, I soak, letting the tension and achiness in my limbs drift away. It stings at first, but once the blood is washed away, I’m left in luxury, even long after I’ve washed myself.
The door opens and I jump, startled.
“You still in the shower? Did you drown?” Casimir asks.
“I don’t think so,” I say as I reluctantly turn the water off.
He tosses me a towel that I grab and wrap myself up in. He pushes me back, so I sit down on the edge of his large jetted tub where he pulls the towel down so he can examine my side where I was bitten and my stomach where a bruise is already setting in.
“You sure you didn’t break anything? I forget how fragile your lot is,” he says.
“No, I can’t imagine it’s broken. I just feel like I was run over by a car.”
Casimir bites his wrist and my eyes immediately lock on to it, transfixed by the blood dripping over his skin. “Let’s see if this helps a bit,” he says as he presses it against my lips.
I don’t really crave blood when I don’t have it, but the moment he shows it to me, it’s like I’m obsessed by it. Latching on to his arm, I draw it in and suck it down as the sweet taste fills my mouth and momentarily makes me forget about all my aches and pains. It makes everything I’d been focusing on or thinking about rush right out the window because now all I can think about is the taste of this and how I could soak in the pleasure of it all night.
He tries pulling his arm back and I growl, displeased he’d choose to do so as I latch on tighter, prepared to fight him for his arm.
“Do you think I could have my arm back?”
“Noooo,” I grumble as I reluctantly start to lose my grip.
“You sure?”
“Hmmm…” How irritating… but I suppose it makes sense he’d like it back, so I grudgingly give it to him.
Casimir tips my chin up and licks the blood off my lips, making me want to lean into him. If I didn’t currently feel like I’d gotten run over by a truck, I would jump that man so fucking hard.
I sigh. “When I feel better… that dick is mine.” I eye it hidden beneath his snug pants.
He raises an eyebrow.
“Oh, don’t act like you have an issue with it.”
“I sure don’t. What I do have an issue with is why it takes so long for you to heal.”
“Right? We can’t all be fancy.”
Casimir opens the medical kit and stares at the contents. Then he grabs what looks like an Ace bandage that’d be used for a sprain and starts wrapping it around me.
“What are you doing?”
“I don’t know. This just looked right.”
“Well, it’s not. Just something to clean it and a small bandage will suffice.”
“Ah… makes sense.” And that’s the moment he tosses alcohol onto the wound.
I nearly fall back into the tub and would have if he hadn’t caught me. “OH MY GOD. Are you trying to kill me?”
Casimir looks highly confused. “What? It’s what they do in the movies!”
“No! I meant like Neosporin or something.”
“Huh.” He eyes the bottle. “I mean, you guys drink this shit.”
“We don’t drink rubbing alcohol.”
“There’s far too much to keep track of. You think I actually pay attention to anything other than Gustov?”
Quickly realizing that if I want to survive this first aid session, I need to take over, I snatch the stuff from him.
“I will watch and learn,” he says. “So first step is poking the wound.”
I stop poking at it. “I wasn’t poking it! I just wanted to see how bad it was.”
“And you do that by jabbing your finger into it?”
“I don’t know!”
“And then you try to figure out how to put a tiny bandage over a large wound. Got it.”
“It looked bigger.”
“That’s what every man says.”
“No, that… that doesn’t even make sense!”
Casimir seems pleased. “Makes all the sense.”
Once I’m finally all bandaged up and scrutinized to the fullest, he eyes me. “Would you like to be fed?”
“No, I’m good, thank you.”
“Oh good because all I have in the house is food for Gustov, and that was going to be awkward if I had to share his food with you.”
“Well, I’m glad I’m not hungry, then. I might actually go to bed… I’m tired from being mauled and running around every night. I’m not used to this wonky night schedule yet.”
“That’s fine. I have some more people to threaten. I’ll show you a room you can stay in.”
“Great, thanks,” I say as I follow him to a grand guest bedroom with a large bed that I sink onto.
I could get used to this.
OceanofPDF.com
CHAPTER FIFTEEN

JULIAN
The moment I step out of the college building, Ezio pops up in front of me. I jump, startled, but when I see who the vampire is, my racing heart calms down.
“Julian, come, come,” Ezio says, first petting my face like any part of that is normal before pushing me toward his car.
“I’m starting to think our professor is up to something sketchy,” Malcolm whispers to Brandy.
“I’m starting to wish I was also involved in something sketchy,” Brandy says, which makes me concerned as I’m stuffed into the passenger seat, then handed a gigantic bucket of breaded chicken strips and what must be pounds of potato wedges.
“What is happening?” Malcolm asks as I hand him a potato wedge through the window.
“I don’t know,” I realize as Ezio gets into the car and takes off before I can comprehend any of this and assure my students that this is a normal situation. At least now I don’t have to lie to them.
“Why do I have so much chicken?” I ask.
“Casimir told me to pick you up and feed you. I didn’t know how much you’d eat.”
“You… you thought I’d eat all of this?”
“I assume it takes a lot of calories for you wolves to be so dreadfully pesky, so yes,” he says.
“Why couldn’t Casimir pick me up?”
“He’s busy with work stuff, so he told me to protect your tush.”
“Were those his exact words?”
Ezio gives me a curt nod. “Yes.”
“For some reason, I have my doubts.”
“Don’t doubt,” he says as he pulls into the police department’s parking lot.
“What are we doing here?”
“I like to walk Cyrus into work every evening,” he says.
“I bet he loves that,” I mutter as Ezio hops out and starts chasing Cyrus who is just trying to get into work. I roll down the window and give him a wave as he pulls his taser out, like he’s prepared to use it. Seeing me makes him hesitate and hide the weapon, as though he thinks I’d care.
“Oh! Julian,” he says as he rushes over to Ezio’s car and gets in it. He locks the door with Ezio outside it and turns to me. “I heard about what happened with the wolves yesterday.”
Ezio leans against the window with a forlorn look on his face seeing as he clearly isn’t included.
“Yeah, it wasn’t good. Would you be interested in coming to our meeting tonight? I know you’re not a vampire or wolf, but I feel like if you came, you’d raise our overall intelligence significantly,” I say.
He laughs and I can hear Ezio gasp from outside the window. I guess making Cyrus laugh is an achievement that he hasn’t yet managed. “Uhhh, they don’t exactly like me, you know?”
“I don’t think they like me either,” I admit as I hold out my giant bucket of chicken. “Would you like some? I… I mean, I know it might not look like I have enough to share, but I could spare a piece or ten for you.”
“Thank you,” he says as he takes a few. “I guess I’ll stop by and see if I can be of any help. Things are getting tense. I’m afraid that someone is trying to make a move for the territory, and if they were to win… I’m worried neither humans nor wolves—or even vampires—would be safe. They’re brutal and I’m nervous about what that’ll mean for the rest of us.”
“I know… and it’s not just any vampires coming for us… they’re old.”
“The only source I have is Ezio, which is like having no source at all. Do you think you could get me a detailed report of what happened yesterday?”
“I can!” Ezio offers from the other side of the window.
“Uhhh, yeah, sure!” I say. “Thank you… I know this isn’t your mess, but I really appreciate you taking the time to help when you can.”
“Yeah. When’s the meeting tonight?”
“At one at the council hall.”
“Okay, I’ll be there.”
“Thank you.”
Ezio is still pressed up against the glass window, longingly staring at the man who refuses to even notice him. “Cyrus, I didn’t know you liked chicken! I will bring you chicken next time!”
“He likes lobster and steak better,” I say.
Cyrus grins at that. “I like your way of thinking.”
“Thanks.”
Once Ezio finally lets Cyrus go into work, he gets back into the car.
“Why does Cyrus not like you?” I ask, which I feel like would be a brutal question for anyone who isn’t Ezio.
“I have questioned that every day of my life since I met him. But I am positive that I will someday do something that will make him tolerate me.”
“You ever think that ‘something’ could be leaving him alone?” I ask.
He’s quiet for a moment. “Hmm… but if he wanted me to leave him alone, he wouldn’t have asked for steak and lobster!”
“Uh… huh. Sure. You know… I feel like I owe Casimir something after saving so many lives yesterday,” I say as I grab a potato wedge.
Ezio’s attention snaps over to me. “Dick pic. Best present ever.”
“Is it?” I ask skeptically.
“I could take the picture for you.”
Of course this immediately gets weird. “I would prefer to do it myself, thank you.”
“It’s all about the angle.”
“Is it?”
“And whether or not you have a forest growing down there.”
“I’m going to go with Casimir doesn’t give a shit. The man doesn’t even know how to hold hands, you think he’s up on the latest grooming trends?”
“You could like lay some flowers around it.”
“Oh yes, I’m sure that’s what he’s looking for.”
“Put a little hat on the tip.”
“Where am I getting a hat for it?”
“You have to be creative,” he says. “Trust me, I’ve known Casimir for hundreds of years, I know what he likes.”
“Okay. Okay. I trust you.” I don’t, but eh, coating my dick in flowers and sending the picture off to Casimir seems like its own brand of fun.
“Since I don’t have flowers, and I only have this giant bucket of potato wedges… do you think that’ll work?”
I love how Ezio is now looking at me as though I might actually be a psychopath. Like between the two of us, I’m the stranger one.
“Just… let me handle this,” he decides.
“I’d prefer to handle my own dick, thank you.”
He sighs as he pulls up to Casimir’s place. “How did you hook Casimir? He’s never been interested in anyone before, but he’s fascinated by you.”
Yeah, because he’s a good actor. “All I know is that after he sees my potato wedge dick pic, he’s going to be enthralled.”
“How have you ever even gotten laid?” Ezio asks, which… I mean… really isn’t that bizarre of a question after what just came out of my mouth.
“It’s a wonder.”
Once he parks, I head inside to greet Gustov who prances all around, hair flying and fluffy curls flopping. And before I can do anything but set down the food in the fridge, Ezio returns with a handful of flowers he picked from… who knows where and a gigantic bottle of lotion that he stuffs into my arms.
“Here you go. Now go dick pic him.”
“I just… this is awkward. Like… I feel awkward leaving this room with the idea that you know what I’m going to do, so I think I’m just going to play with the dog instead and then take a nap.”
“I made sure to pick little flowers so it will make your dick look bigger,” Ezio says. “You are welcome.”
“Um… thanks?”
“Do you need help? I’ve already seen your dick when you were shifting in the woods, so no need to be shy.”
“It’s gone beyond shy and into awkward at this point. I’m going to go… take a nap since this is going to be a long night,” I say as I try to give him the flowers and lotion back, neither of which he’ll take.
“Have a good ‘nap,’” he says with finger quotes.
“Dammit, this is the worst,” I grumble as I head off to the guest bedroom I’d stayed in the night before. I’m sore and achy, but I definitely feel better than when I woke up for my afternoon class.
After entering the bedroom, I toss the flowers on the bedside table before flopping down in the bed.
I try to play on my phone, though the idea of sending Casimir a dick pic is wildly tempting. But what if he doesn’t even want one? What if he’s like “What the fuck is this for? We’re not dating for real.” Or like “Why the fuck did this creep send me a picture during work?”

Me: What are you doing?

Casimir: Waiting for your flowery dick pic.

Me: WHAT THE FUCK?

Casimir: Ezio said I was getting one. At first, I thought it was from him which I thought was some kind of torture tactic. Then he told me it was from you and my interest was piqued.

Me: This has somehow turned traumatic.

Casimir: But did it turn you on?

Me: A little.

Casimir: I’m waiting.
Fucking hell. I didn’t think this could get more awkward, but it apparently could. I set my phone to the side, grab the lotion and squirt a little in my hand. It makes me question where Ezio got the lotion since he came into the house with it. Did he steal it from some fragile old neighbor lady when he ransacked her flowers?
Trying to push that thought to the side, I stroke myself. The idea of Casimir waiting for me already has my cock thoroughly interested. And once my cock is hard, I grab the flowers and toss them on top.
Pleased with my bouquet covering about ninety-five percent of my junk, I snap a picture and grin as I send it off to Casimir.

Me: Ezio picked the flowers and set the stage.

Casimir: What the fuck is this? I can’t even see anything. Show me the dick.

Me: You don’t like my dick bouquet? I knew you’d like the potato wedges more.

Casimir: Here I sit, eager for some ounce of fun in my stale life, and this is what I get. This is what happens when you play with wolves.

Me: Ezio also recommended a hat. Hold, please.
I grab a piece of paper off the desk and fold it up before putting it on top of my dick and snapping a new picture for him.

Me: Be enthralled.

Casimir: My dick is confused.

Me: Ooh, keep talking dirty to me.

Casimir: It wants to know if this is a wolf mating ritual.

Me: All you gotta do is howl at the moon for me.

Casimir: Oh yeah? What happens when I give you a ball?

Me: I prefer two.

Casimir: I got two right here for you.
He sends me a picture of his nice dick sans flowers, which… is a choice. It might not be a good choice, but it’s a choice.

Me: Your dick looks lonely.

Casimir: I can’t tell if you’re trying to be sexy like “It looks lonely without my hand on it” or if you’re like “It looks lonely without some weeds.”
My phone rings and I quickly answer it. “Oh? You want to hear my lovely voice? This wasn’t awkward enough with just pictures and texts?”
“Are you stroking yourself?”
“I’m trying but all of these weeds are getting in the way,” I say as I dump the flowers onto the floor.
“Imagine if it were the potato wedges.”
“Fucking hell, you know how to make me hard,” I say as I run my hand down my dick. “Tell me what you want to do to me.”
“I want to carry you into an empty room.”
“Yeah?”
“And slowly unbutton your shirt,” Casimir says, voice husky.
“Oh yeah?”
“Then I’m going to slide my fingers up your bare chest, tips brushing over your nipples as I guide your shirt off your shoulders.”
“Oh?”
“So you don’t get paint on it while you paint my dog.”
I start laughing. “You are the worst.”
“And then…”
I’m grinning now, which maybe isn’t what you’re supposed to do during sexy time, but eh, I’m having fun. “Oh? There’s more?”
“I would bend you over the armrest of my couch.”
“Oh?” I ask. “What are you going to do now? I’m almost scared.”
“And rub my cock against your ass.”
“Okay, I’m listening,” I say as I stroke my cock. “Are you stroking your thick cock in your office?”
“I sure am. It would be much better if you were here right now, and my hard cock was between your ass cheeks. I could push the tip against you as you open up for me while trying to keep the vampires in the building from hearing your moans.”
“Sounds too sweet. Maybe I want you to pin me against the wall and fuck me hard, slamming that nice cock into me until I can’t take any more. But right when you’re on the edge, I won’t let you come inside me until I give you permission to do so.”
“Give… me permission? Excuse me?”
“That’s fucking right.”
“Hmm…” That growl sure seems like he likes that.
I quickly pull the phone back and switch it to a video chat as I set the phone down so the first thing he gets to see is me stroking my cock. And the delight on Casimir’s face tells me he likes what he sees.
“Lean back. Let me see it all,” he says, so I kick my pants and underwear off, tossing them to the side as I lean back and give him a good view. My view is a perfect image of him, cock in hand. I suck on my finger, knowing spit isn’t the best lube, but it’ll work, and slide my hand down my thigh to my ass.
Pushing a finger inside myself, I watch the hunger in his expression. It makes pleasure rush through my body to see the approving look on his face. And there’s something thrilling about the idea that he’s jerking himself off in a building full of people… just for me.
My balls tighten as I reach my climax. I moan as I come, and apparently, he enjoys the view because he comes right after.
“You’re welcome,” I say.
His eyebrow lifts, a smirk on his handsome face. “I’m welcome?”
“You sure are. You seemed sad and lonely. I mean… with the way you hold hands, it has to be quite rusty down there.” I give him a grin and a wink before ending the call, pleased with myself.
My phone beeps and I assume it’s Casimir wanting to mention that he’s definitely not rusty down there, but I see it’s from Ezio.

Ezio: Clearly, the flowers worked like magic.
I stare at the phone for an uncomfortably long time before deciding that I’m just going to never show my face to him again and pull the pillow over my head as I melt onto the bed.
OceanofPDF.com
CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CASIMIR
It’s like my merry mood is thrown right out the damn window the moment I walk up to the council hall.
“The look on your face makes me think you’ve gathered everyone here today to murder them,” Julian says, which wouldn’t be fully wrong.
“It’s a high possibility.”
“You should have brought Gustov. The moment you pet him, you’re much calmer.”
“I don’t need a dog to keep me from killing people.”
The look on his face tells me that he’s not so certain about that—he even waves at himself—so I scowl at him. He just gives me a warm smile as we enter the building. Unlike yesterday, there are already people waiting inside. Of course, they’re segregated by wolves on one side and vampires on the other.
Though I plan to make a straight line to the front of the room, Julian stops in front of Genevieve. I’m prepared to keep going and leave him to the nonsense of small talk until he snatches up my hand and jerks me to a halt. There’s a brief moment where I consider dragging him to the front of the room so I don’t have to deal with this torture.
“You look so nice tonight!” he says to Genevieve who eats up shit like this.
She beams at him. “Gosh, you’re just the cutest. I could just devour you.”
“I’d prefer you didn’t!” Julian says, but she just laughs and kisses his cheek loudly. It’s irritating and I can’t help but glower at her as her eyes flicker over to me while she does it again.
“I see, only Casimir can nibble on you. How disappointing,” she murmurs as she runs her finger over his cheek.
Julian just laughs and tugs me over to the other side of the room where two wolves are smiling at him. “I’m so glad you two are okay,” he says. “Casimir, this is Olive and Willow.”
Neither of them seem to know what to do with this introduction as all of the wolves stare at them. I decide that I will help out by just giving them a nod and going on my way.
“Don’t mind Casimir. He’s shy,” Julian says.
Shy? I’m shy? Is he actually talking about me? I just think that all of this is absolute nonsense when I could be doing something else much more important like barking at them to listen.
“I don’t love meeting new people either,” the one called Olive says. “But Willow can chat your ear off.”
Olive holds her hand out and I hesitate before dropping Julian’s hand and shaking hers.
“It’s nice to meet you,” I say.
“Yeah… thanks for yesterday. I… I really appreciate it,” she responds.
“You’re welcome.”
And that’s when I see the asshole who bit Julian and turn my glare onto him. There’s really no use for him, so I will fling his body out into the road.
Julian, who is eerily good at reading me, grabs for me. “No! No, we’re being civil.”
“I’m going to civilly tear his body into two pieces. Why don’t you fight him and show him you’re stronger than him,” I suggest, because this could also be acceptable.
Julian sighs. “Or I could go, ‘Hey, Weston. It’s okay to see you.’ See? That wasn’t so hard. Try it with Steve.”
I look over at Steve who is just standing there looking like a dick. “Fuck you, Steve.”
“Fuck you too,” he growls.
“Needs some work but… you’ll get there,” Julian says as he continues down the line, greeting everyone with a smile on his face no matter who they are. I trail after him while wondering how he could be treated like shit by both vampires and weres, yet stand up there and merrily greet them all with a smile.
“Looks like everyone’s here. Want to start?” Julian asks.
I head up to the front of the room and look out at them all. “You need to fucking get along and if you don’t, I will remove you, dead or alive. Goodni⁠—”
“Not goodnight!” Julian says as he pats my back. “What a good opening! Thank you, Casimir, for reminding us that our lives are limited if we don’t listen. I’ve asked Detective Torres here today. He’s going to go over the past few incidents for us.”
Cyrus walks up to the front of the room as Ezio claps wildly for the human. He’s the only one who does, so it makes it all that much more awkward.
Cyrus quickly gives everyone a detailed report of what’s happened. It’s very factual and he seems quite happy when it’s over since I get the impression he doesn’t like speaking in front of a large group. The moment he finishes, Ezio returns to clapping with even more vigor than before.
“GOOD JOB!” Ezio shouts, which makes Cyrus grimace and hurry over to an open seat as far from Ezio as he can find.
Julian, who seems much more suited to this, takes front and center again. “I know tensions are high and we don’t have the best track record for getting along, but vampires and weres can peacefully coexist,” he says. “Look at us.” He reaches over and squeezes my hand. “We’re proof that we can get along. We can work together.”
“I’m not working with them!” Steve shouts as he quickly stands up.
“Then I will put you down right here and now,” I say, resulting in Steve slowly sitting back down, which disappoints me a little. I feel like it would’ve been nice to fling him out of the building along with Weston; that way I’m showing equal rights as I chuck both a were and a vampire.
Julian squeezes my hand. “Well… okay… maybe that’s not… the way, but it is effective. We need to remember that they’re trying to drive us apart. They’re using our instability to try to destroy us, but I firmly believe that if we work together, we can stop them.”
“It’s fucking vampires doing it! If there weren’t any vampires, we’d be safe,” Weston shouts.
“People are going to kill no matter what they are,” Cyrus says from his chair. “Humans are hurt and killed by vampires and werewolves more than anyone else, yet I do my job and still work with them. I find the culprit and I make sure they won’t kill again. Maybe they’d be safer without vampires or werewolves. But I know there’s been more than one time when I needed a vampire or werewolf to help me stop a killer.”
“Well said!” Ezio enthuses as he claps again. His hands are going to be sore by the time he’s done clapping for everything Cyrus does.
Olive raises her hand before realizing that no one else seems to be raising their hands and just speaks up. “Do we know anything about who is behind it?”
“I mean… I guess I assumed it was the guy who threw us from the building, but the others sure don’t listen to him like he is,” Julian responds.
“Elder vampires rarely do the dirty work,” Baldin says.
“I bet it’s Steve,” Genevieve chimes in.
“I concur,” I agree until Julian gives me a look. I clear my throat. “I concur that there’s probably someone pulling the strings.” Which is foolish when we could just place the blame on Steve.
“But we do know they’re somehow getting into our territory or have already taken refuge here,” Julian says. “And… I mean, I might not be the best at guessing ages, but the one we met at the apartment was quite old, right?”
“Yes,” I confirm. “Which means the one behind him will be even older. Likely even older than I am.”
“Until the full moon, we’ll try to help scout the territory,” Terrance says. “But I want my pack to stay together, which means we won’t be able to cover as much ground.”
“What if some of the vampires go with you guys? While you’re tracking, they can be guarding?” Julian says, and because he looks so damn cheerful while suggesting it, I’m not sure if anyone can even turn him down.
“That would be…” Terrance hesitates as Julian continues to give him an encouraging look. “Acceptable.”
“Fantastic! We could start by seeing if we can figure out where the vampires who attacked us last night came from,” Julian says.
“IDing them could help as well. Vampires tend to stick to their cliques,” Cyrus suggests.
“And I have access to the database that registers the vampires,” Ezio offers. “The likelihood of them being in it is slim, but there could be some trace of one of them.”
“This is excellent!” Julian says, looking positively thrilled.
I’m convinced that they’re just playing nice so they don’t have to deal with my wrath, but we’ll see how it goes from here, and Julian is kind of cute when he thinks people are actually getting along.
With Ezio in charge, we leave them to organize some groups that will search the areas the vampires had killed in. This leaves me alone with Julian who is thanking Cyrus for coming. Julian seems to be the only one Cyrus is fully at ease around, but he gives me a nod before heading out the door.
Julian turns to me and gives me a huge smile. “That went really well!”
“I’m positive ninety percent of them were just putting on a show.”
His smile falls a bit, and it makes me feel weird and bad for bringing him down. I’m not quite sure why I even care.
“Maybe. But you need to remember that change can’t be made overnight, okay? Sometimes change takes two baby steps forward and three giant leaps back. But as long as it keeps moving forward, you have to gently urge it along.”
“Hmm… you’re creeping me out.”
Julian starts laughing as he gives my shoulder a light push. “I’m creeping you out because I use words filled with kindness?”
“Stop, don’t use that tone with me.”
“With hope! And dreams!”
I give him a look. “Julian, I’m not joking. That shit gives me a rash.”
He laughs again, and it makes me smile for some ridiculous reason.
“You two are so smitten, it’s so cute!” Genevieve announces. “It’s almost enough to make me stop pursuing you two… but not quite.”
“It’s never going to happen,” I remind her.
“Oh, don’t be so cruel to me.” She grabs Julian and kisses his forehead again. “I’ve never had a wolf before.”
He smiles at her. “Ha ha… thanks for the offer? But it’s still a no.”
She kisses him again before noticing my glower. Julian and I might not actually be dating, but he’s not hers to play with. He is mine to play with and torture.
Terrance walks up, and Genevieve scrunches her nose and hurries off without another word. It’s also what I’d love to do so I wouldn’t have to interact with the man.
But Julian gives him a smile, as forgiving as always. “Hey, Dad! I’m glad you showed up. How’s your arm?”
“A small facture, so it’ll heal quickly.”
“Ow, I hope it’s better soon.”
Terrance looks between the two of us, then decides that’s enough civility for the night and heads off.
“He likes you,” Julian says.
I raise an eyebrow, certain he’s talking about someone else.
“In what world do you think that’s true?”
“In my magic world filled with rainbows and kittens! So many kittens!”
Sometimes I can’t help but wonder what goes on in his head. “Do they turn into humans because if they do, I’m going to pass.”
“Wouldn’t werekittens be the cutest?”
“Now if Gustov was a weredog…”
“Would you still force that haircut on him?”
“He loves his haircut. Are you coming back to sleep at my place?”
“Uh… yeah, but with the full moon coming in a couple of days, I’ll stay at my house that night. I have a fun little metal crate. It looks like a sex thing but it’s totally just so I don’t escape and chew on people.”
“Ah, I’m glad you cleared that up.”
“I mean… we could make it a sex thing,” he whispers.
“My interest is piqued. You know, I could lock you in a room or something.”
“Eh, I don’t trust being elsewhere. It’s supposed to be cloudy so it shouldn’t be too bad of a night. I usually lock myself in while it’s still daylight. But maybe you… could… make Ezio come sit at my house or something? There’s too much going on for you to waste a whole night staring at me, but Ezio…”
“Ezio would be the same amount of useful staring at you or out there.”
“Isn’t he like your… detective or whatever?”
“It’s literally a title he gave himself. He wanted me to call him Detective O for a while.”
“Why O? Wouldn’t it be E?”
“Whatever you do, don’t ask him.”
“Now I really want to ask him.” He’s eyeing Ezio because his curiosity is far too strong. And just like that, he trots off to ask. He should have listened to me because the moment he asks, Ezio presses him against the wall and tips his chin up before whispering something in his ear.
Julian looks scarred as he makes his way back to me. “You could have stopped me,” he whispers.
“It was more fun to watch you from here.”
“He… he talked about… detecting my O. And it was horrific… the way he said it.”
“I did warn you.”
“I don’t think I can look him in the eyes again.”
“It’s bad.”
“So bad,” Julian agrees.
“Yet look at him. He’s so proud. He thinks it’s sexy.”
“He does. That’s so sad. Pitiful, really. How can you be… what? Hundreds of years old and think that pickup line would work?”
“I firmly believe he gets more foolish every year instead of smarter, but yes, I’ll assign Detective O to watch you.”
“I… I would rather watch myself. Thank you.”
“Are you sure? He seems eager to come.”
Julian snorts at my awful joke, which tells me that maybe I haven’t gotten better at jokes in my hundreds of years.
I head toward the door to see what else I can glower at when I hear a noise to my right. “And you even joke with him! What is this?” Genevieve teases. “Did the vampire get tamed by the wolf?”
I decide it’s best to ignore her.
OceanofPDF.com
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

JULIAN
My phone rings just as I’m pulling into my driveway. It’s not dark yet, seeing as it’s seven thirty, but the sun will be setting here in twenty minutes. I know I didn’t give myself much time, but I wanted the least possible amount of time to be alone before Ezio arrived. As long as I’m in the house before dark and locked inside the metal crate before the moon can fully be seen, I’ll be fine.
“Hey, Mom,” I say as I answer the call.
“You’ve been suspiciously quiet lately. Have you deserted me for your phenomenal new boyfriend?”
“Ah, I forgot to tell you that was a joke,” I say as I grab my laptop bag and fast-food bag from the passenger seat.
Mom’s quiet long enough that I start to assume I lost the call.
“You… there?” I ask.
“Oh, I was just trying to mentally prepare myself. There was like… this moment where I was like ‘My beloved son would never lie to me and make me regret so many things that happened in my past.’”
“‘That happened’? Oh, is this about you telling Casimir you wanted him to suck the life out of you?”
“I did not tell him that. I said that in confidence and your brother ran off and told everyone who would listen.”
“And one of those people who chose to listen was my poor Casimir. He said he’s not sure he can even look you in the eyes again. It’s… traumatic. I’m not looking forward to our wedding where he has to face you again.”
“I can’t believe you lied to me.”
“Well… we did it in an attempt to help the vampires and weres get along. I’m… not positive it’s working but it’s sure doing something! You should see the look on Dad’s face every time he sees me! And I was going to tell you sooner, but I was having far too much fun.”
“Just… keep your nose out of things and be safe. It really sounds like you’re not. Oddly, it sounds like you’re looking for trouble.”
“I’m being super safe.”
“You better be. You want me to come over tonight?”
“No, a big bad vampire is actually going to sit with me.”
“That’s… good, I guess… I’m just worried that you’re getting caught up in things that could get you involved in something dangerous.”
I definitely won’t tell her about being chucked out the window… or being attacked in the woods… or dear god, the bomb. “I’m being super safe.”
“And the way you said that makes me feel like you’re not.”
“Super-duper safe.”
“You’re causing me stress.”
“Nah, don’t be stressed,” I say as I walk into the house and set my bags down. “I’m going to try to eat really quick before I go climb into my hidey-hole.”
“Okay. If you need me, let me know.”
“I will. I’ll make sure to howl loud enough for you to hear.”
“You better.”
“Love you.”
“Love you too,” she says before hanging up.
The smell of this cheeseburger is calling to me, so I grab it and pull it out as I text Casimir to ask how things are going. He responds with “Dreadfully,” so I really can’t tell if things are actually going poorly or if he’s being dramatic… which, let’s be honest, any time Casimir has to interact with others, he thinks it’s going dreadfully. It does make me wonder why he’s the leader of the territory if he hates people.
Just as I’m finishing up dinner, my phone rings again, and I see it’s Mom.
“I swear I just talked to you,” I tease.
“I was turning on the camera for your spare bedroom,” Mom says. It was one stipulation she’d made for allowing me to do my full moon shift alone. I refuse to let her stay in the house because I’m paranoid something will happen and I could attack her, but she worries about me being here alone. So we compromise by keeping a camera in the room where she can keep an eye on me to make sure I don’t escape… I’m not quite sure what she’d do if I did escape, but maybe she has an arsenal of tranquilizer guns I don’t know about.
“Yeah?”
“Your vampire friend… you didn’t mention they were already in the house.”
I toss the fast-food wrapper in the trash can. “No, he’s coming once it gets dark.”
“Then who the fuck is in your spare room?”
I hesitate as the question hits me. “What… do you mean?”
I take in a deep breath, pushing past the smell of the food that I’d been fixated on, and realize that I can smell another scent. “I have to call Casimir,” I say as I quickly hang up.
“Ohhh, don’t call Casimir,” Yorick says as he steps out of the spare room and into the hallway.
There’s no fucking way he’d just gotten here. He must have been here since last night. And while sunset is minutes away, his age and the cover of the house are offering him enough protection that it doesn’t seem to matter to him.
The issue is that Ezio can’t get here. Not yet. Not when he probably hasn’t even been able to leave his home yet.
I quickly try to hit Casimir’s number, but Yorick reaches me faster than I can do anything and chucks my phone.
His eyes are fixated on me like a dog watching a rabbit. “Why don’t you like me, Julian? I mean… maybe I threw you out the window, but I knew Casimir would grab you. And you look fine to me! I also kept those vampires from tearing you apart. Honestly, I’m your knight in shining armor.”
“I don’t need a fucking knight. Get out of my house.”
Yorick grins, flashing me his fangs as fear begins to creep across my body. “Oh? Well, that’s not very fun then, now is it? Not when I want to take care of you, Julian. Come on now. This territory is about to be turned into hell and I can protect you.”
I shove him back, but he snatches up my wrist and yanks me in so I’m flush against his body. His other hand grabs a fistful of my hair, forcing my head back and exposing my throat to him. I try to pull free, but his hand holds so tightly onto me that I can’t.
“Oh, Julian, come on now. You don’t mean that… do you?” he asks before running his tongue up my throat.
Fear latches on to me. He’s going to rip into my neck, and there’s nothing I can do about it. No! I have to fight; I have to get out of this situation.
I knee him in the balls, which of course does little more than irritate him, but I was hoping it’d help him loosen his grip.
“Julian, the moon is rising. What are you going to do? You’re going to lose control, but I can protect you.”
I jerk myself free of him as I realize that what he’s saying is horrifically true. If I’m not in that fucking metal box before the moon rises, I’ll have no control over myself. But how the hell could I lock myself inside with him here? Yet I have no choice. I have to get in and hope Ezio will arrive.
I have nowhere to go, so with ease, he drags me over to the window as that wild feeling of needing to shift rushes through me. “You’re going to go out there and slaughter those innocent humans because of pure stubbornness? Because you refuse me?”
“Let me go,” I beg as my eyes turn to that moon peeking out at me. There’s a war raging inside me, one of fear of the vampire pinning me against him and another of the fucking desire to shift. To run, to hunt, to fight…
No, no, no. I can’t shift. I can’t shift until I’m safe. I’ve seen the brutality werewolves leave behind on a full moon. I’ve gone with my father to help the people who’d been torn apart, whose loved ones had been killed while they’d been left behind with a curse that would haunt them until they die.
I can’t do that to someone.
Yorick is all smiles as he clutches onto me. “I could protect you, though. I could keep you safe. Now doesn’t that sound nice?” he asks as he kisses the top of my head.
I shudder as my body aches to shift.
“I can give you everything you ever wanted, Julian. I can treat you like a king. You would never have to live in fear. You would never have to want for anything because I’d give it all to you.”
“Let me go,” I growl, voice dripping with venom.
I feel like my wolf is trying to tear through me, rip out of my body and begin the hunt. I’m doing all I can to stamp it down, but the vampire holding on to me is causing the fear to strengthen.
Twisting hard, I escape him, but I can’t seem to get my human legs to work as I stumble and fall into the kitchen table, shoving it back a few feet as Yorick laughs. The sound is chilling, like he’s loving this as I fight against the darkness in me.
“This is impressive. I didn’t know a werewolf could hold out this long.”
I just have to hold out long enough for Ezio to get here. He won’t be long now. He’d have left his home the moment it turned dark. I can fight this uncontrollable desire down for a bit longer knowing he’ll be here soon and can help me.
“Julian, you can fight me all you want but I will not stop. And let me just say that the more you fight, the meaner I’m going to get,” Yorick says. “I’ve already decided you will be mine, and I’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen.”
“F… Fuck you,” I growl and try to rush past him, but my limbs get all jumbled and he grabs me and pins me to the wall.
“Ah, such a pretty mouth spits such nasty words.”
“I’ll kill you,” I threaten as the wolf inside me rages wildly.
“Nah, you won’t,” he says as he grabs me and starts dragging me back toward the door.
“No! STOP! Please,” I beg.
“Why would I stop now? When you’ve been so cruel to me and said so many unkind things?” Yorick asks as he throws me forward and I hit the cement driveway.
The moon is beating down on me as I claw at my arms, trying to do anything to distract myself. I feel like I need to rip this human skin off, let the beast out to roam, but I can’t. I can’t…
Fuck.
I roll onto my side, struggling to get up as I hit the ground again, digging my nails into the driveway as I see someone in the distance, a child chasing a ball that’s rolling toward the street.
My attention is fixated on her. My desire to hunt swells up⁠—
“Fuck,” I growl as I tear my eyes away and struggle to my feet. I need to get back into the house. I need⁠—
“Julian, it’s so simple. Just come to me and I will protect you,” Yorick says as he holds his arms wide open.
“You’re the one who put me in this fucking situation!” I snarl as I fall into the side of my car. As my hand slides across the hood, I realize I’m leaving blood on it from the bloody tips of my fingers.
“Oh, but I’m also the one who can take you out of the situation. You want to attack that little girl, don’t you? Tear into her.”
I rush for the house, but he grabs me and flings me back into the driveway. As I stumble back in an attempt to right myself, he rushes forward and catches up with me before tipping my chin up.
“Let me protect you. Let me save you,” he says, like I’m not in this situation because of him.
Anger tears through me as I lunge forward, losing myself to the shift as I clamp down on his throat. I can taste the blood, feel the flesh rip as I lose all control.
OceanofPDF.com
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CASIMIR
My phone rings, and when I see it’s Ezio, I pick it up. I’d generally debate ignoring him, but when he’s in charge of Julian, I can’t do that.
“Hello?”
“Someone attacked my baby.”
I hesitate, confused about what he’s talking about. “What?”
“My car! They came out of fucking nowhere and slammed into it. I ended up flipping the car in a ditch.”
“Did they attack you then?”
“No fucking idea what they wanted. They just disappeared… but my baby! Casimir, my baby.”
“You’re not with Julian?”
“I was heading there when they attacked—you don’t… you don’t think… they were trying to slow me down, right? Maybe you need to get to Julian. I wonder if they thought the car was yours since we ride in it together…”
“Fuck,” I snap as I hang up and rush right out of the meeting I’d just been heading into. Everything here is a mess, but there’s other shit that is much more important right now.
I dash down the stairs and jump into my car. If I can get myself out of the main part of town, it’ll be faster for me to ditch the car and run, so I swerve around vehicles as I try to call Julian’s phone, only for it to ring and ring.
I should never have left Julian alone. I should have kept him with me the entire time. But it’s barely dark out. Ezio had to have left his house while it was still light out, likely using the protection his car gives, so he couldn’t have been that far behind.
But for the vampire to be there already…
Was he there all day just waiting for Julian to come back?
If I keep driving, I have to follow the road until I reach the bridge that crosses the river, which takes me away from Julian’s house, so I pull the car into a parking lot and jump out before melting into the darkness where I can run without anyone noticing me. I race across the river and through the trees, aiming for the suburbs where I know he lives.
When I reach his house, I see the front door standing wide open and blood pooled on the driveway.
I kneel down and run my fingers through it, but it’s definitely not his blood. Did he manage to get back into the house?
Rushing inside, I go to the spare bedroom, but the metal crate stands empty.
“Julian! Julian!” a woman yells from behind me.
I turn quickly and find Julian’s mother standing in the doorway.
“Casimir! There was a vampire in his house. There’s blood on the driveway,” she says, voice shaky.
“It’s not his. Get back in your car and go home. We don’t know where he or the vampire are.”
“No, I can’t. If Julian hurt someone, it would destroy him… and if he killed someone—” Her face twists up with pain at the idea.
“Yes, and if he killed you, it would also destroy him. Get in your car. I’ll call you when I find him.”
She hesitates but slowly backs toward her car as I catch Julian’s scent. He’s bloody, so it helps me track him as I run toward the back of his house, into a field.
While it might seem like he’s running away from the city, werewolves know how to protect themselves through instinct. Sticking to the darkness and picking off people that are easy to target will be his main goal.
Running as fast as I can, I rush across the field, wishing I knew how far behind I was. He could have been running for twenty minutes for all I know. It depends on whether he dashed off the moment the sun set. I hesitate as I realize his scent has shifted, telling me he must have run this way. Following, I chase him through the darkness, the moon peering down at me, when I suddenly see a flash of movement.
My eyes fixate on him as I realize he’s stalking toward two teenagers walking down the street, oblivious to what’s moving in the shadows. Just as I hurry forward to stop him, I hear noise to my right and jerk back when that fucking vampire called Yorick moves toward me.
“Oh, no, no. Enjoy the show, Casimir,” he says, not getting close enough to engage in a fight with me. He’s smart to be wary of me because I’m prepared to kill him.
“You did this,” I growl.
Yorick laughs, like this is all just a huge joke to him. “Yes, I did! Because I know you think he’s yours, but he really does need a strong man like me to protect him. Imagine how distraught he’s going to be after gobbling up those kids!”
I rush toward him, wanting to slaughter this vampire, but he keeps dancing backward, knowing I won’t let too much distance get between Julian and me.
“What are you going to do? Chase me while he slaughters those innocent humans?”
One of them screams and I turn as the vampire cackles.
“Casimir, just remember that I get whatever the fuck I want,” Yorick says. “And right now, I want that wolf.”
I bolt forward as Julian lunges at the teenager. Trying to get away from him, she slams into the other, who goes crashing to the ground. Knowing I’m leaving my back open to the vampire, I speed over and grab on to the wolf, tearing him away before he can make a mistake that will haunt him forever.
“RUN,” I yell, and the teenager is up and fleeing with the other.
“Oh, that’s no fun!” Yorick shouts.
Julian snarls and twists as he snaps down onto my arm, jaws locking down a moment before he shakes his head, and pain tears into my limb as he breaks the bone. He doesn’t seem pleased with mauling me and springs off, wanting to chase down the teenagers. Rushing after him, I tear him to the ground, but in this state he’s uncontrollable. He thrashes and twists as I hear Yorick coming for me. My arm is healing, but it also seems to be a weak spot that Julian is trying to take advantage of.
“Let him play!” Yorick calls as I’m forced to hold Julian back to try to protect him. The man won’t stop laughing as Julian does everything in his power to break free to kill them or me. It’s whatever he needs to do to feed his desire.
Yorick knows that my arms are full and uses that to his advantage as he dashes toward me. I’m forced to drop Julian to fend him off, but before he can reach me, I see Ezio move onto the scene. Yorick draws back just as Julian bolts.
Since the teenagers have made it to their house, he seems to have become fixated on something else as he runs forward as fast as his paws can carry him.
Julian is fast, and it’s evident he’s doing everything he can to keep from being caught by me. I don’t know if he’s caught sight of someone else or just wants to get away from me, but I have to stop him before he gets too far. Racing forward, I grab on to him and tackle him to the ground. He swings his head around and tries going for my throat, and while I don’t think he’s strong enough to kill me, I don’t want to hurt him while trying to get him to stop.
“Julian, stop!” I say, trying to use my aura on him. While it doesn’t work as well on weres as it does on humans, I can usually get some reaction out of them, but it doesn’t seem like he can hear me or even focus on me.
He thrashes and nearly slips out of my hands as I try my hardest to hold him still. He kicks me hard and bites me, proving to me just how strong he is.
“Julian, you’re fine. Just stop.”
He throws himself at me, knocking me back onto my ass.
Can I actually get this thing back to the house? I guess if I just start running while clinging on to him, I’d probably make it as long as that fucking vampire isn’t around to harass me into dropping him.
Julian clamps down tightly on my arm, but his struggling seems to calm a little. “Hey, Julian. Can you hear me?”
His fangs are still dug in deep, but he seems to be listening orrrr maybe he’s just enjoying the taste of my blood. Who knows, but it’s calmed him down. I hug him to me, my fingers sinking into his thick black fur.
“You done?” I ask, not quite sure he is since, to my understanding, weres remain out of control until the sun rises. “You’re not supposed to be so stubborn.”
His blue eyes flick up to mine, making me wonder if he can hear me. Running my fingers through his thick fur, I try to soothe him.
“You can’t just go chew on random people after preaching kindness. Hell, after you complain about me threatening to off them, you can’t be the one who actually does it.” He’s sprawled across my legs as I debate trying to unhinge his jaws from my arm. Slowly, I reach over and try to retrieve my arm from his teeth.
Julian growls at me, but I move slowly enough that he lets me retract my arm from his mouth.
“Thank you for allowing me to have that back,” I say.
He’s still lying on top of me, watching me closely. It’s like he wants to know every single move I make, but he’s doing it quietly, so I’ll take it.
“Let’s see if we can get you home,” I say as I try to get up with him in my arms, but the moment I start to lean forward, he begins to flail, so I sit back down and he settles.
I pull out my phone and he proceeds to growl at it. “Knock it off,” I snap as I call Ezio.
“Heya!” Ezio announces.
“I see you’re still alive.”
“I sure am! The vampire seemed to think fighting the two of us wasn’t ideal and he trotted off. I tried to catch him but the fucker’s fast… and I’m going to be real honest. I think if he decided to fight and you were too far away, he’d probably kill me. Did you catch up with the fury floof?”
“I did.”
“Did he eat anyone?”
“Not yet. I have him held here but every time I try to move, he gets angry. Can you tell his mother I have him?”
“Sure, sure. What’s she look like?”
“I don’t know… a woman?”
“Oh lovely! I’m so glad you’ve graced me with such a beautiful description. What’s her name?”
“I… don’t remember! Stop asking me such stupid questions.”
“You don’t remember your future mother-in-law’s name? Oh, Casimir, you need to work on that.”
“How about you work on going to tell her he’s fine?”
“Yes, yes, excuse me while I wander the streets and tell every woman I see who might be his mother.”
“Good.”
I leave him to it and turn my attention back to Julian who is still staring at me. I’m not sure if this is some kind of werewolf ritual I’m not privy to, or maybe he’s just sizing me up to figure out the best way to devour me. Either way, he’s quiet and I’ll take it.
“Do you want to go back to your house?” I ask as I slowly try to stand again. He growls, prepared to strike again, so there I am, sitting in the middle of some field with a wolf fixated on me.
“How the hell did you end up in my life?” I ask as I reach out to his face. He growls, showing me some pretty impressive fangs, but I persist, sliding my fingers into the fur on the side of his face and tugging his ear.
Julian slowly stops growling and leans into my touch.
“If you knew who I was, you wouldn’t be so kind to me,” I say.
He’s back to watching me closely, his head tilted into my hand.
“I’ve hurt and killed so many people that I don’t deserve this kindness. I don’t deserve someone like you trying to make me a better person.”
Fuck.
I dig my fingers into his fur as I lean back, squeezing him to me. It’s odd being able to sit here and tell him anything, knowing he isn’t going to remember it. Because how the fuck do I tell him that? How the fuck do I tell him what a monster I am and expect him not to despise me?
He’s still watching me, blue eyes fixated on everything I do. Pulling him up higher, I squeeze him to me. He closes his eyes and sinks down onto me, no longer fighting against me. Is it his half-human nature that’s made him easy to calm down?
Honestly, I don’t know what it is, but even now that he’s calmed down, I find myself not wanting to pick him up. All I want to do is sit here and hold him as the night stretches on because I like pretending I deserve a person like him.
I can run my fingers over his fur and listen to the noise nature makes as I keep him close.
As morning nears, he shifts back into his human form, but he doesn’t wake up, even when I pick him up and carry him back to his house. I set him down on his bed and lift his hands where I see the tips of his fingers are bloody. I can’t tell if he hit the ground and scuffed them or what happened, but they’re not too severe and once he wakes up, we can clean them. I pull a blanket over him before covering the window and pushing his dresser in front of it to guarantee the light is blocked for the most part. I’m old enough I wouldn’t immediately die from some light creeping in, but I still have no interest in testing it.
I text Ezio to bring Gustov since I won’t be able to get to him in the morning. And while I finish blocking the windows to keep the sun out once it rises, Ezio knocks on the door. I walk over to it and find him waiting with an excited Gustov. There’s no car in the driveway, so he either ran the whole way here carrying Gustov or paid for a ride.
“Hey, I finally found his mother, no thanks to you,” he says.
“Was she sitting in a car in the driveway?” I ask.
Ezio refuses to look at me as Gustov prances around. I notice his hair is in pigtails for some reason and scowl at Ezio. “Did you treat him with cruelty?”
“What? He pulled it out and I fixed it. I made it even cuter.”
“No.”
“You’re so fussy. Do you want me to stay with Julian?”
“Absolutely not.”
“So touchy. Here.” He hands me Gustov’s leash and a bag with dog food as he smiles. “There you go. Have fun curling up with the floofs.”
I grunt at him.
“I told that prick as he ran off that he’s picked a fight with the wrong guy. I also left a present in his pocket.”
“I’m scared to ask what that is.”
“My car keys.”
“Why?”
“You ask why?” Ezio flashes me his phone. “My key ring has a tracker on it since I kept… forgetting them at random houses.”
I grab his phone and look at the map with a little red dot. Have I wrongfully accused Ezio of being useless this entire time?
“I’ll need you to watch Julian during the evening,” I decide.
“Or maybe I could help you?”
“Watch Julian.”
“Fine, fine. I suppose it is the more important job. I will pamper both the puppers.”
“I see. Thank you for being useful.”
“You say that like I’m not always useful,” Ezio says as he dramatically leans against the doorframe like he’s going to pose for me.
When I ignore him, his stance falters a bit. “You’re so evil at heart. Be safe here. You don’t want to burn into a crisp. That would not be super fun.”
“I like how you imply that it could just be regular fun.”
“Right?” He gives me a happy smile as he stuffs his hand into my pants pocket, grabs my keys, gives my face a soft pat, Gustov a pet, and proceeds to get into my car and drive off.
With him gone, I head back to Julian’s room. He’s dead to the world, even when Gustov leaps into his bed and flops down on top of him. Since the sun will be up soon, I don’t worry about him shifting and running off on another rampage, so I jump into the shower before grabbing some of his clothes which I pull on before climbing into the bed with Gustov between us.
And I question again… what the hell I’m doing.
OceanofPDF.com
CHAPTER NINETEEN

JULIAN
When I wake, I find myself drowning in… fur? Reaching out, I pat the space in front of me before realizing that I’m cuddling a dog. A few more pats, and I realize that the curly hair must belong to the one and only Gustov. And beyond Gustov is… Casimir.
How did I…
I hesitate as the memories from last night flood in. Reaching for my neck, I rub at the scars left behind by the vampires that had tried killing me as memories of Yorick’s harassment come back. And then the realization that I’d raced off to hunt. I’d lost myself to my wolf…
Quickly, I sit up, wishing that I could remember what happened. Did I hurt anyone? Attack someone? What if I killed someone?
“You only gnawed on me,” Casimir says, like he can read my mind.
I look over at him in the darkness of the room. “Are you sure?”
“One hundred percent sure. You chased after some teenagers as soon as you turned, but I caught up to you before you got to them. Neither were bitten or scratched. Then you ran off into the field where we wallowed around in the mud a bit before you chewed on my arm like a bone and then took a nap.”
“I… took a nap?” I ask in disbelief.
“Yeah. You’ve been asleep like eight hours.”
“I’ve been asleep for eight hours? What the hell kind of werewolf am I?”
“Apparently a very tame one,” he says. “All I had to do was pet you and you slept on my lap like a little puppy.”
“I… I’m kind of embarrassed about all of the hassle I caused before just… napping. You put me back in the crate?”
“Nope. You would get cranky every time I tried getting up.”
I look at him in disbelief. “You sat out in a field with me the entire night?”
“Close to it,” he admits, and I feel weird about making him do that for me. But more than anything…
“Thank you,” I say. “I really… I really can’t thank you enough for keeping me from hurting anyone.”
“I had nothing else to do than sit out in a field as the dew soaked through my pants while holding a cranky wolf.”
I smile at that. “I’m sure you didn’t. Why didn’t you go home to sleep? It isn’t safe in here.”
“I’m fine. It’s already daylight now.”
“Go sleep in the closet.”
“No, I’m fine here.”
“But if you burned up in my bed, I’d have to get a new bed and I really like this one.”
“You’d probably have to get a whole new house. Imagine the stench.”
I sink back on my bed. “You’re not wrong.”
“I’m never wrong,” he says. I roll onto my side and pet Gustov.
“Thank you… thank you so much, Casimir. If I’d have… hurt someone or… killed them. I don’t know how I could live with myself.”
He’s quiet and I hesitate, feeling suddenly like I said something wrong, but I don’t know what it is.
“Casimir?”
“You’re too fucking kind for this world,” he says, then rolls away so his back is facing me.
Is it because I mentioned how horrible I’d feel if I killed someone? I guess… he has killed people to save me… is that what’s upsetting him?
“Cas… is this… those people you killed, you killed them to protect me. There’s a huge difference between me killing some teenager walking down the street and you killing a vampire that’s hurting and killing others.”
He doesn’t say anything, and that just doesn’t sit right with me, so I push past Gustov and climb on top of him.
“Are we having sex?” he asks, clearly jumping to the wrong idea.
“No, I didn’t know how else to get your attention,” I say as I sit on his stomach and look down at him. “Sometimes it’s hard to tell who is good or bad. Sometimes it’s hard to know who to trust or who to forgive. But, Casimir, you saved me. You saved those teenagers I could have killed. You saved Gustov. You saved my father just the other night, you saved Olive and Willow who are two of the sweetest people. You even saved jackass Weston.”
I reach down and cup his face in my hands. “It’s always so easy to get caught up in our heads. It’s not always easy to get out and look at all the good we’ve done.”
He’s watching me closely and I can’t tell if he believes me or not. “If we’re not going to have sex, get off.”
“No, we’re going to snuggle.”
“I don’t want to snuggle. I want to sleep and sulk.”
I roll down to lie on the bed beside him. “Here’s the issue, Cas, I want to snuggle.”
“We’re not even dating. None of this is real. Stop acting like it’s real.”
“I snuggle with everyone. Especially those who look like they don’t want the love,” I say as I roll onto my side and grab him. I hug his face to my chest and as he tries to struggle away, I hook him with my leg so he can’t escape.
“What the fuck is this? I should have left you outside and gone home,” he growls.
“No, I’m showing you the love.”
“I don’t want love, you hear me? All I want is to sleep and sulk.”
“You might not want it, but you need it. You need someone to tell you that you are pretty. You are strong. You are muscular.” I pat his chest. “Very toned.”
Casimir growls at me. “This is weird.”
“Good. I love it when my victims are confused by the weirdness.” I pet his head that’s still smashed against my chest from where he’s lying next to me. “I’m not joking, Casimir. I don’t know what upset you, and you don’t have to tell me, but I do want you to know that whatever I say is all that matters.”
“I kind of feel like that’s not true.”
“It is.” I continue to pet him.
“Your hands are hurt; you should go clean them up and stop touching me.”
“No, that’s okay. Your displeasure is healing them,” I say since they’re nearly already healed. And, more than anything, I want to make Casimir feel better, even if he’s pretending that it’s causing him misery. “Thank you. What you did means more to me than you’ll ever know.”
He doesn’t say anything, but he does stop struggling. “Are you finally going to sleep?”
“Well… I did already sleep for eight hours but I could probably cradle you until you fall asleep,” I say. “I’m a bit terrified of that Yorick guy, so I’ve decided that if I remain attached to your face, you will protect me.”
“You won’t have to worry about him soon,” he says, his voice quiet.
“That’s… that was kind of sexy.”
His look tells me that he kind of likes that. “Hm.”
“Like… do I stay attached to your head while you maul him?”
“I’d prefer not. I would likely get my head cut off since I currently can’t see anything.”
“Fine, fine,” I say with a smile. I think Casimir assumed that I would now let go of him, but I refuse. After a long moment, he relaxes into my touch and slowly drifts off to sleep. I’m not very tired so I end up just lying there, mind racing.
What am I getting myself into? And why can’t I turn away from him?

My phone beeps so I pick it up just as I swing the fridge door shut. The phone’s screen is cracked from Yorick tossing it, but it’s still usable.

Casimir: I am bored. Entertain me.
“Is he always this needy, Gustov?” I ask the dog.
“I CAN HEAR YOU,” Casimir shouts from the bedroom he’s locked in where he can avoid the sun.
“Sounds scary,” I say as I grab the sandwich and chips I made myself for lunch and walk back into my bedroom where Casimir is creepily standing in the corner.
“Why are you standing there like that?”
He glances over at me. “I am bored.”
“I heard.”
“I was listening to your neighbors bitch at each other. It’s fun to hear their petty bickering. Would you like me to eat them?”
“No, that’s okay. You can hear them from here?”
“They literally just walked by outside, bitching the whole way.”
“Ah.”
He tsks. “You are horribly unobservant.”
“Or maybe I just don’t creep on my neighbors,” I say as I head over to the bed. Halfway there, Casimir stops me and grabs my hand to examine it.
“Your fingers are hurt.”
“Yeah, at some point my brain went, ‘You know how we should get out of this situation? Claw at the cement until our fingers bleed!’ But honestly, they’re fine. They’re nearly already healed.”
“I see that,” he says as he sucks one of my fingers. It’s kind of sexy in a weird way. Like my brain is going “You know he’s trying to find any sign of blood” and my dick is going “Sexy man suck.”
“I’m actually surprised you didn’t lick me clean,” I comment.
“I can now,” he says, and ohhhh, is that tempting.
“Nah, you can watch me eat my sandwich, though.”
“Oh fascinating. I’m so excited,” he says dryly. “Should I be naked for it?”
“It’s possible,” I tease as I sit down on the bed. The moment I pick up the sandwich, Gustov is watching me with obvious interest, even though the empty food bowl in my kitchen tells me that he’s already been fed. “How old are you?”
His eyes shift to me. “How old do you think I am?”
“You’re clearly decrepit. Soooo… three hundred?”
Casimir stares at me and I can’t tell if it’s because I called him decrepit or my guess was that far off.
“Of all the wolves in the world, you are the one I stumble on. It’s a wonder I haven’t eaten you,” he says.
“I’m just awesome like that. Was I close?”
He shrugs. “I have lived three hundred years, yes.”
“Four hundred?”
“Does it matter?”
“Yes! Yes it does. Ooh… Five hundred?”
“Five hundred and three.”
Now that surprises me. I knew he was old, but I didn’t realize he was that old. Imagine all the shit he’s seen. “Oh damn… you really are old. I’m old too.”
“You’re like thirty.”
“Thirty-one.” I chew as I think of my next question. “Sooo… does it get boring?”
“What?” he asks. “Staring at you eating that sandwich? Like who eats like that?”
I pause my sandwich eating. “Oh my god! Don’t judge me. The crust is hard, so… Gustov wanted it!”
“You’re like a chipmunk just chewing away in a weird circle.”
“Stop! Let’s get back to questioning you! Answer the question. You hear stories of people getting tired of living forever. So is living five hundred years boring?”
“I don’t know. Sometimes I get tired of my life but then some strange wolf thing comes along and harasses me.”
I raise an eyebrow. “How have I harassed you?”
“That… cuddle was plenty of harassment,” he says as he watches me scrape the crust off into Gustov’s mouth for a treat. Gustov is thrilled by this, his tail wagging the whole time.
“Whoops, my crust fell. Okay, so I get that. Have you moved around a lot?”
“I usually get up and walk around every day. Sometimes it’s even multiple times a day.”
“You are so dreadful to talk to.” I scrutinize him as I take a chip and toss it at him, feeling like that should be his punishment for being sassy.
Casimir smacks it down and Gustov merrily eats it.
“Why are you the boss of the territory if you absolutely despise dealing with people?”
“I don’t despise dealing with people.”
I think back on all of the times I’ve seen him interact with others. Honestly, he really only seems to get along with me, which is odd. “You’ve suggested a battle royale, you’ve asked to chuck Steve to his death, you’ve threatened everyone, and you really only seem to like me.”
“It’s all fake.”
“You liking me?”
“Yep.”
“Nah, we cuddled. That’s how I know it was real.”
“It was an unapproved cuddle.”
“You sank right down into my bosom. Now answer the question.”
He sighs all dramatic like. “It wasn’t planned. I’ve been respected for years because of my authority and power, and after a while, I suddenly realized I had a small following of people who relied on me for protection. As the years changed, more and more followed me. Can’t really say it was planned, but… maybe I was bored… and maybe this gives me something to do besides stare at Gustov. Did you look at how cute he is today?”
“I did. I love the pigtails. I can tell you did that with love bursting out of your heart.”
Casimir scowls and hurries over to fix Gustov’s hair… why he thinks one single poof on the top is better than two, I’ll never know. “How about for every question you have, I will only answer once you produce another artwork of Gustov?”
“I’m starting to think that’s the only reason I’m still around. Sure. I will paint more pictures of him when I’m done eating.”
“What about your hands? You wolves are so pesky with your wounds.”
“Nah, they’re all good. If they weren’t, I would have suckled your blood some. I need to grab a canvas. What about a big motherfucker? Let me go find my biggest canvas and I’ll use acrylics this time. I was saving it to paint Ezio in the nude, but I could get another one.”
His eyes snap over to me. “Excuse me?”
“It’s what he asked for.”
“Do not paint him at all.”
That makes me grin at him. “You almost sound jealous. Remember you mentioning that this was all fake?” I ask as I wave between us.
When he scowls, I give him a wink and hurry off to grab my supplies.
OceanofPDF.com
CHAPTER TWENTY

CASIMIR
“Please… Please stop!” the werewolf cries as it wallows around on the floor. “I… I don’t think I can do even one more painting of Gustov.”
“When did you become so weak?” I ask as I look down at him and then over at my stack of paintings. “Did you forget I wanted two per room?”
“Then maybe you need a smaller house,” he says as he crawls toward me while holding his hand up. “My hand is cramping. My eyes are strained.”
“What the fuck is going on in here?” Ezio asks as he peeks into the room before gasping. “Oh my heavens above and hell down below, Casimir! What did you do to that sweet wolf? What were you making his hand do for it to be cramping?”
“Sweet wolf? Wasn’t it just like a week ago you refused to shake my hand?” Julian asks. “And don’t make it sound like I was jerking him off until my hand cramped. I’m much better than that. I’d have him coming before my hand even gets tired. Trust me.”
“He is,” I concur.
“I was helping you,” Ezio growls.
That dawns on Julian. “Oh, right. Ezio! Please! Save me!”
Ezio scoops Julian up in his arms before giving me an incredulous look. “What did you do to him? Were you hurting him?”
“I was having him paint Gustov,” I say as I proudly hold up the paintings. “Look! They might have taken tears, sweat, and blood, but none of it was mine, so it’s fine.”
Ezio dumps Julian on the bed and hurries over to the paintings. “Oh my.”
“Right?” I ask, beaming at them. They’re fantastic. I don’t even know why Julian needs to work as a professor; he could dedicate his life to paintings of Gustov because they’re phenomenal.
“These are amazing!” Ezio says before his attention snaps to Julian. “You must paint me, and I will gift it to Cyrus!” And then he tears his pants and shirt off like they’re Velcro clothes, which they most certainly are not. He doesn’t have underwear on underneath so there he stands, his torn clothes fluttering to the ground as he strikes a pose. “Cyrus will be thrilled!”
I take one look at Julian’s scrunched-up face of disgust and I can’t help but smile. “And that is my cue to leave,” I say as I head out of the room. How foolish of me to even think I should care about Julian painting a naked Ezio! The look of horror on his face is enough to assure me that all is fine.
Not that… I care. But I just… I mean, I don’t want him to paint Ezio… or enjoy painting him.
Just as I reach the door, Julian comes racing after me. “Ha ha. I know you said you had some work to do, but I would like to go with you. You can pretend I’m a dog. I can sit on your feet and keep them warm. Please. Anything to keep me from having to be alone with that man. Please.”
I unbutton my shirt about three buttons and Julian’s eyes drop down to my bare chest. There is clear interest dancing across his expression.
Ohhhhh, I definitely didn’t need to fret about him being alone with a naked Ezio.
Why does this please me so much?
“You stay here and maybe talk to Ezio about how Cyrus would be a Cry-us if Ezio delivered him a portrait of himself.”
The look on Julian’s face is suddenly much like the one he’d given Ezio. Did my joke plummet his sex drive that significantly? It was supposed to be witty! And funny! And now… now the look he’s giving me makes me feel like I’m as low as Ezio. As Ezio!
“I… I hope you’re taking some comedy classes as well,” he whispers.
“I would never have to pay someone to make me funny. I simply tell them that if they don’t laugh, I will eat them.”
“Ha ha ha. Cryus! That’s the funniest thing I’ve ever heard. Although… maybe I want you to eat me…”
The tone he uses makes me realize that maybe I could throw Ezio out and devour this fine man. Fuck. Nope. I have to kill Yorick, and then I can come back to him. “It wasn’t… just stay here with naked Ezio and shield Gustov’s eyes.”
“But there’s no one to shield my eyes.”
“I will shield them!” Ezio says as he appears—quite naked—behind Julian and covers his eyes.
Julian’s entire body stiffens, likely from disgust. “Casimir, please… please don’t leave me. I’m a good boy. I will quietly sit in the corner. I will let your coworkers pet my tummy while I wag my tail. Please…”
“Julian, just stare out the window and wag your tail as you watch every car that passes, hoping it’s me.”
“Ha, funny.”
“Come on, Julian, we have things to do!” Ezio says, and him dragging Julian off is the last thing I get to see before Ezio slams the door shut. I head out to the car, but before I can start it, Ezio appears outside my window. Still naked.
“Don’t you think that someone should go with you?” he asks.
“No.”
“Why?”
“No.”
“You can’t answer no to everything.”
“I can.”
“Casimir, you are the most stubborn man I’ve ever met, but we are like brothers. I would miss you so much if you died.” He hesitates before going, “I wonder if Cyrus would comfort me…”
“Now you’re thinking that maybe I should get murdered. Your face tells me you’re tempted by the idea.”
“No, no, no. Listen here. So say you take five evil people and make them fight one good person. Would that one, lonely, single person fare as well as five evil people against like ten vampires and twenty wolves?”
“Yes.”
He looks at me in disbelief. “They would not!”
“Then maybe you need to learn some better math,” I growl.
“My math is phenomenal.”
“You told me you ate your math teacher.”
“Yes, maybe he was confusing as fuck, but he tasted divine and my math never suffered because of his loss.”
I sigh, wondering how this is doing anything but delaying me. “Go in the house. I have this handled.”
“Fine, but don’t be all mangled and dead the next time I see you or I’ll have to treat Julian to a real man.”
“Now I know you’re not talking about yourself,” I say.
“Ezio, what the fuck?” Julian yells as he comes rushing out. “The neighbor is staring at you.”
I lean forward to see that the neighbor is getting a good eyeful of Ezio’s naked ass as he leans down to speak to me. He’s got his legs spread enough that I’m sure he’s getting a decent eyeful of his balls as well.
“And do they like what they see?” Ezio asks, not finding any issue with this.
“Casimir, please take me,” Julian whines, but in response, I simply back out of the driveway and leave them to it. Julian is staring at me much like Gustov does when I leave him for the day, and Ezio is trying to figure out which neighbor got a good look at him.
I head for my home and park out front before stepping inside the empty house. It’s strange without Gustov here to prance after me. He’ll have more fun waiting with Julian than staring out the window wondering when I’ll get home.
I hurry into one of my spare bedrooms. Pulling my keys out, I unlock the door that always remains locked up tight and step inside. There’s nothing in the room but a chest and a weapons stand that holds a katana and a wakizashi. My hand hovers over the chest as turmoil roils inside me, but I shove it down and grab the two sheathed blades, one longer and one short.
With my vampire strength and speed, my hands alone work phenomenally, but the reach of a weapon gives me an advantage. Standing up, I look down at the chest that’s taunting me. Even staring at it makes the world close in around me, like the walls are caving in and spinning. Uncontrollable rage boils up inside me as I fixate on it, wishing more than anything I could fucking destroy it.
I kick the chest hard and it skids across the floor before slamming into the wall. It punches a hole in the drywall, but the chest remains perfectly intact. I want to tear it apart but there’s a part of me inside that chest. A part of me that I’m not ready to face. Not yet, anyway.
The weapons are like weights in my hand as I carry them out the door before locking it. The idea of someone else facing that chest is almost worse than me having to do it.
Once I’m down the stairs, I hurry out to my car and toss the blades into the passenger seat. They clatter into each other from the rough treatment, and I find myself immediately grabbing them and pulling them back to my lap. With the hilts in one hand and sheaths in the other, I sit in the driveway for a long moment before I take a deep breath and separate them. The curved blades of both the katana, a long sword, and the wakizashi, a short sword, are both still perfectly pristine, resulting from the rigorous care they’ve received, as I had treated every blade that’d been gifted to me all those years ago. I close them and start the car.
Hopefully this Yorick man has decided to stay in tonight since I don’t have the desire to hunt him down. Hell, I’ll just wait for him to come back if he’s left, like he did to Julian. But I won’t taunt and terrorize him, I will slaughter him.
The drive isn’t long, about thirty minutes, but it’s outside my territory and into an area that is unclaimed. It means they are technically free to stay there without permission, but what they aren’t free to do is come onto my land and hunt my wolf.
I park my car about a mile from the location Ezio’s key ring showed before getting out and grabbing my swords. I leave their sheaths behind—I have no interest in sheathing them until I’m done with my task for the night.
I move toward an old school that closed down years ago. There are only fields on all sides of it, and a patch of trees across from it, so the closest house is about a quarter of a mile away. Seeing that there isn’t much activity in the area, the vampires probably find it to be a safe home base when they aren’t busy fucking with my territory.
Just as I’m passing through the trees that are across the road from the school, I hear someone above me and step back as they drop down where I’d stood.
“Oh, the king himself stepped down from his throne to come say hi,” a familiar woman says with a snide smile.
“Of course you’re here, Nikki. You’ve made a mistake associating yourself with those who think it’s their right to let themselves onto my land and harass my people. I thought you were upset over Geo’s death, but instead you’re joining the ones who killed him.” Was it all a show as she’d cried over her maker when Ezio and I had tried to figure out who had killed the two vampires in the woods?
“It’s not a mistake,” a man says from behind me. “You’ll understand once you meet him.”
“If you meet him,” Nikki adds with a giggle as the two circle me. They want to toy with me, harass me, and then be the ones to announce that they’ve killed me. They would love those bragging rights… too bad they’re not going to live long enough to even tell anyone they faced me.
Nikki rushes forward, but I know the man will be the first to attack. He wants my focus on her before he strikes, but I turn fast, driving the wakizashi deep into his chest with my left hand and cutting his head clean off with the katana in my right.
A noise escapes Nikki, like she’s shocked she came to this fight only to find death at the end of it. She roars out as she lunges forward, prepared to strike, but the only thing that will welcome her is death if she chooses to get in my way.
Without hesitation, I turn as she comes at me. She seems to think better of it as she tries to pull back, but it’s too late.
I let her body drop to the ground before moving toward the school.
They will all die. Every last one of them will be slaughtered by my hands. They can beg, they can run, or they can fight. It will all end the same way.
With them dead.
And Julian safe.
No… my territory safe. I’m not doing this just for Julian. It’s for my territory… for the people in it…
I push those thoughts back and continue forward, moving at a quicker pace as I reach the door and kick it in.
A man tries to stop me the moment I enter, but the effort is futile.
I flick his blood off my sword as I keep walking forward, down the long hallway where I kill two more before I find Yorick standing at the very end.
“Well… this wasn’t exactly what I had planned for the evening,” he says as he cocks his head. “Hold on… did you actually come alone? How foolish can you be? But don’t worry, I’ll take care of your wolf when you’re gone.”
He seems so fucking cocky and irritating. Does he really not understand what he’s done?
“You will not touch him,” I say, voice quiet as I walk toward him. The only noise in the hallway is the sound of his shoes echoing off the walls as he walks toward me while the world around me caves in until all I can see is the enemy standing before me.
The man who needs to die.
OceanofPDF.com
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

JULIAN
“Why do you keep staring at your phone?” I ask as we sit on the couch trying to watch TV since it sounded leagues better than torturing sweet Cyrus with a painting of Ezio’s naked ass.
“Can I not stare at my phone?” Ezio asks.
“It’s the way you’re doing it. It’s suspicious as hell.”
Ezio grimaces as he falls onto his side… it’s all very dramatic and ridiculous, due in part to his clothes. He’s currently wearing my clothes since his still lie in shreds on my bedroom floor. I made sure to find him the most ridiculous outfit to wear, like the ugly Christmas sweater I wore to my dad’s Christmas party that, if you look close enough, has a cartoon Santa taking a piss. Everyone but my dad loved it, and that’s really what the Christmas spirit is all about.
And then I put him in a pair of pants that are too snug on him. He noticed no issues with either item as he pulled them on.
“Ezio,” I growl.
“Casimir knows the location of that asshole vampire and ran off to fight him!” he blurts out.
“BY HIMSELF?” I growl.
He grimaces. “Yes!”
I can’t believe this! Wait… yes, I can. This one hundred percent sounds like something he would do. Why the hell are vampires so freaking stubborn? Or is it just the ones I choose to interact with? “And you never thought to… I don’t know, tell someone?”
“He’s scary! You know how scary he is.”
“Where is he going?”
“You’re going to go?” Ezio asks in surprise.
“Yes, I’m going to go!” I don’t know how much help I’ll be, but I can’t let him do this alone!
He hesitates. “What if you just get in the way?”
“Then… I’ll just… no… I can help!” I say, determined. I might not be as strong as them or as useful, but I can’t stand the idea of Casimir out there trying to tackle this alone. “Even if I have to be a distraction, or we could sneak in to see if he needs help.”
After a moment, Ezio nods. “Okay. Yeah… let’s go.” He jumps up and we rush to the door where we cram on our shoes and hurry through, leaving behind Gustov who looks at us like he’s unsure what he’s done to be left behind.
Since Ezio’s car was destroyed—a tale I had to hear about countless times since he arrived—he hops into the driver’s seat of my car and throws it into reverse.
“If we had my sweet, sweet ride, we’d already be there by now,” he declares.
“I’m not so sure we would be, seeing as you’ve only managed to pull out of the driveway, but I do know if you’d told me the truth earlier, we could have stopped him before he ran in alone.”
“He’s very convincing and a little scary, alright?”
I raise an eyebrow. “Casimir’s literally the least scary vampire,” I say. Honestly, he’s the only vampire who doesn’t make me feel a little nervous after the attack. Like Ezio isn’t bad, mostly because he seems to be easily distracted by… everything in life, but Casimir no longer makes me feel anxious.
He always makes me feel at ease.
“You have it bad if you don’t think Casimir’s scary. He’s fucking terrifying,” Ezio says as he shivers.
I scowl as I glance over at him. “I don’t… have it bad. I just don’t think he’s scary.”
Ezio gives me a shrug that tells me he doesn’t believe me at all. But for now, I just ignore it as he drives. He manages to make it out of town without attracting the attention of any cops and pulls the car over when he sees Casimir’s car sitting on the side of the road. I’m undressing before I even get out of the vehicle, so the moment it’s stopped, I throw the door open and shift.
Ezio takes off, and I rush after him as he makes his way through the trees before the thick smell of blood stings my nose. Ezio stops next to a body but doesn’t even bother looking at it before he takes off again.
I hesitate, but it’s clear Casimir’s been through here.
When we reach the front door of an abandoned school, we find the door hanging open. I tentatively follow Ezio through the door on quiet paws as we listen because I don’t want to cause an issue for Casimir if he really does have everything handled. I can smell multiple people, but I can also smell so much blood.
“There’s someone coming. I’ll handle them, you get to Casimir,” he says a moment before a man steps through a doorway. He doesn’t even hesitate, just snarls and lunges at Ezio.
I don’t know if I should help or if my help would be better spent on Casimir who seems to be holding his own if the corpses have anything to say about it.
When I look back at Ezio, I see that he seems to be stronger than the vampire he’s dealing with, so I turn from him and start to run.
I’ve probably made a horrible decision. I was one hundred percent prepared to rush in and save the day… to protect Casimir at least once after all the times he’s protected me, but now that I’m here, I’m reminded how outclassed I am. Maybe if I were a full werewolf, I’d be more useful, instead of… whatever I am.
There are more bodies lined on the floor that make me hesitate and slow my movement. I stick close to the wall and take soft steps as I listen carefully. I can hear a fight going on ahead of me, but it isn’t until I turn a corner in the hallway that I see them.
I freeze as Yorick flies through the air, body slamming into some lockers, caving them in with his weight.
Casimir rushes forward and drives a short sword down right where Yorick would have been if he hadn’t managed to throw himself out of the way in time.
“Come on, now. It was just a bit of fun,” Yorick says, sounding rather desperate as two more vampires dash in to help him. One tries to go for Casimir’s back as the other steps between him and Yorick. The one coming at his back reaches for his exposed neck, prepared to tear into him, but I’m not sure if I can reach him in time.
I step forward to help, but Casimir swings around so quickly the vampire can’t even react until Casimir slams him against the wall, stabbing him twice in the chest before turning and killing the other who thought Casimir was distracted enough to finish him off. It all happens with so much ease. Such a fluent movement like Casimir wasn’t even struggling.
Did I seriously come here thinking I’d be of assistance? Instead, I’m just going to get in the way if I do anything.
Yorick tries to run, but Casimir is on him in a moment and flings him hard to the ground. Casimir drives his sword down toward his chest but Yorick twists out of the way just in time to avoid it, and the weapon cuts into his arm instead. Yorick scrambles back to his feet and quickly backs away.
He’s looking a bit panicked as he laughs nervously. “Come on, now. It was just a bit of fun! You can’t be that mad over a wolf, can you? You really need to learn to take a joke! Just a joke!” He almost sounds frightened.
The expression on Casimir’s face is unlike any I’ve seen on him before. It’s almost like he’s completely emotionless. He flicks blood off his weapon, eyes fixated on his prey, before rushing forward. Yorick is trying his hardest to flee, scrambling in his panic, but Casimir is relentless. He moves in front of him, cutting off his escape before swinging the longer sword hard. Yorick screams as I see him stumble back holding his bloodied arm that is barely hanging on.
“Come on, come on. I promise I won’t look at him or touch him again! It was really all just a bit of fun!”
“You’re right, you won’t look at him,” Casimir growls as he slashes him across the face. “I’ll make it so you can’t ever look at or touch him again.”
Yorick cries out as he grabs for his eyes, blinded until he can heal them.
“That’s enough,” a man says, and I jump, having not even heard him walk up.
Casimir seems to merely be irritated as he turns from Yorick and faces the vampire. “So finally, the face behind it all decides to show himself. Tired of hiding behind your useless pawns?”
The vampire’s aura is strong, and I find myself glad that I’m at the far end of the hallway from him. Where I ever got the idea that I could help Casimir, I’ll never know. How fucking foolish was that?
Casimir straightens, swords at the ready as Yorick flees. He’s half blinded and his arm isn’t healed, but he’s running as fast as he can to get away from it all.
“Why did you decide to harass my territory?” Casimir growls.
The man doesn’t seem bothered by the scene before him. He doesn’t even seem to notice all the vampires of his that are lying dead. “Oh, it isn’t your territory I want, Casimir. You mistake me for a simple man wanting monetary things. I don’t. I want to watch them suffer for what they’ve done to me.”
“Who?”
“All of them,” he growls. “You… You happened to be dragged in simply because of who you are. You just became a nuisance, but that’s fine. I will simply feast off you and continue to make them fear and suffer as I pick them off, tormenting them until they beg for forgiveness. Ask the wolves what they did. Ask the vampires what they covered up… or wait… you’re not going to be alive to ask,” he says with a laugh.
He’s a handsome man whose lips are twisted up into a cruel smile. His aura is terrifying, but Casimir doesn’t seem swayed by it. He doesn’t seem to even care as he starts forward to meet the man. And after seeing the way Casimir cut apart the other vampires and sliced away at Yorick, I realize that Ezio is likely right, Casimir’s definitely someone who needs to be feared.
But how can I fear him when he’s only treated me with kindness?
Casimir rushes forward and turns fast. The vampire tries to outsmart him, but it’s like Casimir reads his moves, and he’s immediately backed into a position where Casimir wants him. He drives the long sword down, slamming it through the man’s wrist, pinning him against the wall. The shorter sword comes down, aimed straight for the man’s heart as I question how Yorick listens to this man if he’s not as strong as him. Yorick sure gave him a tougher fight.
“Stop,” the man says, and Casimir’s hand freezes.
Why would he hesitate when he was so close to stopping this man? Did he forget how many this man has killed? Or… ordered others to kill?
“I want to see you bleed,” he says, and I watch in shock as Casimir draws the blade across his own arm, blood instantly running onto the floor as I realize that something is very wrong. Why the hell would Casimir hurt himself?
I turn back to look for Ezio, hoping he’s coming, but he’s standing there, fixated on the man as well. It’s like they’re both hypnotized by him. Casimir’s expressionless look has shifted to one that appears almost relaxed, at ease as he slices himself open.
The man grabs Casimir’s hand and guides it down so the tip of Casimir’s short sword is pointed at Casimir’s stomach.
“You’ve made a mistake you can’t return from,” the vampire says with a chuckle as he pushes Casimir’s hand so the sword is digging into Casimir’s flesh.
I need to do something… but I don’t know what the fuck he’s doing to Casimir. He’s… controlling them. It’s similar to Casimir’s ability to persuade, but his allure is nothing like this. This is on a whole different level, and what could I possibly do to stop it?
I’m scared. My limbs feel like they’re weighted down, and my paws seem to be attached to the floor beneath my feet. How the fuck could I even help them? If Ezio and Casimir can’t do anything, what could a wolf—and not even a real werewolf at that—do to stop them?
My tail is tucked, and I realize I’m crouching down as I think about them pinning me to the ground, tearing me open, fangs ripping into my throat. I’ve made a mistake coming here, but I can’t turn away.
The short sword is tearing into Casimir’s stomach, blood spilling out as I’m frozen here, absolutely useless. What did I even come for?
Wait… maybe I can speak to him? I forgot about the ability to reach his mind.
“C-Casimir?” I ask, but I’m reminded that he can’t speak back. Does it mean he can’t hear me? “Casimir, you have to fight him. Please. Fight him. Please?”
There’s nothing at all that tells me that Casimir’s heard me, no twitch, no hesitation. He just keeps pushing the blade into his own stomach.
The blood dripping off the short sword is becoming a pool at Casimir’s feet.
“Casimir, please.”
I hesitantly step forward, but the vampire either doesn’t hear me or doesn’t care about me. My guess is he doesn’t care because I’m not a threat to him at all. But I can’t just stand here and watch him kill Casimir.
Do I try to sneak forward or do I charge him? Honestly… he’ll hear me either way.
“Casimir, please. I’m going to… distract him and run. So please just run.”
I rush forward, fighting against limbs that are weighing me down and my heart that’s racing out of my chest. The vampire doesn’t turn toward me, but for some reason, that makes me more anxious, like he’s so confident that he doesn’t even have to bother looking at me. When I reach him, I spring off my feet and leap up.
He growls out and turns fast, hand connecting with my side as his fingers dig into me and he flings me, throwing me so hard that I hit the lockers and feel them cave beneath my weight. Pain spikes into my back as I hit the ground on my paws.
“Wait your turn,” he growls as he tries to turn back to Casimir, but the moment I hit the ground, I spring forward, doing everything in my power to try to protect Casimir as he’s protected me so many times.
The vampire twists in an attempt to get out of my path, but I manage to catch his shirt with my fangs. It’s not much, but it manages to pull him off balance enough that he staggers back. I release my fangs as fast as I can, knowing that he could kill me in a heartbeat. He roars out in anger as he removes his attention from Casimir and places it on me. Quickly, I scamper backward, but I’m not going to be able to outrun this man. Just as he reaches for me, Casimir lunges forward and slams the sword into the vampire’s chest.
The vampire growls out as his hand misses me. He reaches for the sword that Casimir tears out of him.
As the vampire stumbles back to deal with the wound, Casimir grabs me, and I’m torn out of the hallway and through a door.
“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?” the vampire roars, but as Casimir busts the window, I notice we’re not being followed. Is he afraid Casimir might have the upper hand? Or can he not control him again so soon after he lost control?
I don’t have time to mention it as Casimir pulls me through the window and out into the night.
“E-Ezio,” I say, not wanting to leave him behind after he came to help.
“He’s following,” Casimir says as we reach the cars.
“What the fuck was that? What the fuck was that?” Ezio asks, sounding shaken.
“Get in the car and go to my house,” Casimir orders as he quickly gets into his own car, still clinging on to me.
Ezio doesn’t hesitate; he burns off a layer of my tires as he speeds away and Casimir immediately follows. I lean into him, heart racing out of my chest as he tosses the swords into the back.
“You’re fine,” he says, voice calm. How the hell can he be calm after that? How can he expect me to calm down when anxiety is eating through me?
I lie down on his lap, refusing to shift back. I feel like while I’m in this form, I can pretend to be one with his lap and not have to face reality.
“What the hell were you doing there?” Casimir growls.
I keep my face buried against his lap, refusing to admit that I made the horrible decision that I could help him. Did I really think I could protect him against a vampire like that?
His fingers sink into my fur. “How long were you there?”
“I don’t know.” The middle console is digging into my side, but it’s worth it for his touch.
“How long, Julian?” he nearly shouts, and I don’t know why this is upsetting him more than anything.
“I saw you fighting Yorick.”
Casimir’s fingers tighten. “Why did you come?” His tone is sharp, and I can tell he’s irritated at me. I wanted to take comfort in his lap, but now I feel like he’s pissed at me for being there. Which… maybe I don’t blame him for, because how much help would I have been against one of the vampires if the man hadn’t been so distracted by trying to kill Casimir?
“I came so you didn’t have to fight alone.”
“I was fine alone!” he snaps.
I feel a bit defensive, and I don’t know if it’s because I feel guilty that I’d just stood there while he got so severely hurt or what. “Clearly, you weren’t! What the fuck is wrong with you? Is this because of what I said last night? I feel like you’ve been off since then. It was just because I was terrified I could have killed those teenagers. Casimir, you killing those horrible people is really fucking different than me killing some teenagers walking home! Are you upset I saw the bodies of the people you killed? I’m pretty sure they deserved to die!”
“Fuck,” he whispers.
“Stop being a dick and comfort me.”
Casimir hesitates before smoothing my fur back and I swear I feel a little tremor to his hand as he asks, “Are you okay?”
“What the fuck was he?”
“He was just… a vampire…”
“How did he stop you?”
He’s silent for a moment. “I don’t know. It was like his words took complete control over me. The moment he spoke them, I couldn’t do anything against him.” He slides his fingers deeper into my fur. “Thank you. If… if you hadn’t come, he’d have killed me. I’m really sorry I got angry earlier. Are you okay? He threw you really hard.”
“Uh… yeah… I’m fine. Nothing broken.” My body fucking hurts, but hey, I’m alive, Casimir’s alive, Ezio’s alive… I think that’s good enough. “What’s going to keep him from walking into your house and ordering you to do something?”
Casimir’s quiet as he drives. “I don’t know.”
“So the guy who jumped off the roof and the one who blew himself up… he probably told them to do that, right?”
He hesitates before sighing. “That… does seem likely.”
“Fuck,” I whisper as Casimir’s fingers dig into my fur. I just assume he’s fixated on his anger over the man and not paying attention until his fingers keep digging.
“Casimir?”
He doesn’t even acknowledge me as I tense up. Is whatever that vampire did to him still affecting him? Can he affect Casimir from here?
I jerk back to get away from his grip, but he holds me tightly so I can’t escape. “Casimir!”
“Fuck,” he hisses as he jerks his hand back and pulls the car over on the side of the road. “I’m sorry!”
“Casimir, what are you doing?”
“Sorry, I’m fucking starving from the blood loss, and it’s messing with my head. I need to get out… I need to feed,” he says as he pushes through the door. He slams the door shut before I can get out and with my paws, I can’t open it quickly. I shift and push it open, but he gives me a sharp look. “Stay in the car.”
“Don’t you fucking leave me,” I say as I race after him. I am one hundred percent aware that I’m chasing him completely naked through a field since my clothes are currently in the car Ezio is driving.
He holds his hand over his face. “Stop following me! I’m really fucking hungry. I could lose control.”
“Casimir, fuck… Don’t just leave me in the car! What if he’s following us, and you’re not here?”
“Do you want me to eat you instead?” he asks as he keeps trying to back away from me while keeping his hand over his nose.
I know I’m being unreasonable. After he lost so much blood, it’s not surprising that he can’t seem to gain control. It’s ridiculous for me to be chasing after him when he’s clear that he can’t control himself, but I’d rather be with a bloodthirsty Casimir than in that car alone.
“S-Sure!” I say.
His eyes snap up to mine. “Sure? You’re terrified of someone biting you. I wasn’t being serious. I was just… wanting you to get back into the car because right now you smell really fucking good.”
“Y-Yeah, but if it’s you, I’m fine with it.” I give him a determined look, prepared for anything just to not have to leave him.
Casimir appears before me, and I can feel his mouth brush against my neck. Panic rushes through me as I quickly back away from him. “See?” he says. “I’m not biting you. You’re afraid.”
“B-Bite my arm instead,” I suggest as I hold it out to him.
He pushes back from me. “I’ll feed off a deer.”
“No! What if it gives that vampire time to get here? I don’t want you to leave. Just bite me.”
Casimir steps away from me and I grab his wrist before jerking him back to me. “Go on. Bite me. Even if it’s just a little bit… even if it’s just enough to get home.”
He wraps his fingers around my wrist and watches me for a moment before lowering his mouth. His eyes are transfixed on mine, like he’s trying to make sure I’m not lying before he lifts my arm up to meet his lips and sinks his fangs into it.
I nearly jerk back. It takes all I can do not to pull away. But instead of pain, I find it doesn’t hurt at all. It’s nothing like the vampires who’d torn into me; no, his hold is gentle and the moment his fangs sink in, there’s no pain. Hell, the pain in my back is gone, all of my pain is gone.
Instead of pain or fear, I feel a weird sense of euphoria, like I want to grab on to him, pull him into me…
And then it’s gone… as quick as that.
Casimir licks the spot clean before catching my eyes. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah… fine. It was fine.” It was more than fine but I’m weirdly embarrassed to mention that. “You barely drank.”
“It was enough. Sorry, I didn’t mean to lose control or grab you roughly in the car.”
“You didn’t.”
“Okay… good. It’s just when we get into that state of feeling like we’re starving, all sensibility disappears.”
“Trust me… I get it from… gnawing on you a few times. But maybe we could go home? And not stand out in the middle of a field where someone’s going to come eat us?”
“They won’t eat us. They might chop our heads off, but we will probably remain undevoured. Especially you. Wolves taste like wet dogs.”
I give him a look. “Oh my god, I taste like a wet dog? I gave you my precious blood and got compared to a wet dog?”
“No… you weirdly taste… good. Not sure why. A little silvery but overall pretty delicious.”
“That’s… is that a compliment?” I’m quite skeptical that it is.
“It is in my book,” he says as he gives me a push toward the car. “Let’s go. Sorry I lost my head there for a moment.”
“No, no, it’s fine. I just… am terrified of the big bad vampire coming back to murder us, you know? Nothing too out there.”
“If he hadn’t used his stupid… ability, I would have won.”
“I know you would have.” I get back into the car where I look around for some clothes, really wishing I kept a spare pair in his car.
“You don’t… you know… have some cool clothes stuffed somewhere, eh?”
Casimir pulls back out onto the road and starts driving toward home. “No. You want my shirt?”
I look over at the hole-filled and bloody thing. It looks like he rolled around in a pool of blood before shredding it and his pants don’t look much better. “Uh… no, no, that’s okay.”
“They’re not that bad,” he says before looking down at them. “They’re only a little bad.”
“Oh, I don’t know… you’re rocking those clothes pretty well, so I would hate to take that from you,” I say as I open the glove box and take out a pile of napkins I’d stuffed in there the last time I’d gotten food in his car. I use four to cover my lap like a wee little blanket.
“What is happening?” Casimir asks as he looks over at me.
“Nothing much. You?”
“Uh, you know, just wondering what you’re making over there.”
“Lap blanket.” I start to unfold another.
“Ah, I see,” he says a moment before going, “and I see someone following us.”
I jump and snap my attention to him. “Like a vampire?”
“No, like a cop. I could outrun him.”
“What? Oh my god.”
The look on his face tells me he came up with a better idea. “Or I could eat him.”
“How about not?”
“Seems justifiable,” he says as the police car charges after us, siren blaring.
“Should I shift?”
Casimir gives me an odd look. “You think me having a wolf in my car will get me in less trouble than a naked man?”
“I don’t know! You can tell them I’m a dog. I’ll woof and everything!”
“And in what lifetime do you think they’ll believe that?” he asks as he pulls over. “Don’t worry. I know how to deal with this.”
“Oh… kay,” I say, assuming he’ll convince the officer that we were doing normal deeds. He’ll probably just allure the man and send him on his way.
The officer gets out of his vehicle and comes around to the window which Casimir rolls down.
“License and registration, please,” he says.
“Ah. Of course. Here you go, sir,” Casimir responds as he holds out a wad of cash.
“Are you trying to bribe me?”
Casimir nods without hesitation. “Yes.”
What the hell? In what world does he think this will work?
The police officer flickers his flashlight over to me… just sitting here with multiple napkins covering my dick. I just… need to play it cool. Hell, maybe he’ll think I have underwear on under the napkin blanket.
“’Sup.” I even give him a nod, which is not playing it cool at all. His face scrunches up as his flashlight flickers over to Casimir before it points down at his clothes… coated in blood, shredded by blades and claws.
“It’s for Halloween!” I announce.
The officer looks even more skeptical. “In May?”
“We’re in a cult,” Casimir adds.
What the fuck does that solve?
“What kind of cult?” the officer asks. Of course he believes that one.
“It’s not a cult. He was joking. He literally just spilled a drink on himself. A lot of… it. Like dumped the whole thing.”
Fuck, this is going downhill fast…
Casimir lifts his shirt and licks it. “Yum.”
I swear, vampires are just freaking strange.
“Sir, I’m going to need you to step out of the vehicle,” he says.
“Allure him,” I hiss.
“I can’t! I’m too weak! I lost too much blood!” he mutters back.
The officer notices us whispering. “You too,” he orders as he points his flashlight at me.
“Umm… sir… I’m just… you know…” Don’t have any clothes on.
“Out of the vehicle.”
Casimir reaches for something and the cop tenses.
“I said get out of the vehicle.”
“Yes, but what you really meant was ‘I want more money,’” he says as he flashes him a couple more hundreds.
If the man wasn’t offended before, he’s very offended now. “Do you understand how illegal it is to bribe an officer?”
“I don’t have any more money on me, but I do have a phenomenal painting of Gustov in the back. Would you like to see it? You can’t have it, but looking at it should be enough,” Casimir offers, as though that could solve anything.
What it does solve is the officer flicking the flashlight to the back seat for a better look where he sees the two weapons coated in blood.
“OUT OF THE VEHICLE, NOW,” he orders before calling for backup. I really don’t need more people to see my naked ass, so I would love for backup to not come.
Casimir turns to look at me. “I’m going to eat him.”
“Oh my god, don’t eat him!” I hiss.
“Just enough for him to pass out. Not kill him.”
I shake my head at this horrible idea. “Police cars have cameras on all the time.”
“Oh. Huh.”
The officer is irritated now. “Both of you, out with your hands up.”
I curse and get out of the car while trying to keep my napkin loincloth in place.
It’s not going well.
Casimir also gets out where the police officer can get a much better look at his bloody and torn clothing.
“Hands up!” he shouts, but how the fuck can I get the napkin to stay? So there I am, trying to discreetly tuck it around my dick before shuffling over to the back of the car like he demands.
“You drive a hard bargain, but I have more money in my trunk if you want it,” Casimir says, and I can’t tell if he does or he’s just planning on attacking him.
“He doesn’t want the bribe!”
“Everyone can be bribed,” he says. “Humans love money.”
“Well… some don’t!” I retort.
“Why are you naked?” the officer asks.
This can’t get worse, can it? “I… spilled… something… on my clothes.”
“It wasn’t blood,” Casimir inputs.
It can. It can get much worse.
“Hands behind your back,” he orders. He goes for Casimir first, handcuffing him before turning to me.
“I got it,” Casimir says.
“I have a weird feeling you don’t.”
Casimir glances at the man. “Do you know who I am?”
“Of course I do. Doesn’t mean you can get away with this.”
“I own half this city, and I am the reason you can go home at night.”
That doesn’t seem to be the right answer as the officer scrutinizes him. “Are you threatening me?”
“I’m threatening to stop protecting you.”
“Casimir, just stop talking,” I whisper.
Casimir points a finger at him. “Do you want me to stop protecting you?”
“How the hell did you get out of your handcuffs?” he asks.
“Please just call Detective Torres. He’ll tell you this was all a big misunderstanding, and we can all laugh about it later,” I say. “Ha ha!” I even try showing him that we could laugh about it now!
“I can get you fired for this,” Casimir tells him.
Was Casimir always this awful at interacting with humans? Is it because he seems to only know how to interact with me that I forgot he’s so ridiculous? “Nope, we’re not getting him fired for doing his job.”
Suddenly the officer staggers forward and hits the ground on his knees before sinking onto the road.
“What the fuck just happened?” I ask in alarm.
“I meant to distract him!” Ezio whispers from somewhere in the trees.
“Oh my god, did you kill him?” I ask as I try to rush over to the man, but I can’t grab him with my hands cuffed behind my back.
“He’s still breathing. I can hear it from here,” Casimir says. “Ezio, Julian said the car has a camera in it. Get rid of it.”
“Yes, sir!” Ezio says as he walks over to the car and proceeds to pick it up and fucking yeets it out into a field. Then he dusts his hands off like any part of that was a job well done.
I look at him in disbelief. “How the hell was that getting rid of the evidence? And the cameras aren’t something you can just crush and poof, all information is lost, or the bad guys would just bust in and break the cameras! It’s probably immediately recorded!”
I can’t get the stupid handcuffs off, so I shift to make them fall right off since the body cam the officer is likely wearing is pressed against the road and the car’s camera is pointed out in the field.
“Ah well,” Casimir says. “When they come tomorrow, I’ll pay them off.”
“That clearly doesn’t always work! And don’t get in the car! We can’t just leave him out in the road!”
“He’s fine, he’s having fun,” Casimir says, fully planning on leaving the officer in the middle of the road.
“He is not having fun!” I exclaim as I grab the officer’s pants with my teeth and start dragging him out of the road just as the man comes to. His eyes lock on to the wolf dragging him, which results in him screaming before he kicks me in the face and leaps up.
“Chase him! That way it’s technically him leaving the scene of the crime. It’ll work better when I pay them off tomorrow,” Casimir says.
“I’m not chasing him!”
“Where the fuck is my car! Where’s my car?” the officer asks wildly.
“Just tell him I’m a dog!”
“This is my dog. His name is… uh… Definitely Not a Wolf, but I call him A for short,” Casimir says. “He’s a good boy.”
“Call him off! Call him off!”
“Play dead. A, play dead.”
Fucking hell, is this a mess.
And that’s the moment another car pulls up. All of us look over at it as Cyrus jumps out and comes running up to us.
“What is this?” he hisses. “Officer Higgens, all’s good here. I got it.”
“I was knocked unconscious and then my car is gone and there’s a fucking… wolf. And swords, and blood.”
“It’s just a fever dream,” Ezio says in some spooky voice.
The officer jumps and looks over at him. “Where did you come from?”
“I’m just a ghost. Woooo…” he says while trying to blend back into the shadows.
Cyrus looks over at us like he just can’t understand why he is dealing with this. I really can’t blame him and have absolutely no idea how everything spiraled so out of control. “I knew the moment I heard Casimir’s name called in that this was going to be a mess. Officer, let me help you get your car out. These three are fine. They’re actually consultants… if you can believe that. They just… don’t understand normal social cues and are easily confused.”
“Where’d the naked one go? And where’d the… dog come from?”
I give him a bark just to reconfirm that I am, indeed, a dog.
And while Cyrus is helping with that, Casimir plucks me off the ground, stuffs me in the car and drives off.
I shift and slowly look over at him. “You look fucking pleased.”
“You have to admit… it was kind of fun screwing with the human.”
“Was it?” I hiss.
“After this night… yeah, I kind of enjoyed it. Is your face okay? He gave you a pretty good kick there.”
“It’s… still attached.”
“That’s good,” he says as he swings by my house to pick Gustov up and get me some clothes, which I’m relieved to be able to put on.
“I can’t believe you thought bribing him with a painting of Gustov would work,” I say as he puts the excited dog in the back before heading toward his home.
“I bet if he saw the painting, we’d have won him over.”
“Instead, he saw your bloody swords.”
“It’s fine. When I feel back to normal tomorrow, I’ll just allure them into thinking nothing was wrong,” he says.
“Alright.” I really hope it doesn’t go as poorly as this did.
When we get to Casimir’s house, he reaches into the trunk to grab the swords he’d moved when picking up Gustov. I follow him, relieved to be back to his house, even if it isn’t a guarantee that we’ll be safe.
“I guess I’ll go get a shower,” I say.
“Yeah, okay.”
I head toward the spare bedroom and step into the bathroom that’s connected to it after grabbing a towel. After pulling my shirt off, I turn to look at my back in the mirror. I see bruises already spreading across my skin, and I’m sure there are more I can’t see as well. Tomorrow, I’m going to feel like a truck ran me over. With Casimir in his own room, I find the house eerily quiet without him.
What if one of the vampires followed us home? What if being delayed by the officer gave them time to catch up to us? Or what if they got here first? What if they’re waiting in the house like Yorick did?
I reach for the shower before hesitating and walking back toward Casimir’s room. I mean… if we both need to take a shower… why waste water, right?
The door to his bedroom is open, so I step inside before pausing.
Casimir’s bare back is to me, and when I see it, I can’t stop my eyes as they run over the raised skin, scars that stretch in crisscrossed lines across his back. There are so many that mar his skin, each layered over another from the top of his back down to his ass.
He turns quickly to look at me. “Julian?”
“Sorry, I should have knocked. The door was open a bit and I shouldn’t have just barged in,” I say. “I just… thought we could shower together… if you want.”
Casimir hesitates and I realize that all the times we’ve done something together or slept together, he’s kept a shirt on. Was he trying to hide his back from me? And then there I am just waltzing into his room. The door was open, but it isn’t like we’re actually dating. I should have knocked or called out or something. Then again, I’m surprised he didn’t hear me walking up.
Was he so focused on something else that he didn’t hear me coming?
He’s quiet for a moment and I realize I’ve overstepped. We’re not dating. None of this is real.
I feel foolish and I don’t even know what to say to make the situation better. “I’m sorry. I was being paranoid. What if I just… sit in your bedroom while you shower, and you… do the same for me?” I ask, fumbling like crazy.
Casimir is still silent, and I don’t know what the fuck to do. Can’t he just say something to relieve this tension?
“You can shower with me as long as you keep your questions to yourself,” he finally says, voice a bit sharp.
I hesitate. “Really, Casimir, I was just… feeling paranoid. I don’t actually need to shower with you if you don’t want.” But I really want him to.
He sighs and rubs his head before giving me a smile, like there wasn’t anything off between us. “Sorry, I’m just tired.”
“Yeah… me too.” I’m relieved he’s not mad at me, but I still feel bad, and of course I can’t keep my mind from wondering what happened to make his back look like that.
“Why don’t you get a shower first?” he asks, and I realize that he’s making it quite clear we aren’t showering together, which I feel significantly disappointed by.
“No, I insist you go first. You’re the one who looks like you took a blood bath.”
He shrugs. “A blood bath sounds delicious… if it hadn’t been my own blood.”
“Does it?” I ask, rightfully skeptical about this.
“Yes. You can’t tell me you wouldn’t want to take a bath in a tub full of squirrels.”
“Oh my god. That’s just… no. Please tell me they’re alive in this scenario.”
“Roll around in them.”
“Shove off.”
He grabs my wrist and pushes me into the bathroom. “Go on, get a shower. I won’t go anywhere, and I won’t let anyone touch you.”
I hesitate before nodding. “Okay,” I say, finding myself disappointed that I’m getting into it alone. A huge part of me wants to go back to him, to ask if he’s positive he doesn’t want to join me, but that’s just foolish, isn’t it?
Fuck. Where the hell is my mind wandering off to?
OceanofPDF.com
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

CASIMIR
Julian glances back at me like he thinks I might change my mind, so I just give him a weird wave, which… why the fuck am I waving him off into the shower?
But better yet, why does he even want to take a shower with me? This is all fake. All of it’s fake. He needs to understand that. He needs to figure out that someone like him doesn’t fit with someone like me. He’s just a wolf who was a convenience. He was helpful and…
I sink down on the floor and tuck my head into my hands as the overwhelming weight of it crashes down on me. The realization of what I’ve done… what I keep doing.
It’s so fucking easy for me to fall back into killing. It’s the easiest thing to do. It’s the thing I’m best at doing—the only thing I’m actually good at. It’s why people flock to me, because they’re afraid of me. Because they know what I can do, not because they like me or trust me. Or even care about me.
Julian isn’t afraid of me because he doesn’t know me. He doesn’t understand what I could do to him. He doesn’t understand how useless I am. How⁠—
I hear footsteps and look up as Julian walks over to me, a towel around his waist. He kneels down, pulling my hands from my face to replace them with his own.
What the fuck am I doing? Am I seriously allowing myself to relax around him so much that I remained in this stupid position when he came out?
I jerk away from his hands and try to pretend I don’t notice the look of hurt on his face. “You done with the shower?” I ask, finding myself almost… embarrassed about acting like this. We aren’t allowed to show emotions or feelings. I was trained not to care.
But I stand and try to back away from him so I don’t show him my back, so I don’t have to listen to the questions. So I don’t have to fucking remember.
As if I could forget.
“No,” Julian says.
I look over at him. “What?” My voice comes out a bit sharper than I meant it to. “Julian, I’m tired. I’m going to take a shower. I don’t have time for this.”
He reaches for me, but I pull back and go into the bathroom, slamming the door shut to block him out and assure him that I don’t want him following me.
Quickly, I get in the shower and close the glass door. The hot water beats down on me as I realize how much better this is. Just block it all out and push it back like I have for years. This is all I need. I don’t need whatever Julian is trying to give me.
I scrub at the blood until the water runs clear, but I can’t get out. I can’t face whatever is outside this room. That’s when I hear Julian enter the bathroom, and I decide that I will just ignore him. Is he planning on climbing into the shower with me? I suppose I could switch it around to just having sex or something. That’s when I hear a thump, thump, thump and do my absolute best to try to ignore it.
Does he want me to look out and see what’s going on?
But the thumping doesn’t stop. No, it keeps on, distracting me from these stupid thoughts.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I ask as I yank open the door and look down at the wolf wagging his tail. Every time he does, it thumps against the door.
“What the fuck is this?” I ask.
He just tips his head back, blue eyes catching mine as he looks at me upside down. Gustov, who I realize hasn’t seen Julian in his wolf form, is staring at him in wonder. He starts assaulting him with sniffs by shoving his nose into Julian’s fur while trying to figure out why this creature smells just like Julian.
“What are you doing?” I repeat.
He doesn’t answer me; instead, he just keeps wagging his tail as I watch Gustov play bow to him. It’s really fucking cute. It’s almost cute enough to make me forget about everything.
Julian jumps at Gustov and Gustov bolts, body hunkered down as he races out of the bathroom, sending rugs flying. When he realizes Julian isn’t chasing him, he rushes back in and practically body slams into him. Julian has to steady himself to keep from falling.
I grab my towel and wrap it around myself as Julian jumps at Gustov again. Gustov shoots off, racing through the house as fast as his legs can carry him.
“What are you doing?”
“Just being a dog,” he says as he leans against my leg while I dry off… like he’s trying to comfort me. Like he knows that I would refuse to let him comfort me as a human. His tail wags as he looks up at me, and I reach down before drawing my hand back.
“I don’t need another dog,” I grumble as I step away to get my clothes. I grab my shirt and underwear and pull them on before leaving the room.
Julian rushes after me, and the moment I stop to pick up my phone, he flops against my leg again, tail whapping the floor.
Reaching down, I sink my fingers into his fur before pulling his head off my leg. “I don’t need you.”
“You need me.”
“I don’t.”
He nearly trips me as I try to escape him.
“Goddammit, Julian, I don’t need this.”
“You don’t need it, or you don’t think you deserve it, because everyone needs some love from a dog,” he growls as he slams himself against my legs. “Now pet me.”
I growl back at him, irritated that he thinks this could fix anything. And when he refuses to let me walk, I reach down to pick him up to physically move him. He tucks his head against my chest, which is irritatingly effective.
“I’m not hugging you, I’m removing you.”
He wags his tail as he leans into me, ignoring everything I’ve just said.
“Fuuuucking hell,” I say as I slump down on the bed, still holding him. Gustov jumps up and flops down next to me, so now I’m getting crushed by two canines.
Julian’s tail keeps wagging as he snuggles up against me while I hold him. He doesn’t ask me anything, he doesn’t say anything, but just being able to keep him close, to hold him tightly seems to wash away so many thoughts that were plaguing me.
“You’re such a pest,” I mutter.
His tail thumps harder. Clearly, he’s thrilled at what I’ve said.
“I’m going to bed,” I decide.
It’s not even light out, the sun won’t rise for hours, but I’m done with this day. I let go of him and lie down. Of course he’s not pleased with that as he roots under the covers and flops down against me.
“I’m not hugging you.”
Julian thrusts himself back so hard that he socks me in the stomach. I have no room left on the bed if I refuse to be pressed against him, but he seems pleased.
“I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but it’s not cute.”
His tail wags again as I grab him, planning on chucking him off the bed, but I end up burying my face in his fur. Gustov lies on top of us, still fascinated by Julian. It doesn’t take long for Julian to fall asleep, but I’m left lying here, holding on to him. I know I should get up and clean up my swords, put them away, do some other shit.
But I can’t bring myself to get up or move.
I can’t get myself to peel my body away from him. Instead, I press my face against his thick black fur, my hand on his heart as I listen to the steady beat of it. There’s no reason this should make me feel so at ease, but nothing could feel better.

When I wake, I’m being nearly shoved off the bed by a very naked Julian. Gustov is using Julian’s head as a pillow, but Julian doesn’t seem to either notice or care.
I decide I’ll slowly sneak out of the bed, so I push the sheets back and hesitate. Reaching forward, I push off the sheets covering Julian, revealing the dark bruises that run down his back. It must have been from the vampire throwing him into those lockers. And instead of getting him something for pain or helping him, I proceeded to mope around. Hell, to the point where he even had to shift—which must have hurt—to try to comfort me.
Clearly, I wasn’t meant to take care of someone. I should call his mother, or hell, even his father would take better care of him.
Julian rolls over and smiles at me. “Good morning… is it morning? My sleep schedule is messed up because of you.”
“I’m going to call your mom… or someone.”
His eyebrows scrunch up. “What? Why?”
“Because you’re hurt.”
“Uh… what? No, I’m fine. Yeah, I’m a bit achy but I’m fine. And what will my mother do about it? You think she just waves some magic dust over me and all my ouchies go away?”
“She’d take care of you, unlike me who did nothing.”
Julian raises an eyebrow. “Casimir?”
“What? Would you like your father instead?”
His face scrunches up in disgust. “Fuck, no.”
“I bet Genevieve would take care of you.”
Julian’s expression tells me he likes that plan even less, and I don’t understand why. “Does it look like I want Genevieve? What goes on in your head?” he asks as he grabs Gustov and hugs him.
“I… literally didn’t do shit to help you.”
“Ohhhhh, fuck… you’re right! You didn’t do shit. Casimir, I’m just disgusted that after I was attacked and set free to rampage and eat teenagers, you ran after me, sat with me all night, raced your way across the city, hunted down the people who did it, and made them regret their choices. I mean… wow, I really just think you need to step up your game. Huh, Gus? There has to be someone who can do more! I really am embarrassed how little you’ve stepped up recently. Like it’s so bad, I’d almost call you… lazy.”
I stare at him as I try not to allow any of this to make sense. “That’s… not…”
“That’s not enough? I know. Huh, Gustov? He should have done more. Like when he chased after me into the woods to save me, he should have stopped and brought me a cheeseburger or something too. And last night, I really feel like you could have outrun that police officer. I’m disappointed in you.”
I continue staring at him as I try to think of something wrong with this. “Then I got home and didn’t care for you at all.”
“Whoever said I needed someone to care for me?” he asks. “Do I look like someone who needs to be pampered?”
“Yes,” I grumble.
“Well, I’m not. Trust me, I’m brave enough that if I was seriously hurt, I would have told you.”
I watch him for a long moment, unsure of what to say or do in response to any of this. “I… don’t have human drugs here. But I can send Ezio out into the sun to get them.”
“Ah yes, I love my painkillers with a side of burned-up vampire, how kind. No, I can run to the store later. Honestly, I’m just a little sore. It’s not that bad.”
That idea pisses me off. “No, I’ll hire one of those human runner things.”
“Human runner things… you mean a delivery? Oh yeah, we could do that.”
“I’ll get it,” I say as I pull out my phone and download the app he recommends. As he pets Gustov, I try to think what all a wolf would want and add it to the cart as well as ice packs and a heating pad.
“There, I gave them a three-hundred-dollar tip to get here faster.”
Julian nearly chokes. “What the hell? If I knew you were tipping that much, I’d have gotten it myself!”
“You would like money?” I ask as I grab my wallet.
“Oh my god, don’t pay me. I’ll be like a sex worker, but instead of sex, I just wag my tail while you give me belly rubs.”
I drop a hundred-dollar bill on his head before I wander off to feed Gustov and stalk the app until the dot starts moving toward the house. The windows are all coated to keep the sunlight from coming through, so I can walk freely anywhere in my house, but I’m not dumb enough to linger in front of them. So the moment I see the man heading toward the porch, I pull the door open, standing behind it. The porch was built in a way to block the majority of the sun, but I’m not planning on walking out to test it.
“Please put it inside the doorway.”
“Uh, yeah, of course, thanks for the tip, man,” he says as he drops the bags inside the house. Once he’s done, I shut the door and gather the bags which I carry into the kitchen. I grab a plate and put two donuts on it. It doesn’t look like enough, so I put two more and then round it up to a nice eight that I carry into the bedroom.
“Here.”
“Oh my god, why are there so many?”
“I also brought you drugs,” I say as I hand him the bottle.
“Christ, how many pills are in here? FIVE HUNDRED? How banged up do you think I am?”
I slip out of the room and rush off before coming back with the bags which I dump on the bed. “I got more in case five hundred wasn’t enough.”
“Cas! I don’t need this much stuff,” he says as he wades through it all.
“It’s my incompetence that got you hurt.”
“What are these? Microwavable… mittens?”
“Your hands always feel clammy or cold when you force me to hold them. I thought this would help.”
Julian’s eyes shift up to me and he raises an eyebrow. He pulls out a squeak toy in the shape of a duck. “Oh, Gustov even gets a little toy.”
“No, that’s for you. Gustov got his own.”
“I don’t want a freaking dog toy!” He tosses it at me, and I catch it before giving it a squeeze.
His eyes snap over to it in an instant, so I squeeze it again so he can hear its squeaky cry.
“Don’t do this to me, Casimir.”
I squeak it again.
Both Gustov and Julian are staring at it with clear interest. There’s no way he doesn’t want this. “I mean… if you don’t want it, I can give it to Gustov.” I squeak it two more times and he reaches over and takes it.
“I’ll hold on to it… for now. I really can’t eat eight giant donuts.”
“That’s a defeatist attitude.”
“Is it?” he asks as he eyes them. “Or maybe it’s a health concern. I’ll just take one, thank you. But… I could share them with the friends I invited over.”
“Friends?” I ask, immediately skeptical.
“I knew you wouldn’t invite any friends over, so I thought I’d do it.”
I think about this for a moment as he dives into his donut. The look on his face tells me that he very well might eat all eight of them, even if he claims I’m ridiculous!
“Ohhhh, you mean for me to eat. ‘Friends.’”
“No! Not… ‘friends.’ You can’t eat them. Would you toss me my bag so I can get dressed?”
“It’ll be easier to wash their blood off if we’re both naked when they arrive,” I explain.
Julian sighs. “Just… stop talking. This donut is divine, and you’re ruining it with your talking. Let me just eat it. Mmm, soooo good.”
I pull the donut away from him.
He looks heartbroken. “Wha—? Casimir, why?”
“You should only moan for me.”
“You’re jealous of a fucking donut? And don’t forget we’re not dating, remember?”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Oh yeah, I forgot you were in it for the money.”
“I’m getting paid?” he asks in disbelief. “I’m pretty sure I’m just over here getting tendonitis from painting your dog nonstop.”
“You could paint him with blood. That sounds delicious.”
“I… don’t… why? Like… why is that what comes to your mind?” Julian finishes his donut before reaching over and taking Gustov’s face in his hands. “I’m scared. Please… Gustov, save me.”
Gustov flops onto his back for Julian to rub his stomach.
“Oh, a napkin,” he says as he wipes his donut fingers on my dog.
“Don’t you dare.”
He looks me in the eyes as he rubs them harder before laughing. “They were clean… ish.”
I go over to my dresser and toss him some of my clothes even though his bag isn’t that far away.
I weirdly like seeing him in my clothes. There’s no strange reasoning behind it. There’s nothing like that at all. It’s just me being too lazy to go get his bag. That’s what it is.
The doorbell rings and I head downstairs while he gets ready. When I reach the door, I realize that his guest is Cyrus, which is acceptable.
“Come in,” I say as I stay back from the door. He lets himself in, but what I didn’t notice until it was too late was the man behind him.
I growl at him.
He growls at me.
“Why are you here?” I ask Terrance.
“Why are you?”
“This is my house.”
That just makes him growl again.
“I see you guys are getting along well,” Julian says with a beaming smile on his face as he enters the room. Like he thinks that he can make everyone forget what he’s done just by smiling at us. While it is rather effective, I still can’t forgive him. “Casimir was even super sweet and got you guys donuts.”
“Ooh,” Cyrus says as he grabs one from the plate Julian’s holding. When his father also tries to grab one, I question if he really needs two hands.
The look on Julian’s face tells me he does.
“You owe me more than a donut after last night,” Cyrus says, eyes challenging.
“Speaking of last night… where is Ezio?” Julian asks, suddenly looking alarmed. “We forgot about him!”
It didn’t bother me at all that Ezio just happened to disappear partway through the whole ordeal. I mean… honestly, did any of us even miss him?
“He’s in a holding cell in the department,” Cyrus says.
“Oh good,” I say, pleased by this information.
“Not good! Why is he in a holding cell?” Julian asks, foolishly concerned about the man.
Cyrus’s eyes couldn’t get much bigger as he looks at Julian in disbelief. I think it’s partly because he, once upon a time, thought Julian was the sensible one. “Because he picked up a police car and threw it.”
Julian gives a little shrug that deflates Cyrus even more. Julian pretends not to notice what he’s doing to him. “Yeah, but no one saw it.”
“He admitted to it!” Cyrus protests.
“It was an accident, though,” Julian says.
Cyrus scowls at him. “He’ll get out tonight with ease because these vampires know how to get out of everything.”
“They sure do,” Terrance mutters.
Cyrus’s eyes snap over to him. “Oh, don’t even start with what I have to cover up pertaining to the werewolves. They’re just as bad.”
I smirk, enjoying the way he’s beating Terrance down. “What else do the werewolves do?” I’m hoping for more, but Cyrus seems to be done.
“Okay, I know you guys are just excited to be here, but I did bring you here for a reason. So last night we met the vampire who seems to be behind these attacks,” Julian explains. “What’s really strange about him is that he appears to be able to control people. You know like… how a vampire’s allure works when they want to feed? But very different. He can make you do whatever he says.”
“But I thought allure only works if the person is already interested, right?” Cyrus asks. “Like… someone couldn’t persuade me to do something I absolutely don’t want to do.”
“This vampire can,” I admit. “Older vampires do have higher control of their allure. Like I could persuade you to do something you aren’t completely interested in, but it wouldn’t be as effective as me, say… persuading you to do something you want to do. And it wouldn’t be anything extreme. Like I couldn’t tell you to jump off the roof since your brain would override the command.”
“But he has complete control? So he must be quite old.”
“I don’t think he is, though, is he?” Julian asks me. “You were doing quite well in the fight until he used his allure nonsense.”
I nod. “Yeah… I mean, it’s hard to fully tell age when you’re up against someone for such a short period of time, but he didn’t strike me as being overly powerful or talented at fighting until he used his allure on me.”
“Hold on,” Terrance says. “He could… allure you? I didn’t think it worked on vampires.”
“It… generally doesn’t, but he was able to control me.” It irks me to have to tell Terrance how badly I failed.
“But it went beyond that,” Julian adds. “Like he was able to talk Casimir into nearly killing himself.”
“Do you want to die?” Cyrus asks. “Is that why he could convince you to do it?”
“No,” I say. And I don’t want to die… but should I? Maybe that’s a different question.
“So you’re talking complete control?” Terrance asks.
“He was able to force Casimir to stab himself in the stomach,” Julian says. “He also made Ezio freeze where he was so he couldn’t help, which tells me he can control more than one person at a time and command them to do different things.”
“What did he do to you?” Cyrus asks Julian.
“Nothing. I mean… he didn’t do nothing. He was fucking pissed when I went running after him to try to break his concentration, but he never commanded me to do anything.”
“Why didn’t he use it on you?” I ask as I think back on it. The vampire was pissed and threw Julian, but when Julian came back at him, he could have commanded him to leave. Hell, Julian was nervous enough that he’d probably have bitten onto that suggestion and run with it, but instead, he let Julian distract him enough that the group of us could escape.
“Maybe he can’t affect wolves?” Julian asks. “I… almost wondered if it was limited because he didn’t follow us. Casimir, you were bleeding horribly, and I wasn’t much of a fighter against him, so if he’d followed us and controlled you again, we’d have been done. Unless there’s a limit to it.”
“That would make sense,” I say. “Vampires can usually only do it so much. Like I can’t do it when I’m severely wounded. I stabbed him, so maybe that broke his ability for the time being.”
Julian nods while looking thoughtful. “Maybe.”
“This is what happens when vampires are allowed control,” Terrance grumbles, and I contemplate whether Julian would notice if I chucked him out the door.
“Ha. Nah, Dad, there’s a reason you’re here. The vampire said that this had nothing to do with Casimir. He said that Casimir was only involved because he’s the leader. I… think he was pretty confident he was going to kill Casimir, so he didn’t talk much. But he said to ‘Ask the wolves what they did and the vampires what they covered up.’”
Terrance raises an eyebrow. “You’re pushing the blame onto us?”
Julian’s expression tightens as he stares at his father and I question, not for the first time, how Terrance could have played any part in making someone so different. “Dad, isn’t it enough? People are dying. You think I just decided to come up with some stupid story to get you involved? I want to know if something happened.” He turns to Cyrus. “What about you? Can either of you think of something?”
Cyrus grabs a chair and takes a seat as he thinks. “I guess that’s hard for me to answer. So much shit is happening constantly. Did he imply it happened to him?”
“I don’t know,” Julian says.
“We could go back and ask him before I kill him,” I declare.
Julian’s raised eyebrow tells me that he’s not impressed by that idea, but I’m not sure what the problem is. “Let’s not run face-first into a vampire who clearly has the power to control us, alright?”
“I can ask Ezio if he can think of any cases in the past that could line up. Just… pray that he doesn’t annoy me so much that I accidentally crack open the window. I wouldn’t kill him, just remind him that I could,” Cyrus says.
I nod approvingly until Julian looks at me, and I’m forced to stop approving this. Honestly, he’s too picky.
“Dad?” Julian asks. “Anything that’s gotten covered up?”
“No, the werewolf attacks are quite controlled. I mean, we occasionally have attacks, but everyone who has been turned has either been drawn into our pack or they’ve joined another. We haven’t had any deaths in… hell, fifteen years in our area. Of course that’s not to say areas around us remain as diligent as us, but it’s never anyone from our pack doing it. I’m extremely strict that everyone has to be locked down tight on a full moon.”
“You lock yourself in the basement of the bar, right?” I ask.
“Yes. Most of the pack does.”
“But not all?” I question.
“No, not everyone.”
“What if Casimir swings by and talks to the pack tonight? I have a night class, but I’ll come afterward,” Julian says, literally tossing me to the wolves.
In what universe could he foresee me willingly chatting with the wolves or them giving me something of use in return?
Terrance seems to think the same thing as he grimaces. “Fine.”
And now I can’t back down or I will look like the problem.
“FINE.” It comes out much more menacing than I’d planned it to, which results in everyone staring at me.
Julian clears his throat, like he wants to pretend I’m not having a temper tantrum over this, and says, “Wonderful.”
“Is it?” I ask.
“It’s wonderful.” And with that, he tosses a beaming look my way and sees the others off with the promise that we’ll all do our best to look into this issue.
The moment they are gone, I stare the man down, prepared to show him just how I feel about all of this, using only my eyes. “You will live to regret this.”
Why he smiles in response to my threat, I’ll never understand. “I’m just glad you’ve admitted I’m going to live. I thought after mentioning that you’d go with my father, you might not even let me do that!”
“Hmm…”
He’s quite proud of himself. “I really can’t help but question what’s going on. Do you think there’s a reason the vampire’s attacking? Like some kind of vendetta thing?”
“It doesn’t fucking matter, he’s going to die,” I declare.
“What if someone hurt Gustov?” Julian asks.
“Then I would crush their body.”
“See? He said the vampires covered it up and the weres did it… so that makes me feel like there was some crime committed, and he’s enjoying taking his sweet time picking through the people. The guy who died at the apartment…”
“Grady,” I input.
“Right, so did Grady do something sketchy in the past? Or maybe he was close to someone we could ask. Did he ever go to any of your super-secret vampire meetings?”
I shrug.
“Like… ‘shrug, I can’t remember’?”
“‘Shrug’ as in if you expect me to pay attention to people enough to notice what their faces look like, you don’t know me very well.”
Julian turns around. “Quick, what’s my face look like?”
“Don’t ask me such useless questions.”
“What color are my eyes?”
“Eyeball color.”
“And what’s my hair look like?”
“You have a long snout with thick black hair. Real big teeth too, pointy ears.”
“You’re just describing my wolf,” he says as he turns back, blue eyes scrutinizing me.
“Ah, I forgot. I have always been able to get along with dogs better than people.”
“So you just want me to run around as a wolf all the time? Is it because I get naked before I shift?”
“You’re naked after you shift too.”
“You’re right… you should get me a doggy vest.”
I reach over and open a cupboard. The moment I do, piles of clothes tumble out since I’d been stuffing in more than what the cupboard is capable of holding.
Julian looks at them in surprise. “Are these… clothes for Gustov?”
I hesitate as I realize I’ve just shown this pesky wolf my deepest, darkest secret. How the hell will I ever be able to threaten him after this? What has he done to me that made me relax enough that I opened the secret cupboard? What is wrong with me? “No, they’re not,” I say as I try to quickly close the cupboard.
“Oh, no, no, no, no… I must see what’s in here,” he says as he rushes over to me as I try to battle against him to get the door open. He’s clearly confused if he thinks he can win a fight against a vampire.
I force it closed because I cannot lose face like this. I can’t let him see me in this light.
Julian jerks away, wincing. “Ow… my back…”
I reach for him in alarm. “What did you do?”
And he pushes me out of the way while grinning maniacally as he whips the cupboard open. “Nothing, nothing at all. Oh my god. A sailor outfit! Look at the little sailor outfit!” He makes sure to dance it in front of my face. “Is this a cheerleader costume? Quick! I want to wear it!”
He drops his clothes just like that and shifts, tail wagging as he impatiently waits for me to put it on him. I sigh and push it over his head as he eagerly pops his paws through before I grab the skirt and try to stuff it on him.
Why am I doing this? What has he done to me? “You’re bigger than Gustov, it doesn’t really fit.”
“Make it fit!”
“Well, it doesn’t,” I say as I try to stuff his tail through the tail hole just as the door opens and we both look over at Terrance.
There’s a full minute of silence. Me with a skirt in one hand and Julian’s tail in the other. Julian, who is trying to help, and Gustov who is flabbergasted about the wolf in the kitchen.
Terrance won’t stop staring, and pretending like I’m inanimate isn’t seeming to help at all.
“Please… just leave,” I beg.
“I… wanted to tell you… I’d have the pack there by eight. But now… I’m not sure I want the pack there at all. I also forbid this,” he says as he grabs for his son.
“He asked me to do it!” I protest as I watch him pick Julian up and carry him toward the door.
I sigh, deciding that it really is best if he takes the pesky wolf who does his best to make me look quite ridiculous.
Julian slips free and shakes the clothes off before shifting. Of course, instead of helping the situation, he nearly falls over laughing as he covers himself with his pants. “Oh my god, your face, Dad. I love it. Ah, good times. Good times.”
Terrance, having nothing else to say about this, quickly leaves, and I’m left with Julian laughing until he cries. Maybe our mutual desire to harass Terrance has been what’s drawn us together all along.
OceanofPDF.com
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

JULIAN
I thought I’d be at the bar by eight, but class is running over, which means that Casimir and the wolves might have all offed each other by the point I get there.
But what’s even worse is that Casimir tasked Ezio with watching me, which… I think we all thought meant he was going to wait out in the car for me.
Nope, there he is, walking right into class as I’m trying to finish up.
“Hello, humans,” he says, which isn’t suspicious at all. “I heard you were in need of a nude model.”
Fucking hell.
“Please ignore him. He thinks he’s far funnier than he is,” I say as I try to shoo him out of the classroom.
“I think he’s being serious,” Malcolm comments.
Ezio beams at him as I question where I went wrong. Is this Casimir’s payback for me shipping him off to deal with my father?
“Ezio, it’s actually illegal for you to be on school grounds without permission,” I lie, feeling like he should really go wait in the car.
“That’s okay, I got out of jail this morning, and you know the rules… once you go to jail, you can’t go back.”
“I… don’t think that’s true.”
“And maybe I want to be arrested by the sexy detective,” he says. “I begged him to put me in handcuffs and to tell me I was a bad boy… but he refused.”
The class giggles, like they could possibly find this menace funny in any way. Or they think he’s joking.
“If you refuse to leave, will you please sit silently in the back of the classroom?” I beg.
Ezio doesn’t even waste energy thinking about that. “Can I be the teacher? Anyone wants me as a teacher, say aye!”
And the entire classroom turns against me.
“Perfect!” Ezio says as he pushes me out of the way. Like, hand against my face, pushes me off because he’s clearly forgotten he’s here to keep me safe. “What are you guys learning about today?”
“Romanticism,” Brandy helpfully supplies.
“Romance, you say? Let me tell you about this detective⁠—”
“This is an art class,” I interrupt.
“Oh, fine. What if we draw him? I will start,” he says before grabbing a marker and showing off his phenomenal stick figure skills. All I care about is that it doesn’t have a penis—oh wait… he’s definitely adding a penis.
I yank the marker from him before it can look like anything but an odd C where he was beginning with the balls.
“Allow me to introduce you to… art,” Ezio announces.
“It’s beautiful,” Malcolm says.
“Thank you. See, your teacher here doesn’t understand true art. Instead, he spends hours every day painting the same dog in the mere hopes that the hot guy will ask for his hand in marriage,” Ezio responds.
“And that is all we have time for today. I would love it if everyone forgot about this and moved on. Don’t forget, I have office hours on Monday if you have any issues with your final.”
“Will he be there?” Brandy asks as she points to Ezio.
“Thankfully, he will not be,” I say, which seems to disappoint a few of them.
Once I’ve closed up, I turn to Ezio.
“So do I get paid for my work?” he asks.
“What work did you do?” I feel rather unsure if I missed something useful that he did.
My phone beeps as Ezio tries to figure out the answer to that.

Casimir: Now hear me out… how upset would you be if Terrance just… disappeared?

Me: I don’t know, my birthday is coming up and he promised he’d buy me something “Fun and normal and no, it’s definitely not a rabbit.”

Casimir: I am rich. Anything he could buy for you, I could buy ten of. So do I have your permission?

Me: Where did you get all of your money?

Casimir: That’s not the question.

Me: Yeah, but now I’m curious. I mean, I get that you own half the city, but I feel like you had to start somewhere with it.

Casimir: Definitely through legal means.

Me: And I weirdly feel that if you have to mention that, it was definitely illegal, but to answer your question, no, don’t eat my father.

Casimir: I could buy you a new father.

Me: Tempting, but no.

Casimir: What if I hurt him… just a little.

Me: You already do every time he sees you.

Casimir: This pleases me.
“God, you just look so sappy every time you interact with Casimir,” Ezio says. “You’ve got it baaaad.”
He’s ridiculous. I don’t have anything, seeing as none of this is real. We’re just… having fun… right? Yeah, maybe if he was like, “Do you want to date for real?” I’d have absolutely no reason to say no. But now I’m just afraid of making things weird if this is how Casimir wants things to stay because I do enjoy spending time with him, and I’m not sure I want to go back to how things were before we were “dating.”
“Casimir’s never dated anyone. I didn’t even know he could get along with someone long enough to even pretend to like them,” Ezio says.
My interest is piqued by this. I know Casimir’s offhandedly mentioned it, but maybe I can get more out of Ezio. “Oh yeah? Like… how long have you known him?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Two hundred years, probably. But he’s never been interested in more than a one-night stand kind of thing. He’ll make the ladies and men cry as he leaves them behind. I would love for them to know that all it took was a wolf to fetch his heart.”
“Ha ha…” Thanks for confirming my fears, Ezio. “Yeah… I’m the lucky one.”
But maybe if I just never remind him that this is all fake, Casimir will keep going along with it, and then one day we’ll be like “Welp, it’s been twenty years, I guess we can tell them it’s not real.” And I’ll be like “It’s been so long, we might as well get married.” And that’s that…
I do have it bad, don’t I? I mean, it’s hard not to when he’s funny, and sweet, and caring, and sexy… and a kind of badass, which kind of turns me on.
I step outside the building where my eyes land on the last person I was expecting to see. I freeze as Ezio slams into me before jerking me back.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Ezio growls.
“Oh, please. Look at all the people around,” Yorick says as he waves to the students milling around. “I’m not that reckless.”
“But what the fuck are you doing here?” I snap. “Do you want to have to reattach your arm again?”
He grimaces as he rubs his healed arm. “No, no. Here’s the thing, wolf. You were fun but I’m a simple man who simply likes my life more than I like you. So I was hoping you could whisper a few things into the big boss man’s ear, and in return he’ll forget I ever existed.”
“You’re switching sides just like that?” I ask in disbelief.
“No, no, my goal all along was to go with whoever’s strongest and can keep me alive the longest. And while Casimir is obviously stronger, Ivo has his fun little magic trick up his sleeve. So I really don’t think Casimir’s going to win. But let’s say that Ivo heard about my little… surprise visit to your house and has decided that if Casimir comes for me again, he’s not going to care if I end up dead. It’s hilarious, really, but he said something like, ‘I might even help.’ Rude, right?”
At least now we can put a name to the vampire behind everything. I say, “So you’re basically telling us how to kill you. Got it.”
“No, no, no. I’m telling you that if you promise to keep your dog on a leash so he leaves me alone, I’ll tell you a fun little secret.”
“Alright, fine,” I say, positive that I have no issue with lying to this man to get him to fuck off.
“So I don’t exactly know what all happened, but Ivo has implied that something horrific happened to the woman he loved. She ended up dead and Ivo is convinced the wolves and vampires were involved. But you know something interesting? I happened to smell something rotting that time we were having a little fun in the woods.”
I ask, “You mean when you and the others killed multiple wolves?”
“Maybe.”
“Where?”
“You know, I didn’t quite pay attention to that,” he says, voice toying.
“And how do we know this isn’t a setup?”
That makes him laugh, like he loves the idea that it might be a setup he wants us to waltz into. “You don’t! You’re so cute. You positive you don’t want to go home with me?”
This sociopath thinks I could possibly want to go home with him?
“Nope, no, that’s okay, I’m more than happy to not ever go anywhere with a man who threw me off the tenth floor and dragged me out on a full moon with plans of watching me kill innocents. Now I would love it if you’d leave,” I say.
“Fine, fine. But you better keep your promise.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Julian might be done with you, but I’m not. You had someone kill my love,” Ezio whispers. “You will die by my hands.”
The vampire is quite confused—as am I. “Your… love? Huh… I ate a cow the other day… you do look like someone who’d be drawn to cattle.”
Ezio gasps, like he can’t believe Yorick doesn’t remember, but I’m going to be real honest that I also have no idea what he’s going on about until he says, “My car.”
“Ahhhhhhh, you were so insignificant, I forgot about you,” Yorick says, his manic smile seeming designed to spur Ezio into fighting him.
“Ezio, let’s go,” I urge, knowing that I really don’t want him to be off chasing a vampire and leaving me behind all because of his car.
“You be careful. I’ve seen that pretty detective you’re always following,” Yorick says, which is the final tipping point.
Ezio rushes for him, but I pull him back. We’ve acquired an audience, and it would be horrible if Ezio revealed himself. My hand tightens around his wrist. “Don’t you dare touch him; he’s trying to make you lose control and strike first.”
Yorick just laughs. “From what I’ve seen of that sweet little detective, he doesn’t think fondly of you, so maybe he needs someone like me to show him what dreams are made of.”
Ezio is fuming, but somehow, I get him in the car and away from Yorick who was heading off to a vehicle of his own. As I drive, I send a call to Cyrus.
“Hello?” he asks over Bluetooth.
“Cyrus, that vampire who’s been harassing me has obviously taken note of you. I’m ninety-nine percent sure it was just a ruse to piss Ezio off, but please keep an eye out. If you’d like to stay at Casimir’s house with me, we’ll keep you safe.”
There’s only silence and I hesitate, thinking I’ve lost him. “Cyrus?”
“I have to go,” he says, voice tight.
“Cyrus, I’m saying you shouldn’t be alone.”
“I’m fine, alright? Just… I’m fine. Worry about yourself.” He sounds pissed, and I can’t help but wonder if it’s because we keep dragging him into our messes.
“I won’t let him touch you,” Ezio says, voice quiet.
“I’m not… I’m just…” He falls quiet again.
“I’ll swing by and pick you up,” I assure him.
“I don’t need to be picked up. I’ll go to Casimir’s house once I’m done with my shift,” Cyrus says.
“Okay. Ezio would love to escort you.”
“Fine,” he says, sounding grudging, but isn’t that an improvement that he actually agreed?
As I stop at a red light, I see Ezio’s eyes have gone wide and his mouth is opening, sure to say something that will make Cyrus take it all back. So Iquickly clamp my hand over his mouth and end the call as fast as I can.
“You almost fucked it all up,” I inform him.
Ezio doesn’t care. “He… he wants me!”
“He doesn’t want you. He wants to use you as a body shield.”
“I don’t care,” he whispers. “He can have it all.”
“You are a questionable man,” I decide as I drive to the bar. Ezio’s forgotten all about his car and the fact that Yorick had come out to threaten us into trying to keep him alive. He only cares that Cyrus didn’t declare that he’d rather take on the vampire single-handedly to avoid seeing Ezio’s face.
“I have one question,” Ezio says.
“Why didn’t I tell Cyrus to go to your house? The look on your face is exactly why.”
He pats his face. “My face? What’s wrong with my face?”
“A lot,” I inform him as I pull into a parking spot. I get out and head toward the back door a moment before it flies outward. As in… off its hinges flying. And out with it goes Weston. And while I try my absolute hardest not to say or do anything, watching Casimir step out with his sleeves rolled up and his eyes narrowed… I’m ashamed to say it does something to my heart.
“I can literally smell your lust from here,” Ezio says.
“You can’t smell shit, now shut up,” I whisper as I hurry over. “Cas… what’s going on?”
Casimir looks over at me and immediately smiles. It’s such a pretty smile that I’m one hundred percent smitten.
Oh fuck… no! How did I become smitten?
“God, you two are sickeningly sweet together. Little can pull Casimir out of rage mode, yet all he has to do is look at you and he’s immediately calm,” Ezio announces for all to hear.
“He doesn’t like me like that!” I blurt out.
“What?” Ezio asks before I remember that we are pretending he does. “What? What?”
“Nothing! I’m just saying you’re making it more… cutesy than it is.”
Ezio’s scrutinizing eyes tell me that maybe he isn’t as airheaded as he makes us think he is. I hurry off, making sure that Casimir murders no one along the way. “Casimir, hon, love, snuggle bug, why are you chucking wolves through doors?” I ask.
Dad eyes the door as he steps out and I get prepared to try my best to defend Casimir, but Dad just sighs. “What the fuck did you think you were going to accomplish with that, Weston?”
“Fuck,” Weston growls as he gets up, and I press in close to Casimir to get a few details.
“May I ask what happened?” I whisper.
“Oh, he thought he could fight me for the territory. Terrance told him that was stupid and to take it outside. Which we did. Excuse me while I fight for my territory,” Casimir tells me.
“Wait,” I say.
Casimir glances over at me. “Yeah?”
“I wanna fight him.”
That pleases Casimir, if his smile has anything to say about it. “Ohhh?”
What the fuck am I saying? Do I seriously want to fight him? Okay… maybe a little!
Weston glowers at me. “I’m not fucking fighting you. I want to fight the territory leader.”
Casimir tips my chin up and just like that, he leans in, pressing his lips against mine. Captivating my attention—and the attention of all the wolves wondering what the hell is going on. Casimir pulls back and tosses a smirk Weston’s way as he says, “Oh no… I think I just lost my territory to this wolf. I guess you now have to fight him for it.” And it’s so fucking toying that I just want to trot off and make him mine… NO! Just have sex. That’s all that is. Just lust. Yep. Lust is my final answer!!!
“Out into the woods,” Dad says with another sigh, and I hurry after Weston who is cussing up a storm. Honestly, I just need to get away from Casimir before my heart beats out of my chest and I make him hold my “clammy” hands again.
“So all I have to do is kiss Julian, and I get the territory?” Olive teases.
“Shhh, I really wanna kick Weston’s ass,” I say.
“Ohhhh, so Weston has to kiss you,” she jokes.
And off I run after Weston.
When we reach a far enough distance from the bar, I shift in eager anticipation.
“This is bullshit,” Weston grumbles.
“Julian’s the leader now. Alpha, whatever you want to call it,” Casimir says, and I just want to kiss that smirk.
Fuck. No.
What is wrong with me?
I’m going to fight Weston. I’m going to maul him and forget all about Casimir. I’m going to forget it all.
“Is it… legal to just… change over territory like that?” Benny asks skeptically.
“You wolves fight for it, I kiss for it,” Casimir says with a shrug.
“Shhhh, Benny, we want to watch Weston cry,” Olive assures him as she pulls Benny back to enjoy the show.
Weston seems confident he’s going to kick my ass as he shifts and struts toward me. He doesn’t even wait for anyone to call the fight before rushing at me. And there I am, head in the clouds thinking about how my heart is betraying me every time Casimir’s near—wait… can he hear it? Does he notice that I get excited for his attention? Does he realize it’s not all fake?
I’m so caught up in my head that Weston nearly hits me, but I step out of the way before skidding to the side. He misses me again and snaps his fangs at me.
“Stop running and actually fight.”
Right, right. I’m kicking Weston’s ass, not thinking about Casimir.
That’s all this is… unless he kicks my ass. But that’s fine too because then I’ll get to watch Casimir kick his ass, and that might even be more fun.
Weston rushes in again and I step to the side quickly before I dodge under him and grab his far forearm. I jerk it back, flipping him onto his side. He kicks me hard, sending me flying back, but I get back into the fight in seconds. He keeps trying to use brute strength to attack me, and while he does plow into me or send me flying back a time or two, I’m quicker than him. I can turn faster, and as his rage is growing, he’s making more mistakes. During fights like this, we usually refrain from doing something that will actually hurt each other, but Weston hasn’t always agreed to that, which is why I’m surprised he hasn’t bitten me yet. I wonder if he’s afraid of what my blood will do to him.
I toy with him until I find an opening where I flip him again and grab him by the throat with my fangs. I make sure that it’s not hard enough to hurt him, but he’s pissed and tries to flail and twist and flip out of my grip. Even so, I hold him steady and when he finally gives up, it feels so good.
“Wow, didn’t even last a minute,” Casimir says as he gives me a slow clap.
I’m so pleased with myself I’m floating until I remember that there’s a reason we’re out here. I’m not out here to get a boyfriend or fight Weston—even if they both sound much more fun.
I shift back and take the clothes Casimir hands me. “Okay, you can have the territory back. I’ve had my fill for the day.”
Casimir gives me a nod. “Good, good. Now the wolves have informed me—before Weston thought he’d attack me—that they haven’t seen or heard anything off that hasn’t been reported to Cyrus, Ezio, or me.”
I pull my clothes back on as I think for a moment before deciding that I want input from Casimir and my father before I mention it to the whole pack, in case someone is lying and would take the time to move the body. “Can I talk to you two privately real quick? Ezio, I’m going to tell them what we learned. Do you think that you could maybe interview people individually to see if you can come up with anything?”
“Of course!” Ezio says, and off he goes before pointing at Weston who’s busy sulking. “You look like a murderer. You first.”
“What did you find? I thought you were working?” Casimir says once we’re far enough away that the others can’t hear.
“Don’t get mad and run off with rage. So… Yorick… stopped me outside of the school⁠—”
Mad is an understatement. Casimir’s expression doesn’t change much, but his aura becomes unbearable. It makes me want to quickly back away and it does make my father step back until I grab Casimir’s wrist.
“Hey! Listen to me. You’re not just going to run off again. Yorick told me that he wanted to call a truce between you two. He said that he would give us some information if you… don’t kill him.”
“And you told him I wouldn’t?”
I squeeze his wrist, trying my best to calm him down. “I did because I wanted to hear what he has to say. He told me that the vampire who we met in the school was named Ivo, and the woman Ivo was in love with was killed. Back at the school, Ivo claimed the wolves killed her and the vampires covered it up.”
“My wolves haven’t killed anyone,” Dad declares. “He’s trying to tear us apart.”
“Aren’t we already apart?” I ask. “It doesn’t matter if it’s wolves or vampires; we need to stand together and work to figure this out.”
“Says the one who just fought Weston,” Dad says.
“It… Weston’s given me shit for years and I’ve put up with it. You cannot seriously point fingers at me for being uncompliant. And it was literally a bit of fun… for me. Not Weston.” I hesitate before shaking my head as I realize how angry I am that he’s again pointing at what I did and claiming it to be wrong.
I jab a finger at him as I continue. “You know what? Fuck this. Fuck working with you. Maybe I’ll fucking fight you instead and make this my pack and help them see some goddamn reason because you just constantly fight me every step of the way. You’re supposed to be my dad. You know what’s funny? I used to be unsure if you even cared about me. I was positive you only cared about the fact that I wasn’t one of your pack members until I nearly died. And seeing you sob over the top of me, forgetting this stupid war you have raging in your head and begging Casimir for help made me realize that no… he really does love me. And then you say shit like this, and I just go back to wondering again.”
Dad looks down and I’m surprised he appears a bit ashamed of himself. “I’m sorry. You’re right. But I’m trying. I really am. I might not be the best at this shit, but I’ve gone to the meetings you two have been setting up, and I just went to Casimir’s house this morning. And before you guys even showed up, Benny, Olive, Keats, and I all sat down and went through every incident in the past ten years, and we’ve come up with nothing. I’m not saying that means no one from my pack was involved. I’m saying that… if it was caused by someone in my pack, it was done with malicious intent and hidden because all of my members know that if something accidentally happened, we work together to fix it.”
“Even if they killed a person?” Casimir asks.
“Yes. We all understand the complete lack of control we have on the full moon. It’s… it sounds awful, but it’s hard to condemn a werewolf who kills on a full moon. We have absolutely no memory of it. What isn’t acceptable is if it could have been avoided. But we take that information, and we learn from it. We make sure the younger ones are locked up first before locking ourselves up.”
“What if they killed them outside of the full moon?” Casimir asks.
“That… I mean that’s possible… anyone can kill someone,” Dad says.
I rub my head, wishing this all made sense. “Yorick… might be lying, but he said he smelled something rotting in these woods… it could be an ambush, but he could be telling the truth that the body we’re looking for might be right out here.”
“Doesn’t your pack run the woods frequently? Wouldn’t they notice something?” Casimir asks.
Dad shrugs. “Yeah, but the area is butted up to the national forest. I have no idea where the vampires entered on the day they attacked us, but he could be talking about somewhere outside the area we run. We don’t stray into the national forest too much because of the trail cameras and the number of hikers. We try to keep to this area. If there is a body miles out that way, we’d never come across it on our runs.”
Casimir turns to me. “Did you happen to get Yorick to tell you where this possible body is? It’s probably a dead deer.”
“He ‘couldn’t remember.’”
Casimir growls. “Of course he couldn’t. I’ll go.”
Why would he run off alone when he has countless other people who can help? “What if it’s a setup?”
That doesn’t seem to deter him. “I don’t care, I’ll kill them. Stay back here with the pack.”
“Umm, no?” I say. “You’re not going alone.”
“Ezio can go with me.”
Why is he acting like this? Is he still mad about the Yorick thing? “No, the whole pack can go. We can track much faster as a group than you can alone.”
“Unless there are pack members who are involved,” Casimir says, sounding stubborn.
Dad’s at least willing to work with me as he offers, “I will pair them up in threes… with people they don’t generally work with.”
“You could call your vampire friends too?” I suggest to Casimir.
“I have no friends,” he says, but after I stare at him for a long moment, he puts out a call.
As Dad explains what’s going on to the pack, Casimir orders some vampires to come. After they arrive, Ezio makes his way over to me. We watch as my father breaks people into groups of three and Casimir pairs each group with a vampire whether they want it or not.
I’m not surprised that Genevieve, Baldin, and Dan—the guy who paid for all the candy bars—have shown up, but I am surprised that Steve does, and another woman who looks vaguely familiar.
“Who’s that lady?”
Ezio glances at her. “Shandy. She wants in Casimir’s pants.”
“Oh, I’m… that’s quite the introduction.”
“And so do you,” Ezio says as he hooks me around the waist and pulls me back out of hearing distance. “So all of this is a ruse, eh?”
Shit. “I… don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He pats my head, which is just weird. “Don’t you? I am a detective, after all!”
“You… weirdly only seem to be one when it conveniences you.”
“Well, I don’t actually get paid,” he says. “So I only tend to remember that I’m a detective when something piques my interest.”
“Oh… makes sense.”
“Right? Now I think this is adorable. You two decided to try to merge the two sides together with a lovely fiery romance to show them that if you two can do it, anyone can. And along the way, the little wolf fell head over heels in love with the handsome vampire.”
“The words you’re saying sound weirdly condescending,” I grumble.
Ezio’s all smiles. “Nah, it’s adorable. When are you going to tell him?”
“Never.”
“Why? What’s the worst he can do besides crush your fragile heart, deny you, and tell you to fuck off so you will forever be scarred and terrified to admit your feelings to another human being ever again? But that’s what Cyrus does to me every day, and still, my heart thunders on for him.”
Why does all of this make me feel worse? “You’re not convincing me in the slightest.”
“Come on now, just tell him.”
“You literally just got done telling me in the car about how he loves no one. Will never date anyone⁠—”
“Very true, but he’s never looked at anyone like he looks at you,” he says. “Trust me, little wolf, our friend is nowhere near that good of an actor.”
“Ezio, get your ass over here,” Casimir growls, and Ezio gives me two thumbs-up like he thinks any part of his talk was actually encouraging before trotting off.
I walk over to Olive who is currently being petted by Genevieve, even though she’s still in her human form.
“You are just the cutest. And there are two of you!” Genevieve reaches over to pet Willow who is staring at me like she thinks I’ll fix this situation. “You know, I tried to pull cute Julian into my harem, but he refused. But I’ve never had twins.”
“NOPE,” Willow says as she hurries off. “I love ya, Olive, but not that much.”
Genevieve tsks.
“This is both odd and pleasing all at once,” Olive murmurs as she continues to be petted.
“It’s definitely odd,” Benny says as he walks up to her. “I guess I’m with your group now. I was with Weston’s group until I nearly punched him in the face, and now here I am. Who’s the third wolf?”
“Keats,” Olive responds with a grimace. I look over at Keats, but he’s standing alone, likely not coming over until I’m gone. While he doesn’t hate me as much as Weston does, he’s generally not shy when it comes to being a dick.
“Julian, you’re with me,” Casimir says, so I join Genevieve in petting Olive’s head, which makes her laugh, before hurrying over to Casimir. “Let’s go.”
“Okay,” I say before holding out a clean pair of underwear. “Carry these.”
“Everyone’s just leaving their clothes here,” he protests.
“Yes, but every time I shift with you, I end up somewhere naked wearing napkins! My naked ass has probably been recorded by the police! So I made a plan to carry a spare pair of underwear with me at all times, and when I shift, you’re going to carry them. Hang them around your neck if you have to.”
“Funny,” he says as he stuffs as much of them as he can into his pocket. “I need to get you one of those backpacks like Gustov has.”
“You mean to go with his cheerleader outfit you made me wear earlier today?” I tease.
Steve, who’d been walking by, freezes and looks at Casimir. Casimir refuses to meet his gaze.
“We don’t mention that,” Casimir says before taking off without me. I have to quickly shift and run after him to catch up.
As I trot after him, I find my mind wound up in what I’d talked to Ezio about as my eyes stare at the man’s back. I mean… there are so many complications that come with this. He’s a super awesome ultra badass vampire, and I’m some art professor who occasionally becomes fluffy. While werewolves do have longer life spans and are more resilient, he would outlive me… I mean, that’s if we actually like each other that long. Hell, he might decide after a week he’d rather be with someone like Genevieve.
I glance over at the giggling vampire who is pampering Olive. While Olive enjoys this, I very much don’t see Casimir enjoying something like that, so maybe he wouldn’t wander off to Genevieve and I’m just trying to find excuses for why this won’t work.
“Why are you trailing behind me?” Casimir asks.
“Because I like looking at your ass,” I say before catching up to him. The groups split off and then it’s just Casimir and me alone.
This would be a good chance to tell him… now that we’re alone… although maybe while looking for a dead body isn’t the most romantic.
Oh my god, I was going to confess my feelings while we’re looking for a dead body! What is wrong with me?
That’s when I realize that Casimir is being quieter than normal. He’d generally harass me a bit, but he’s being absolutely silent.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, glad the other wolves can’t hear me from this distance.
“Nothing.”
I trot after him as he picks up his pace to a jog, like he’s just going to run away from this conversation. “Don’t lie to me.”
“I’m not.”
And there I am, trotting beside the liar.
We move in silence for quite a while—probably fifteen minutes—before I stop. He gets about ten feet from me before noticing that I’m not with him and turns around to face me.
“What?”
I shift back to my human form. “Casimir, what’s bothering you?”
“Nothing.”
“Casimir, are you pissed about Yorick?”
His clenched jaw tells me I’m right. His sharp eyes bore into mine. “There is one fucking thing about me that’s worth anything, and when it comes to you, I can’t even seem to do that right.”
This man… what nonsense is he spouting now? “There’s one good thing about you?” I ask, prepared to have this talk fully naked. “Where did that come from? There are so many good things about you. You’re sweet, kind, nice, you make me laugh. You make me absolutely love spending time with you. You’re such a joy to be around. I love how you can be all gruff and demanding of people that irritate you, and then go home and kiss on your dog and make cooing noises at him.”
“All of that is bullshit.”
I watch him for a moment, trying not to feel hurt while trying to understand that he doesn’t actually think I’m wrong. He just thinks so little of himself. And it’s weird to realize. He’s a man that anyone would be happy to be with, but he can only see his faults. “You think I’m lying?” I ask.
Casimir hesitates. “No! I’m just saying that the only thing I’m good at is killing people, and clearly, I can’t even do that well enough to keep you safe if that fucking parasite could walk right up to you at your workplace!”
“Did I mention that in my list of things I like about you?” I ask. “Because I really like you, Casimir. I know… I know all of this was supposed to just be some fun and a way to show others that we can get along… but maybe it was too much fun because I want it to be real.”
He shakes his head and turns. “Absolutely not.”
I try to ignore the way that hurts. “That’s all I get? No reason why? Just an ‘absolutely not,’ and that’s it?”
“There’s no part of me that would agree to dating you,” he says as he walks off.
Hell, this man is stubborn. “Why? At least tell me that.”
“Because you deserve someone who isn’t a fucking monster, Julian! Now let’s go!”
I linger as he starts off without me. “Why is it that I can tell you all of the wonderful things about you, but all you do is still focus on something I don’t see?”
“Julian, it’s enough. This is fun. We can have fun, but that’s it. I’m done with this talk.”
“Well, I’m not,” I say as I try to hurry after him, but walking barefooted through the branches and prickers is less than ideal. “I like you.”
He ignores me.
“Casimir, I like you, and until you give me a valid reason not to, I’m going to keep liking you.” I can be a very stubborn man if I need to be.
He hesitates, and with him it’s so hard to tell if I’ve annoyed him to the point that he’s going to try to shoo me off or if he’s going to give in. Casimir turns around and hurries up to me, trying his best to look menacing as he steps into my space.
“I was raised to be a killer, and that’s all I’ll ever be. So this can’t happen. If it’s something real you want, then I have to be done.”
I hear a howl that breaks the tension between us, telling us that someone has found something. Unsure of what else to say or do, I shift and follow Casimir in the direction of the sound.
When we reach the area, we’re one of the last ones there, having fallen behind for our… discussion. I shift to my human form and join the others.
“I can smell something large and dead below here,” Keats says. “Do we dig it up?”
“Yeah, let’s dig it up,” Casimir agrees.
It doesn’t take long to reveal a dark cloth covering what we have to assume is a body. Casimir reaches down and tugs the cloth away as the rotting smell hits us. Inside the grave isn’t the woman we were expecting, but two men. I don’t recognize them, making me question if they’re both vampires from outside the territory.
“Anyone recognize either of them?”
“How are we supposed to recognize shit? They’re all icky,” Genevieve says, but my eyes are transfixed by the guy closest to me. She’s right in that it’s hard to recognize anything, but on the leatherlike skin, I see a mark on the vampire’s wrist.
“Is that a tattoo?” I ask.
Ezio reaches down and pushes the arm up with his shoe. “Sure looks like it.”
“The woman who was on the subway… the one who followed me and tried… killing me. She had that same tattoo…”
Casimir kneels down to get a better look as Ezio snaps a picture of it.
Ezio scrutinizes the scene as he says, “Let me reach out to the medical examiner who took in the bodies. I’ll see if she can check this out for us.”
“So… the vampires who attacked me… they might not have been some ferals creating chaos,” I realize.
“Looks like they might not have been,” Casimir says. “Hmm… I’ll be back after I talk to her. Ezio, come along.”
Ezio hurries after him, and I assume I’m included in that as I rush to catch up.
“No, stay with Genevieve. She’ll keep you safe,” Casimir instructs.
“Umm… that’s not going to happen,” I say as I chase after him. “You can’t just decide that I’m useless now.”
“I would never assume you’re useless,” Casimir responds, but he doesn’t say anything further as I trot after them.
“What’s with him?” Ezio mumbles to me.
“He’s mad that I told him I like him,” I say.
Casimir turns so I can see his scowl. “I’m not mad about that.”
“Ah, yes, Casimir is a rather dramatic man. He wants to wear the weight of everything on his shoulders while kicking away anyone who’d love to help,” Ezio says.
This seems to annoy Casimir even more. “Ezio, either stop talking or go somewhere else.”
“See? And when you point it out, he gets angered.”
“He is pretty angry.”
Casimir takes off at a pace he knows I wouldn’t be able to keep up with as a human, forcing me to shift. I know it’s because he’s aware that Ezio and I can’t talk when I’m a wolf, so I gallop after him.
OceanofPDF.com
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

CASIMIR
When we reach the medical examiner’s office, we’re stuck waiting for her. During that time, I’ve been forced to watch Ezio cradle Julian in his wolf form in the passenger seat.
“You’re just so cute!” Ezio says as he ruffles Julian’s ears. Julian looks like he’s loving it, tail whapping back and forth at hyper speed. It’s irking me that they’re acting so… familiar with each other.
“Julian, why don’t you shift back so when she gets here, we’re not waiting on you to get dressed,” I urge.
“And deny these tummy rubs? Hell no.” His tail wags as he rolls onto his back on Ezio’s lap. Then he starts wiggling around as Ezio looks down at him in delight while scratching him.
“I didn’t use to like wolves, but you’re so huggable! It’s absolutely delightful!” Ezio says as he squeezes Julian to himself and buries his face against the fur on Julian’s chest. Julian’s head tips back to look right at me so he can make sure I’m witnessing this irritation.
“Knock it the fuck off,” I growl as I grab Ezio’s hair and jerk his head back.
Ezio glowers at me and leans to the other side of the passenger seat to whisper in Julian’s ear. “Someone’s jealous.”
“I’m not fucking jealous. I just think you’re acting ridiculous.”
Ezio gives absolutely no shits that he’s irritating me. He’s literally the only vampire who ignores everything I say, and Julian is the only werewolf who does. Now all I need is a human tossed in the mix, and I’ll just be surrounded by all kinds of irritations.
“My, what big paws you have! Look at them!” Ezio says as he squeezes Julian’s paw pads, making his nails stick out a bit more and then laughing as he holds his paw against his hand.
I shove Julian’s paw back down. “That’s enough.” Why the fuck does this irritate me so much? You know what? Nah, this is perfect. Julian deserves someone good, and while Ezio isn’t good by any sense of the word, he’s attractive, and he’d never hurt Julian and would keep him safe.
“Fine, why don’t you two get together?” I say, and the moment it’s out of my mouth, I realize how much of an idiot I am.
Why can’t Julian realize that I’m doing this for his own good?
Julian and Ezio both look over at me and it’s quite clear they also think that I lack some kind of common sense, which is fine. Because I’m doing this for Julian. It was all fake to start out with. All fun, and now I suddenly look like the bad guy.
“She’s pulling in,” I inform them, and Julian shifts right at that moment… you know, completely naked in Ezio’s lap.
“Oh, excuse me,” he says as he gives Ezio a grin.
“Damn, you don’t need to excuse anything,” Ezio responds. “Do I still get to rub your belly?”
“HA HA HA!” Julian’s laughing far too loud and trying way too hard as he gives Ezio a playful smack. “You’re hilarious, Ezio. Like… the funniest man I’ve ever met. OMG.”
And then he climbs into the back seat where his clothes are as I realize that I’m crushing the steering wheel.
“What’s up, bud?” Ezio asks like he has no idea.
What’s up?
I slowly look over at him and find that he won’t meet my gaze. Why? Is he scared of me? Ezio is never scared of me. Is there something wrong with my face which would make him not look?
“What are you two doing, she’s waiting for us,” Julian says as he pops out of the back seat, fully clothed.
“Ezio?” I whisper.
“Yeah?” he whispers back.
“I wish you a long life,” I say as I get out of the car.
“T-Thanks? I think?”
Of course he didn’t realize it was a threat.
I join up with Julian as he reaches the front door and follow Ezio inside.
“Hey, Noel,” Ezio says. “This is Julian.”
“Good evening,” Noel says. She’s a human who is knowledgeable about our kind since she’s Dan’s great-granddaughter. While many vampires leave their human families behind, some of them stay with their family who assure them that they will stay quiet. It helps in instances like this, where we need someone who knows about our kind to perform some of the examinations. “You have a picture?”
Ezio shows her the picture, and she scrutinizes it for a moment.
She goes over to her computer and looks through it before showing us a picture of the wrist of the dead woman.
Noel uses her mouse to circle an area on the picture. “So the tattoo is similar, but it’s not the same. I know it’s hard to tell on the body you found, but this area opens up on opposite sides. The tattoos and styles are old. I remember being curious about it when I came across the woman. With them so similar, it could be something like they were from the same community or maybe they were lovers or family. So I do believe they’re related somehow.”
“We never managed to ID her, right?” Ezio asks.
“No.”
That’s when something hits me. “The bodies from the walk-in freezer that I found before she died, do you have anything on them?”
“Yeah, give me a second.”
Julian looks over at me curiously and I realize that I probably never told him about them.
“The day I bought those candy bars from you, I was trying to find the vampires who ended up attacking you since there were rumors of them killing people. I tracked them to a building where they’d been stashing the bodies in a freezer.”
“There were seven humans inside. Four men and three women,” Noel adds.
“The women, can you tell us anything about them?”
“You’re thinking that we’ve already found the body of the woman Ivo loved?” Ezio asks.
“Possibly.”
“We were able to ID two of them with help from their families. The final one we have no record of. No one claimed her body.”
“Do you still have the body or has she already been cremated?” I ask.
“I think we still have it. Let me check. It’s generally out of my hands at that point. I think there was still hope that she would be claimed. Come on,” Noel says as she heads out of the room and down a hallway. She unlocks the door and walks inside and over to a drawer with a tag on it. She pulls it open, but there’s nothing inside.
“Well… shit,” she says.
“Is there a camera in here?” Ezio asks.
“No, there’s not. We have an outside camera… I think that’s the best we can do.”
“The door is always locked?”
“It is.”
“A locked door probably doesn’t matter because the guy can control people,” Julian comments. “He could have walked up and ordered one of them to grab the body for him.”
“True… we need to figure out who that woman is. But if this is the case, the vampires killed her, not the wolves,” I say.
“You know, it’d be fun if we could actually ask this vampire instead of playing like cryptic message phone tag,” Julian says.
“If I see him again, I will kill him,” I declare.
“Yeah, that doesn’t help as much as you seem to think it does,” Julian replies.
Noel takes us back to her office where she spends some time trying to watch the security footage of when the body was removed. It takes a while, but Ivo’s arrival seems to correlate with the day that information about her body went out to the public in the hopes of finding her next of kin. In the footage, he walks up to the door and is immediately let in by a man that I recognize as a wolf, dispelling my theory that he can’t affect wolves. After the wolf stands there stone-still for a few minutes, Ivo walks out with the woman’s body.
“I… kind of feel bad for him. I mean, no, he doesn’t need to go killing people, but I feel bad he lost someone he clearly cares for,” Julian says.
“Does that mean it was targeted?” Ezio asks. “We originally thought the group of vampires who attacked Julian were killing indiscriminately, but were they actually killing with a purpose?”
“So they targeted Julian from the beginning?” I ask. “I mean… he is the alpha’s son, so it’s highly possible.”
“Let me take an image of her and see if any of the vampires recognize her,” Ezio says. “Cyrus should be done with his shift after that, and I’ll swing by and pick him up. Julian, do you want to come along?”
“No, but I’ll meet you at Casimir’s.”
“Deal.”
OceanofPDF.com
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

JULIAN
The night seems practically useless for finding out anything. And all I’m left doing is awkwardly going back to Casimir’s place. Hell, he probably doesn’t even want me here.
“Can we talk?” I ask.
“Nothing to talk about,” he says matter-of-factly.
He’s giving me a headache.
I’ve never been so excited for Ezio to arrive until he gets in just before dawn looking horribly dejected.
Ezio hugs Gustov. “Cyrus said he changed his mind and doesn’t want to be picked up. Julian, will you shift so I can snuggle you?”
“I would love to,” I say. And that’s how I end up lying on the living room floor with Ezio’s face buried in my fur.
I’m perfectly aware it’s fucking weird. Casimir knows it’s weird.
But still, he stands over us and glowers down at us like he doesn’t want to talk about things but wants us well aware that he’s having a pity party for one as Ezio whines out his woes about Cyrus not returning his affection.
“This makes me feel immensely better,” Ezio says, unaware of the danger above him.
I wag my tail, which results in our heartfelt snuggle being immediately cut short as Casimir snatches up Ezio’s foot and starts dragging him like something out of a horror film.
“No! Please! No!” Ezio cries as he claws at the floor, leaving me behind as he’s tossed out the door.
I shift back and glare at Casimir. “You told me to date Ezio instead, so I’m trying it out. We are dating.”
“You are not,” he says as I tug my clothes on.
“Don’t forget, that’s what you wanted,” I tell him as I pull the door open and drag Ezio inside. The moment he’s in, I push him down in a chair and sit on his lap. “Let’s watch a movie and cuddle, Ezio!”
“Ha… ha… ha…” He’s looking a bit nervous now, but I’m not deterred.
He makes the sign of the cross and whispers a prayer under his breath. I’m not even sure if Ezio is religious, but I think he’s trying to make peace in case he’s sent into the afterlife.
I grab a blanket and pull it over us. “Oh! Ezio, don’t touch me there. I’m so sensitive.” Why do I love riling up Casimir so much?
Casimir’s standing in front of the TV, so all we can do is stare at him.
Ezio leans in to whisper in my ear. “Do you want me to die this badly? I thought we were friends.”
“Oh, Ezio! Your sweet nothings in my ear make my body burn with desire.”
“Oh? I thought maybe the burning was just coming from Casimir’s eyes! Ha ha! How silly. Silly me!”
“I bet a kiss would quench me!”
“Oh yes… a kiss with death!” Ezio announces as he puckers his lips.
I… didn’t actually think he’d go through with it, so then I’m also puckering my lips but there’s like a two-foot distance between us. I slowly move in as Ezio slowly moves in. At this rate, we should reach each other by Christmas.
“Watching the two of you makes me feel better about myself. Thank you,” Casimir says before heading upstairs to sleep, seeing as the sun is coming up.
Ezio gives a sigh of relief as he sinks down. “Okay… I don’t think this is working, whatever it is.”
“He was super jealous,” I assure him.
“Or maybe just super confused,” he says. “Just go talk to him like an adult.”
“He refuses to,” I say as I grab my phone before realizing I’d accidentally picked up Ezio’s phone.
“Whoops, that’s yours. Ooh, Cyrus texted you. What’d he say?”
“I’m sure it’s something like ‘You disgust me even if you’re beautiful on the inside and outside.’”
“Ah, I’m sure,” I say as I see that it does not say that.

Cyrus: I’m busy. I can’t come.
“Did you tell him about what we found?” I ask.
“I did, but then he sent me that, and I haven’t had the willpower to answer. You can answer him.”
I flash the phone at Ezio’s face so it opens and click to reply.

Me: Do you think the two cases are connected? This is Julian. I stole Ezio’s phone.
Cyrus leaves it on read… which he seems to do a lot to Ezio, but never to me. I switch to my phone.

Me: I really think you should come here. Are you home or still at work?
I groan as I remember that I have stuff from work to deal with.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, I just think it’s stupid for him to be alone,” I admit. “Maybe I’ll just go pick him up. It’s daylight, so I’m fine out. I need to run into my office to grab some stuff. Do you guys need anything?”
“Nope. You might try to pick up some common sense for Casimir,” he says.
“Will do,” I reply with a grin as I head upstairs to find Casimir. He’s in his room, so I knock until I hear a grunt that I deem means “Come on in!” and push the door open.
“Hey, I know you’re busy making absolutely no sense, but I’m going to run into the school and grab some work before I come back to sleep. It’s light out, so I’ll be fine.”
He looks over at me from where he’s fixing Gustov’s collar. “Why didn’t we grab it earlier?”
“Because the college isn’t open at four in the morning.”
“You sure you can leave Ezio that long?” he asks, which results in a look from me.
“While I’m gone, I’d really appreciate it if you took some time to use your brain. If you don’t like me, that’s perfectly fine. I would never want to pressure someone… but I do think you like me. Isn’t it really my own decision about whether or not I think you’re… worthy or whatever you have going on?”
He’s quiet.
“Give me one day,” I say. “Just think about it for one day, and if tomorrow comes and you’re like no, the idea of dating you makes me die inside, then I will drop it and we can have some super-hot make-up sex.”
“Will Ezio be there?”
“Uh… hadn’t planned on it, but if you want him to watch as I drop you to your knees and make you beg… then I might not complain. See ya in a bit,” I say with a wink before I head off.
By the time I take a shower, get dressed in something that I wasn’t wearing when I taught classes last night, and get to the college, it’s after seven in the morning. I quickly text Cyrus as I’m walking up to my office.

Me: After I’m done at work, I’m going to stop by your house. Give me your address or I’ll have Ezio look it up for me and trust me, that won’t be pretty.

Cyrus: Fine. I’ll send you a pin. Do not share it with Ezio. Burn after opening.
I reach my office and spend about half an hour going through things and submitting a few grades. Once I finish, I drive to Cyrus’s house and hurry up to the door. I’m dragging, ready to sleep, but just one last thing and then I can curl up in bed.
I’m ridiculously disappointed it’s not going to be Casimir’s bed, but one can only be so picky, I suppose.
When I knock on the door, Cyrus sends me a text to come inside, so I push the door open and immediately notice the scent of another wolf… is Cyrus not alone?
“Cyrus?” I ask as I step into the room, only to find him tied up on the ground with Benny leaning over him.
“B-Benny?” I ask, not expecting him to be there. Not expecting any of this, to be honest.
He slowly looks over at me and lifts a gun. Freezing, I watch him in alarm.
“Benny, what the fuck?” I ask. “What are you doing?”
“Get on your knees, hands up,” he growls, voice sharp.
Cyrus gives me a look of horror as he struggles against his tight binds, tape over his mouth, hands bound behind his back.
“On your knees,” Benny barks again, voice hollow.
I can’t tell if the gun has silver in it, but a gun is a gun any way you look at it, and I really don’t want to be shot. Putting my hands up, I try to think about what I should do, and why the hell Benny is doing this.
“Benny, what’s going on? Talk to me,” I say, but he continues to stare at me vacantly as something hits me.
This is how Casimir acted when Ivo worked his allure on him. Is Benny also being influenced? If he is, I’ll have no way to stop him without stopping Ivo, but then… it’s daylight out. How could Ivo even be controlling him?
I hear a car alarm start to go off and question whether they’re doing something to my car to keep us from driving off. Is there more than one person here? If I’m right, and the vampire is controlling Benny, I can’t hurt him. But if I’m wrong… he could kill me while I do nothing.
Benny stills for a moment before his attention shifts, maybe questioning what’s going on with the car alarm. I use his momentary distraction to lunge forward, slamming into him. He stumbles back before tripping over the chair. The gun goes off, and I realize that going for it would be too reckless, so I grab Cyrus instead.
I jerk him back through an open door and slam the door shut, switching the lock in place a moment before I hear another gunshot. After yanking the tape off Cyrus’s mouth, I start working on his hands.
“Please tell me you have your gun on you.”
He shakes his head, a grimace on his face. “I don’t.”
“What the fuck happened?” I ask.
“He just… knocked on the door, and I know him from the pack—he’s one of the nice ones—so I opened the door without hesitation. I didn’t expect he’d just attack me.”
Benny slams against the door as I quickly send a text to Casimir that we’re being attacked, hoping to tell him more as soon as I get Cyrus free.
“I think he’s being controlled by the vampire,” I say.
“What? He can control them even from a distance?” Cyrus asks in surprise.
“I think so,” I say as I tear at the tape around his wrists a moment before a weird stabbing pain hits me. I grimace as I grit my teeth and duck my head. The feeling is far too familiar.
“What’s wrong?” Cyrus asks as he grabs for me.
What the fuck? Why is the silver in my blood affecting me? I fed off Casimir, right? It hasn’t been that many days… right? Fuck… I think I’m off a day. I think I’ve fucked up. I thought I could go four or five days, so I’d been taking his blood at least every three days, but last night with everything going on and this morning…
“N-Nothing, I’m fine,” I say, hoping the wave of pain will pass. “We need to get back to Casimir.” I grab my phone and see that my car has sent an alert to my phone for a lack of tire pressure. “I think someone slashed my tires, which means there’s more than one of them.”
“I can call for backup from my department.”
“But what if they shift? They’ll shoot them immediately,” I say as I click Casimir’s number a moment before the door busts inward. The wolf lunges in and immediately latches on to Cyrus’s leg. I kick him hard before shifting and tear him down as I hear more enter the house.
In this state of mind, Benny’s brutal, but he’s fixated on Cyrus, which gives me an advantage. Cyrus quickly grabs the gun Benny must have dropped when he shifted. Just as he snatches it up, Weston plows into Cyrus.
Cyrus smashes the gun into the side of Weston’s face, but Weston is oblivious to the attack as he goes in for Cyrus again. Pushing away from Benny, I take the brunt of Weston’s attack so Cyrus can get out. He flings the window open, pushes through the screen and climbs out.
Spinning, I lunge toward the window and leap for it, my front paws catching the windowsill as the pain from the silver hits me and I lose my grip. Benny grabs me by my leg and tears me back in as I find myself unable to focus on the fight.
Suddenly, there’s a loud noise, so loud that it’s deafening in this small room, especially for our sensitive ears. I feel hands on me and start to fight before I realize it’s Cyrus pulling me through the window. He slams the window shut and starts dragging me since I can’t seem to get my feet under myself.
He’s saying something, but my ears are still ringing from the gunshot. I manage to get up to my feet as he tugs and pulls me, and I realize I’m in my human form. When did I even tell myself to shift?
“Come on, Julian. We have to move. There are more of them,” Cyrus says, and while the ringing is still there, I can at least understand his words.
“Run ahead,” I urge.
“I’m not leaving you. The gun they dropped has silver bullets in it, so I can’t use it on them. I’m going to need you to get up and run.”
I nod as I scramble up to my feet and hurry after him. “My phone?”
“Fuck, I didn’t grab it after you shifted. I was fixated on the gun. Sorry. What’s happening to you?”
“I… I need Casimir,” I say.
“Yeah, Casimir would be really nice right now, but he can’t come out here into fucking Suntopia,” he retorts as he keeps pulling me. The pain is letting up a bit as I find my feet.
“I’ll shift and try to get them down.”
“There are four following us, and you are in no condition to fight,” he says a moment before one rushes in front of us.
“I’ll distract them. I need you to call Casimir. Tell him the silver is affecting my blood.”
“But what’s he going to do? He can’t come here! There’s sun.”
“I don’t know,” I realize. “He’s got his car. He could drive here.”
“Those cars aren’t made to withstand midday sun, though. We can’t rely on him. If I just nick them with the bullet… will it kill them?”
“No idea,” I admit. “It depends on the type of silver used. If it was like the bullet they used on me, it could kill them. If it just has a silver exterior, they’d be okay.”
I force myself into a shift and turn to face Keats who has reached us first. He’s snarling, his lips folded back as he shows off his fangs. He lunges for me, and I dash in to meet him as I see Cyrus moving toward him instead of away from him. Just as Keats grabs for me, Cyrus loops what looks like his belt around Keats’s neck and starts rushing backward, ripping him off balance. Keats flails and fights to get back up onto his feet as Weston slams into me, reminding me how far off my game I am.
I’m flipped onto my side but hurry back up to my feet as I grab him by the neck and pin him down. He’s flailing and fighting, but I have him down in such a way that the only thing he can do is kick me with his claws that can’t get through my thick fur easily. The thing is… what do I do now? I can’t hurt him. I sure as fuck can’t kill him. Can I make him pass out without hurting him?
That is until shocking pain rips through me. I lose my grip and he manages to gain control of the situation as he knocks me to the ground a moment before I’m forced back into my human form.
Cyrus is back, swinging his belt which smacks Weston in the face, merely irritating him.
“Cyrus, get back!” I beg. He’s a human. If he gets bitten or attacked, he won’t heal as easily. Since it’s not a full moon, a bite from a werewolf wouldn’t force him to change, but it could still hurt him horribly. “Cyrus, I think Ivo has to be nearby to control them or he could have controlled Casimir before he saw him. Any vehicle you don’t recognize, shoot the window. He has to be hiding in something he can escape in. I doubt he’d be in a house that we could burn down.”
Cyrus hesitates, but he nods and draws back as I shift again.
Benny must have gotten some of my blood on him because he’s pawing at his muzzle, and Keats seems to be unconscious, so at least I have fewer to contend with, but how much longer can I even deal with any of this?
I see Weston turn for Cyrus who is running for the road, and I rush him, leaping onto his back as we go down together. When I hit, I see Olive a moment before her fangs latch around my throat and I realize she could really kill me, she could kill me right now… or my blood could kill her.
“Olive, stop,” I beg, but my words are useless. “Olive, please.”
Not her. Please don’t let her be the one to hurt or kill me. It would destroy her.
Her fangs sink in, breaking skin. She’s so transfixed on me, she doesn’t even notice the way my blood has to be burning her mouth.
I try pushing her off with my paws, but it makes her clamp down tighter. All she has to do is tear back and she’ll rip my throat out.
And then she stops.
There’s a moment where she stands there, looking stunned before Weston, back in his human form, jerks her away from me.
I roll up onto my feet, but it feels like acid is running through my veins as I fall down in my human form. My nails dig into the ground as I realize that I need to make sure they’re back to normal, but I can’t get up. I can’t focus on anything other than this feeling that seems to be worse than death.
“Get away from him!” Cyrus yells.
“What the fuck? What the fuck?” Olive cries as she hurries back from me.
Cyrus reaches me. “He left. Your idea worked. There was only one car on the street with protective glass, so I knew it had to be him. Now come on,” he says as he tries pulling me to my feet, but I can’t get up. I can’t do anything.
OceanofPDF.com
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

CASIMIR
My calls and messages continually go unanswered as I rush down the hallway to find Ezio, who is sleeping.
“Ezio!”
“Hmm?”
“Julian just messaged to tell me that he and Cyrus have been attacked by Ivo.”
“What? During the day?” Ezio asks as he jerks awake.
“That’s all I have. I don’t… he won’t fucking answer his phone,” I growl as I rush downstairs and over to the garage.
“You’re going to drive there? What if Cyrus doesn’t have a garage, and you can’t get out of the car? What are you going to do, stand there and watch?” Ezio asks.
“What the fuck do you want me to do?” I can’t just… sit here and twiddle my thumbs.
“I want you to call someone who can help. Get Terrance on the phone.”
“FUCK,” I growl as I kick the end table, absolutely pissed that I can’t help. That I’m practically useless. Quickly, I call Terrance who answers almost immediately.
“Hello?”
“Julian has been attacked. I…” I turn to Ezio. “Where the fuck does Cyrus live?”
“I don’t know.”
“Isn’t it your life goal to fucking stalk him?” I growl. “How can you not know?”
“I… he asked me not to go to his home, so I don’t know! I usually meet him at his work!” Ezio says.
“What the hell is happening?” Terrance demands.
“I don’t know, but I just got a message from Julian that he was attacked at Cyrus’s house. That’s all I have. I’m going to call the department and get someone to tell me his address,” I say.
“Three of my employees didn’t come into work this morning,” Terrance informs me. “I don’t… I don’t know if something happened or if it’s related, but they’re gone and I can’t get ahold of them.”
“Fuck, that could be how Ivo is attacking them during the daylight… he could be making the wolves do it. Do you have any way of tracking them or Julian?”
“I don’t, but his mom does. She has access to his phone and car’s location in case he ever shifts during a full moon and she has to find him,” he says. “I’ll call her and tell you what I find out.”
I pace the house as I wait for the call before going into the garage and getting in my car to wait. A few moments later, I get a text from Terrance that gives a location and an “I’m headed there now. I’ll let you know what I find.”
Ezio gets into the car with me as I look over at him before saying, “You know it’s not the safest to do this. If the car failed or something happened, we’d be locked in here and die. You can stay here.” The car really is only supposed to be used at dawn or dusk, when the sunlight isn’t high enough to cause any damage. Even with the windows as coated as they are, they’ll likely cause discomfort as I drive.
“I’m not staying here and letting you play hero alone… even if we’ll likely become crispy,” he mutters as he pulls his hood up and tugs it as tight as he can so I can only see his eyes which are covered in sunglasses. “Let’s go, but I swear to god if you run out to do… something and burn to a crisp, I get your house.”
“The house goes to Gustov, but you or Julian may live in it to care for him,” I say as I open the garage door and back out into the driveway. I can feel the sun on my skin as Ezio groans.
“Oh fucking hell, I’m going to be burned to a crisp,” he moans as he climbs into the back seat and curls up in a ball on the floor. “Alert me when it’s safe.”
He is hundreds of years younger than me, so it’s not a surprise it’s affecting him worse than me, but why does it have to be so goddamn sunny? I don’t think there’s a cloud in the sky as the sun beats down on us with clear vengeance.
Better question is, why was I so fucking stupid earlier? If I hadn’t been in that stupid fight with Julian, we could have gone earlier to get Cyrus. He wouldn’t have been alone.
What if he dies? What if I can’t get to him in time?
What if, after five hundred years, I’ve finally found someone who makes me wake up every morning and think about something other than how much I hate myself? And what if that’s taken away from me? Just like that.
“Julian is tough as hell,” Ezio mutters from his huddle.
“I know he is.”
“He’s tougher than you and your weak common sense.”
“I’m aware,” I grumble, unsure what the jab was for.
“He’s going to be fine is all I’m saying.”
“He better be or it’s your fault.”
“My fault! Why the fuck is it my fault? Are you just jealous you didn’t get to give him tummy rubs? Have you gotten to rub your face all over his fluffy tummy yet? It’s like little clouds of heaven.”
“I’m going to roll your window down if you don’t shut up.”
In the rearview mirror, I see the ball Ezio is in tighten. “Fucking hell, man. You’re so mean!”
I growl at him so he can be well aware how “mean” I am.
As I turn onto the street, my eyes are instantly drawn to the pack of wolves fighting behind the house. They’re a good distance from the road, but I can see them… and I can see that Julian isn’t winning this fight. And just as I decide that I’m going to jerk my car off the road and run the fucking wolves down for touching him, they stop.
“Aww! My Cyrus is so sexy with his gun!” Ezio coos.
I see a car speeding off and realize that Cyrus must have driven the man off. The vampire must have gotten far enough away to stop the control he had over the wolves. I would love to chase him, but it’s not like I can get out of the car to murder him, and right now, I care more about Julian, who is lying on the ground in the middle of the wolves.
“Something’s wrong with Julian,” I say as I realize he’s not getting up. “He’s hurt…”
I need to get out of this fucking car. I need to get out and go to him. I need to help him, I need to save him from the pain that seems to be tearing through him as he writhes on the ground, and instead, I have to sit here and just watch him.
“I’m going to drive through the fence to get to them.”
“Or we could not risk busting the windshield,” Ezio says as he lays on the horn. I see Cyrus look over at the car and then rush to tug Julian.
“Why don’t you get out of the car and get the garage door open?” I bark.
“Ah yes, let me die a senseless death.”
“Something’s wrong with Julian.” Anxiety is eating at me as I’m forced to sit there and watch.
“Yes, and something more will be wrong with him if you get us killed! Look, Cyrus is running back to the house,” he says as I see Terrace racing across the field, all while I sit here, unable to do anything.
The garage door opens, and I quickly drive around Cyrus’s car to get in before he shuts it. I grab for the door when Ezio clutches my wrist. “Make sure everything is sunproof first!”
“It’s fine,” I growl as I jump out.
Cyrus looks a bit alarmed. “Stay in the car for now. My curtains are open, but Julian says he needs you. I… I don’t know what’s going on,” he says, and it dawns on me what it is.
“They need to get him to me now,” I demand.
“They’re coming. Just stay here,” he instructs as I hear the front door of the house open. I rush forward, needing to get to Julian before the silver kills him. Why did it strike him so quickly? Did something make it happen sooner than it should?
The sun leaking in through the windows burns me as I rush over to Terrance standing in the doorway with Julian in his arms. I pull him to me body limp in my arms as I lower him to the ground.
I tear into my wrist, ripping it open as blood spills out of me and onto his face. “I’m here. I’m sorry.” I press it against his lips. He’s not swallowing, he’s not even responding. “Come on, Julian, come on,” I beg as I gently smack his face, wanting to jar him awake.
“What are you doing?” Ezio asks as I realize Terrance and Cyrus are also watching us, but I don’t care. I have to protect him. I have to do something for him.
“Julian, please, wake up,” I say as I shake him. He gasps and chokes on the blood that’s filled his mouth before swallowing it. Then he desperately grabs for me as he swallows more blood.
“Well, isn’t this fascinating,” Ezio says. “Boy, Casimir, you sure do like to get yourself wound up in some… peculiar situations.”
Julian lets go of me as I heal and the blood flow stops, but at least he’s not writhing around and his heartbeat seems to have steadied.
“Julian?” I ask, but though he roused briefly to drink, he’s still unconscious in my arms. I just want him to wake up. I want him to show me he’s fine. Gently, I brush my fingers over his face, but he feels warm and his breathing is steady.
Fuck. Why have I been so foolish? No, I don’t deserve him. I don’t deserve a man so nice and sweet and funny, but I want to be greedy. Just this once, can’t I be selfish? I’ve hated myself for so long, so can’t I have just this?
“He… he still has silver in him… from when he was attacked?” Ezio asks. “How the hell could that happen? How could it not kill him?”
Terrance looks down at his hand that looks like it’s been burned, telling me he got some of Julian’s blood on him, but he stays silent.
“I didn’t think vampire blood could affect a wolf,” Cyrus says.
I ignore them, not caring about any of that, only caring about the man in my arms as I pull him onto my lap. I run my finger over his neck where he’d been bitten, but the wound isn’t severe.
“Come on, get out of this room. You can… hide in my closet,” Cyrus offers as he starts trying to drag me. I really don’t care about the burning sensation on my skin. All I care about is that Julian is with me and he’s going to be okay. He has to be okay.
Oh.
And that I’m going to rip Ivo apart piece by fucking piece.
OceanofPDF.com
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

JULIAN
When I wake up, I yelp.
It’s… not the manliest of noises I’ve made, but it’s like I was immediately jump scared just by opening my eyes.
“I wasn’t staring at you,” Casimir says, like he could have possibly been looking elsewhere while leaning over me, face so close that when I awoke, it was all that I saw.
I grab my chest as I roll onto my side. “What… the hell was that?” I ask.
“I was just seeing if you were still sleeping. I really felt like you should be awake by now and started to question if I should be more worried.”
My heart is still running off as Casimir seems to find no issue with anything that just happened. “How long were you… you know… just checking to see if I was sleeping?”
“Only like… three hours.”
“Oh my god, Casimir. You were staring at me for three hours?” Is that romantic or creepy? I’m not sure…
“I wanted to make sure something didn’t happen. You’re so fragile. What if you just like keeled over! I stopped at one point to remind Gustov that he was the cutest dog alive, and that all other dogs are significantly inferior to him. And that world-kind suffers because his balls were snipped off, otherwise he could have brought on a wave of superior dogs.”
I stare at him for a long moment. “I’ve clearly ended up in a coma. I’m dreaming that an alien is talking to me and speaking absolute nonsense. Excuse me while I go back to sleep.” I close my eyes, but I have the sinking feeling that Casimir is still staring down at me and am proven quite right when I peek up at him. “Can you explain this? Because it’s a bit creepy.”
“Every time I look away from you, you run off and nearly die, so I am prepared to watch you at all times.”
“I’m… not nearly dead. I’m fine,” I assure him before hesitating. “Hold on a minute… You… kind of care, don’t you?”
“No.”
I sigh, wondering why I’d even bothered to try.
“I very much care,” he says before sitting down on the bed next to me. “I have come… partly… to my senses.”
“Oh?” I’m trying my hardest not to get my hopes up. He’s so strange that “him coming to his senses” could mean that he plans for nothing between us to change beyond him staring at me for longer periods of time. “Can you… explain that a bit more?”
“No.”
I sigh again as I sink back down on the bed. “You don’t have to worry about me. I’m perfectly fine, okay? I… just miscalculated when I needed to chew on my favorite chew toy so I could suck blood out of him. It was a simple mix-up; I promise it won’t happen again.”
Casimir watches me closely, like he’s trying to read into every word I say. “Were you lying when you said you’d like me no matter what?”
“I mean… it’s true for the most part. I do draw the line at some things, like… more than ten artworks of Gustov per room is too much.”
He stares at me for a while, leaving me unsure if I’m about to get a speech about how one could never have too many paintings of Gustov, when he looks away and says, “I’ve killed countless people, Julian. I was born and raised to be a killer. I don’t know if they were good or bad people; I killed anyone I was pointed at without remorse.”
He’s refusing to meet my eyes and I can’t fathom how much he’s blamed himself over this for so many years. “Casimir, I don’t believe you did it without remorse or you wouldn’t still be beating yourself up about it,” I say.
Casimir’s quiet for a long moment. “I know it was hundreds of years ago, but… I was never taught how to care for someone. I wasn’t raised with love, so I never learned how to love. We weren’t allowed to show affection. We weren’t allowed to show emotion. Crying was weakness, sadness was weakness… all I knew how to do for so many years was to kill. Once I was free of that life, I didn’t know how to actually be free of it. I kept my distance, and as the years changed, I did acquire people I cared for, but I kept them as far away as I could. I never expected to have someone like you… to deserve someone like you. I still don’t believe I deserve you.”
“I… don’t think it’s about deserving to have me, Casimir. I think it’s because you care for me, and I care for you. I love spending time with you, and you… hopefully feel the same.”
He shakes his head. “What if I fuck it up?”
“So? Every one of us fucks something up once in a while. If you make a mistake, we figure it out and move on. I don’t need your whole heart right now, Casimir. You can take as long as you need… I just want to be able to like you for real. I want you to actually be mine.” I would love to know everything about him someday, but I know he’s not ready for that. He might never be.
“I… just don’t think I deserve someone like you,” he says.
“What do you deserve, then? To live sad and alone for the rest of your life?” I ask in disbelief.
“Correct.”
“Not correct! I guess if that’s the case, I’ll take Gustov.”
Casimir gives me a stoic look. “Fine, then take him.”
“You are so stubborn.”
He smiles at me, and the softness of it tells me I’m winning, even if it’s just a little bit. “Maybe. I just don’t want you to hate me when you learn who I was.”
“I promise I won’t. And I know it’s hard to trust my promise, but please do. So are we going to do this or what?” I ask as I sit up and grab his wrists.
His eyes flicker down to my hands. “I might run away.”
“That’s… not ideal but we can work with it.”
“You could hate me the more you learn about me.”
“You could hate me when you see my spare bedroom and realize it looks like I’ve never organized a day in my life. What if we share with each other some musts? Would that make you feel better? Here’s mine. If you are feeling upset and getting down on yourself, you must talk to me first.”
Casimir just “Hmmms” like he doesn’t love the idea.
“Your turn,” I urge. “Tell me what you want.”
“You must never move Gustov if he claims the couch. You must sit on the floor if he looks cute, and since he’s always looking cute⁠—”
My skeptical look seems to stop him. “Cas.”
He sighs before caving. “Fine. I… will promise to maybe talk to you instead of keeping everything to myself.”
“Good. Thank you.”
Casimir seems to think of another. “You must not run off into danger and make me… feel things again.”
“Well, if it gets me a sexy and funny boyfriend, I’m not sure I can agree to that one. I might have to pay Ivo to send more people after me like ‘Oh no, Casimir, come save me. I need a big strong vampire!’”
He stares at me. “It’s not funny.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive. Tonight, I am going to tear Ivo’s head off from his body as soon as the sun goes down.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Sounds… gruesome.”
“Yes. And you’re going to stay here.”
Bullshit. “No. No I’m not.”
“Yes, yes you are.”
He doesn’t seem to even notice the look I’m giving him. “Oh yes, giving the big evil vampire the opportunity to control the strongest vampire I’ve ever met sounds like a phenomenal idea. You know, so he can just be like, ‘Yo, bro. Thanks for coming, now go kill all the good guys for me.’ And you can be all, ‘Fantastic idea! Let me start hacking!’”
“So you’re saying to send weaker vampires so when they come, I can kill them. I shall send Steve.”
“What has Steve ever done to you?” I ask.
“He’s Steve,” he says, like that answers it.
I sigh. “So… are we doing this? Are we dating for real?”
His eyes narrow. “Yes?”
“Why did that sound like a question? And why are your eyes telling me that this exchange is suspicious?”
“Because you often make me question everything.”
“Okay… you promise you’ll be good? This is what you want? I’m not pressuring you into something?”
Casimir raises an eyebrow and shakes his head. “Do you honestly think I’d let Toto pressure me into something? I promise I want to be with you.”
“Pinky promise,” I say as I hold my pinky up.
He stares at it for a long moment before fist bumping it.
“What the fuck was that?” I ask.
Casimir gives me a look like I’m the odd one here. “I don’t know what the hell a pinky promise is! You wolves have the strangest ways of making contracts.”
“It’s not a contract! You are just ridiculous. Give me your pinky.”
“Now I don’t want to! Gustov, the wolf is making me feel uncomfortable.”
Gustov seems to think that this is an extreme issue as he comes bounding over to check out my finger. He must deem it safe because he licks it before leaping off the bed to check out his chew toy.
Casimir presses the tip of his pinky to mine. “Better?”
“Immensely,” I say, not quite sure how this qualifies as a pinky promise either, but we’re getting closer. “Now how long was I out for?”
“A few hours. We thought it’d be much safer to bring you back here because if we were in that house and Ivo wanted something to happen to it, there’s nothing we could have done to escape quickly.”
“I kind of have an idea of how we could pass some time while waiting for night…” I give him a waggle of my eyebrows.
“Hmm?” he asks, but the way he leans in tells me he might know.
Just before he kisses me, I lean back. “Wait! I… should probably take a shower or something first, right?”
“What? You already got one.”
“I did?”
“You don’t remember that you asked Ezio to help bathe you to make me jealous? You literally woke up and went, ‘I’m a dirty boy who needs a bath. Since Casimir’s head’s so far up his ass, Ezio, bathe me!’ Then you yanked off the blanket I’d wrapped you up in, climbed in the tub butt naked, and then fell asleep. So Ezio rinsed you down before I put you in my bed since you were very filthy from rolling around in the field, and I was afraid you’d have a wound under the dirt.”
“I asked… Ezio to wash me. Oh my god… I vaguely remember this. Why didn’t you?”
Casimir shakes his head as he grabs me around the waist and pulls me onto his lap. “You asked him to! Don’t worry, it was nothing weird. He was just spraying you with the showerhead like he was power washing you.”
“And… you saw nothing weird about that?”
“No, you should have seen the dirt just flying off you. You asked!”
“I will never be able to face him again.”
“And ignore the bruise on your head.” He leans in for a kiss that I do not reciprocate.
“My head?” I pat my head until I feel a lump on my forehead. “What the hell did you guys do to my head?”
“I… maybe… minorly misjudged the width of the doorway.”
I stare at the man who can swiftly leap off the tenth floor of a building, snatch me up and scale up a wall… but apparently can’t carry an unconscious man through a doorway.
“I see…” I whisper. “Like you just bashed me into the doorframe?”
“Well… you kind of slipped a little. Just… it’s fine. Forget all of that.”
“No, no, no. I would love to know what all happened. I do see I’m wearing clothes. Did that happen before or after my head was bashed into the doorway?”
“Cyrus clothed you.”
“How many people were involved in this adventure?”
“Just us three. You knew we were all there! You did some weird ‘Eenie meenie’ thing that… I still don’t understand before picking Ezio to bathe you and Cyrus to clothe you and declaring to everyone that I was pure evil!”
“Fucking hell. Please forget all of that. But how did you drop me? You know, the man who grabbed me and jerked me away from a bomb dropped me because I was… what, exactly? Wiggling around too much?”
“Slippery. Cyrus was right, I shouldn’t have mentioned any of this. Can we get back to kissing?”
“So… out of your goodwill, you guys looked at me and were like ‘I bet we should wash him and make sure he’s okay,’ then proceeded to waterboard me, throw me into a doorway, and needed a human to save me.”
Casimir’s quiet as I continue to sit on his lap. “So about that kiss?” he asks.
“No, no, I want to verify that I have all of the events in order.”
He’s silent.
Clearly there’s something else that I probably don’t even want to know about.
“Let’s just say we had to wash you twice.”
“What the fuck happened?” I ask.
“Cyrus saw me drop you and he went to catch you as I was also grabbing for you. It’s how I managed to not catch you as he threw his bowl of… salsa on you.”
“I don’t believe any of this happened.”
“You woke up during multiple parts of it! You interacted with us.”
“Please, just kiss me and end this.”
“I was just going to let Gustov lick it off your back because… honestly, he’d already done so at that point, but Cyrus told me that was gross and to rinse you off. What I want to know is why are you more concerned about this than anything I’ve told you about my past? I would also like to remind you that if you’d have just asked for me, none of this would have happened.”
“Well, even half-dead me wanted your attention and wanted to make you jealous, I guess! I was mad, okay? I wanted you to be like ‘Hell yes, I’ll date you.’”
Casimir grabs my face and tips it up. “Hell yes, I’ll date you.”
That makes me smile. “Ooh, now we’re talking.”
“But Ezio can never pet you or rub his grimy face all over your furry body.”
“What about my not-so-furry body?” I tease.
His eyebrow rises.
“I’m joking. Ezio never meant anything by any of the teasing. I think he just treats me like an actual dog. And remember, I didn’t mean anything by it either. We both knew you wouldn’t take us seriously.”
“Yeah,” Casimir says before leaning in and kissing me. “I’m sorry I was so stubborn that you had to resort to such grotesque measures to get my attention.”
“Thank you,” I respond with a smile before leaning into his lips. He presses them against mine, mouth parting as I grab on to him. Why do I feel so much more excited now? I mean… trust me, every other time we’ve gotten frisky, it’s been fun as hell, but there’s something different about knowing he’s finally mine.
His tongue brushes against my lips before meeting my own. It wraps around mine, tangling and teasing as his fingers run up my back.
I reach down and slip a finger under the waistband of his pants. “You want me to touch you?”
“I do, but your toying tone tells me that you have something else in mind.”
“No, no, no. I would never,” I say as I open his pants to reveal his cock. “I was just thinking…” I reach down and stroke him as he watches me intently.
“You thinking while touching me has me worried.”
That pleases me greatly. “That you should apologize…”
“Eh. Do I have to?”
“For calling my hands clammy.”
That makes him laugh. “Oh wow, you sure hold a grudge. The issue is… that they are.”
With a hand on his chest, I give him a push, and he drops down onto his back as he laughs. I swing off him, grab the hem of his pants, and yank them off before tossing them. “I could leave you here, eager all night.”
“Over clammy hands? You would honestly do that? You would forgive me so easily for not saying yes right away, but not this?”
“Correct. Tell me how angelic my hands are,” I order as I pull my shirt off while he watches with clear interest, but it’s nothing compared to the way his eyes drop when I push down my pants. I love how sexy he makes me feel, like he’s seeing something amazing for the first time, instead of… hell, I feel like I’ve been naked during most of our excursions… or wearing a napkin.
Casimir sits up and reaches for me, taking my hands in his as he kisses the palms and then each finger. “Your hands are perfectly kissably clammy.”
“You are a monster,” I say as I climb up onto him.
“You sure you’re okay?”
“Oh, I feel completely fine. There’s this weird pain in my head from where my white knight threw me into a doorway, but besides that, I’m fine. Wait… maybe you’re the one with the clammy hands. Maybe that’s why you dropped me.”
He looks at his hands like they might have deceived him. “No…”
“Right?”
“How could you ever face me if they were?”
“We can be clammy together. We are so romantic.” I grin at him before kissing his lips again. “Can I take your shirt off?”
“Hmm…”
“What’s that mean?”
“It means what it means.”
“You don’t have to. I don’t want you to do anything that you don’t feel comfortable with.”
“No, it’s fine with you.”
“I mean… I really don’t even want to see your chiseled body that much. Like your muscular body only reminds me that I should get off the couch more, and… do I really want to? So maybe it is best to keep it clothed.”
Casimir shakes his head at my attempt to lighten the mood. “You are sexy just the way you are.”
“And so are you,” I remind him.
He reaches down and grabs the bottom of his shirt before drawing it off and tossing it to the floor. Since he’s facing me, I can’t see the majority of the scars, but some wrap around his side. He kisses my cheek before his lips start down my neck, and instead of tension, all I find is pleasure because with him, I feel safe. I feel safe enough that I might even let him bite my neck… someday.
Instead, he sucks and kisses his way down my throat as I rock my hips forward until my cock brushes up against his.
“You know what would be sexy?” I ask.
“I’m hoping me naked in front of you.”
“You naked in front of me all the time,” I decide.
“I mean… you think it’s normal to do it all the time, so why shouldn’t I?”
“Right?” I reply with a grin as he hooks my waist and flips me onto my back on the bed before leaning over me.
“You have lube?” Casimir asks.
“I sure do. I’ve contemplated carrying it everywhere with me just in case the sexy vampire ripped my clothes off. I thought maybe if I showed you how well I could fetch it, you’d just take me right there!”
“Your clothes are already always off.”
“The issue is, the lube’s in the bag in the room I was staying in. Do you think⁠—”
He’s gone and back before I can even finish that sentence. He tosses the bottle and I catch it before popping it open. “Eh?”
Casimir grins at me. “You look so excited, like it was a magic trick or something.”
“The magic trick was getting you into bed,” I say.
He grabs my ankles and pulls me back to him. “I know magic too.”
“Oh?”
“I can make your cock disappear… in my mouth.”
I close the cap on the lube and toss it onto the bedside table.
“Oh my god, my joke wasn’t that bad!” he protests.
“Things are closing down,” I say as I grab for the sheets to pull them over me.
He huffs in disbelief. “It was supposed to be sexy!”
“And it was, and that’s why I’m scared, Casimir. A normal person would think that was weird, but my cock was like ‘Hell yeah, I love magic!’”
“Maybe pretending your cock talks is the weird part,” he comments as he digs at the sheets until he finds me.
“Noooo! Don’t turn this on me. I’m sexy,” I say. He leans against me to retrieve the lube.
“Oh so sexy. Tell me what else your cock says.”
“Your mocking tone is not going to deter me. It’s saying, ‘Just look at me and ignore Julian’s words.’”
“So even your cock is embarrassed by you?”
“Maybe a little bit!”
That makes Casimir laugh as he pops open the lube.
Is this how sexy time is supposed to go? “How about I just rave about how sexy I am. Like ooh, look,” I say as I take the lube and squeeze some into his hand. “Did you see that? Did you see how well my clammy hand squeezed that bottle?”
“Oh, I saw that. Fuck, that was hot. It almost made me forget about your talking dick.”
I keep squeezing.
“That’s enough!”
“I’m sorry, my embarrassment made me squeeze harder than I meant to. Good thing I wasn’t holding your dick at the time! Ha ha.”
“Sounds devastating,” he says. “Maybe I can kiss that trauma away from you.” He leans in and I press my lips against his as his fingers drift down my thigh, leaving a trail of surplus lube along the way as he slides down between my legs. His finger runs between my ass cheeks, gliding over me.
As he rubs over me, he moves his body down, pressing hot kisses as he goes before he reaches my cock.
“I… I’m a bit nervous. I’ve never met a talking cock before,” he says.
Oh hell. “I’m not listening to you! I’m pretending I’ve never heard you in my life.”
This just makes him grin at me, and I immediately forgive him for making my life torturous because he’s so happy while doing it. He takes the head of my cock in his mouth, sucking the tip before sinking down on my length.
I moan as his finger pushes inside me, stroking me as his mouth moves down my length. “Oh fuck,” I mutter.
Casimir presses a second finger against me, sliding both inside me and opening me up as he draws nearly off my cock, his other hand caressing the base as his tongue swirls around my tip. Every touch has pleasure consuming me, but this isn’t enough. I want him to fill me up. I want to feel his thick cock inside me. I want more of him… all of him.
I nudge him, wanting to let him know that I want more. He glances up at me as his finger presses against that sweet spot inside me that makes me moan as I grab for him.
He draws out of me as I cling to him.
“I want you to fuck me for your final magic trick,” I tell him.
“Is that what you want or what your cock wants?”
I snort, wondering why he’s so ridiculous. “Maybe that’s what we both want.”
Grabbing the lube, I squirt some onto my own hand before reaching out and stroking his cock. He murmurs against my lips before kissing me as I move my hand down his thick erection.
He grabs my legs, sliding his hands down them as he draws them up on each side of him, pulling me in closer to him. I draw my hand back a moment before I feel his cock brush against my ass, and I anticipate the feeling.
The tip presses against me as his hand travels down my chest to my cock, stroking me while he slowly pushes into me. I moan as my body opens up for him, as he fills me up, sliding in deeper.
“Fuck… putting up with your magic tricks was worth this.”
“Oh?” Casimir asks with a grin. “I’m glad they were acceptable.”
“Me too,” I say as he rocks his hips just a little. He’s driving me crazy with every shift of his hips, every stroke of his hands. It feels so fucking good, driving me deeper and deeper into a world of pleasure as he moves inside me.
Desire takes hold of me as I reach out and grab on to him. I can feel the scars on his back and hesitate, unsure if it bothers him.
“Hmm… Can I hold on to you?” I ask.
“You’re fine,” he assures me before his lips find mine in a feverish kiss.
I just want to cling to him, hold him now that he’s mine… all mine. I don’t have to fret that it’ll always be fake. That he’ll stop this façade. No… he’s all mine.
I moan as his cock makes pleasure rush through me, his hand stroking me. I hold him closely, kissing and touching him, feeling like I can’t take much more. He draws back before driving into me and I moan, loving every moment of it.
My fingers dig into him as my back arches up and his hand tightens around the base of my cock. Fuck, it feels good. He teases my cock until I can’t take any more and I come. The rocking of his hips, the way he’s touching me, makes me moan as I grab on to him. He groans as he clutches me, coming inside me as he draws me into his arms. He kisses my neck and I know he wants to bite me, and honestly, it feels so fucking good that I could tell him to do it just so I can have another moment of intimacy with him.
“Bite me,” I whisper, but as soon as it’s out of my mouth, I kind of regret it. I don’t want to think about them tearing into me. Them ripping into me.
He draws his cock out of me and pulls my leg up as he leans down a moment before his fangs cut right into my thigh.
I’m startled at first before desire explodes inside of me. It’s like the whole buildup from sex has rushed back and hit me again, rocking its way through me.
I moan as my fingers dig into his hair and I clamp my eyes shut. “Fuck, fuck,” I mutter, wondering where the pain went. Where’d all this fucking pleasure come from? It feels as good as a blow job… no… better. Another wave of ecstasy rushes through me.
As he pulls back, I’m left panting and exhausted but in such a satisfied way. My entire body feels refreshed.
“Why the fuck did getting bitten feel so good?” I whisper.
Casimir tips his chin up, watching me with his rich brown eyes. “Because I want everything I do to you to feel good,” he says before kissing me. The slight metallic taste of blood fills my mouth, and I don’t know if it’s because my blood is technically mixed with his or what, but the taste is hypnotizing. This man is hypnotizing.
When I feel like he’s stolen my breath, he pulls back from the kiss, and I realize I whine the moment he does.
“You’re greedy tonight. Didn’t you already drink half my blood?” he asks.
“Doesn’t mean I don’t want more of you,” I say.
He kisses my forehead as he lies down next to me, pulling me into him. “We can cuddle until Gustov wants to cuddle and then you have to go.”
I start laughing. “You are ridiculous.”
Casimir’s grinning as he tugs me in close.
“I’m honestly surprised you know how to cuddle. You didn’t know how to hold hands.”
“It’s because I can’t hold hands with Gustov. Now if you ask me how to shake, I know how to do that.”
“What about roll over?”
“That, I can accomplish. The better question is, can you?”
“You bet your ass I can. You know… we could get rich like this,” I realize. “We’ll go on one of those huge TV talent shows, I’ll pretend to be a dog, and we’ll do crazy tricks and win money.”
“No one will be suspicious in the slightest.”
“Right? We’d make good money.”
“I already have good money.”
“Yeah, but I don’t. I’m a professor.”
“All you have to do is start selling Gustov prints, and you’ll make it.”
“You would be my one and only client.”
“Possibly. But I’ll pay well.” He’s quiet for a moment, hand running over my back. “I’m aware you’re the most stubborn man in the entire world, but just for tonight, could you let me handle this alone? I can kill him. I can finish this.”
“No.”
“Just this once.”
I shake my head, absolutely refusing. “No.”
“I’ll never ask you for anything again.”
“No.”
Casimir sighs before shaking me, which makes me grin. Clearly, he’s not aware he can’t shake some sense into me, but he still tries it while saying, “Come on, I don’t want you to die.”
“I don’t want to die either! But I also know I’m a whole lot more helpful with you than off chasing squirrels! You act like this is your burden, but… I’m not even sure that you played a part in it.”
“You’re not invincible.”
I give him a look. “Neither are you.”
“I’m a vampire, though.”
“I’m even better—I’m part human, part born werewolf, with a dash of vampire. I’m like packed full of funness.”
He scrutinizes me for a moment. “It does make me wonder what you are.”
“Right? I might be a dash of this and a dash of that, but I am one hundred percent phenomenal, which means I’m going with you tonight.”
“We’ll think about that. Don’t forget my feelings are still hurt after you had Ezio bathe you. This might be the only way I’ll ever forgive you.”
“None of that happened.”
“You sure?” he asks.
“None. Now why don’t we go find the others and figure some shit out, alright? Come up with a strategic plan to stop this motherfucker.”
“I already did. I head off alone and kill him.”
I give him a flat look to assure him how dreadful of an idea that is.
OceanofPDF.com
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

CASIMIR
We walk down into the dining room where Cyrus is asleep on top of a pile of paperwork and Ezio is flat out on the ground, making me question if I’ve stumbled onto a homicide, but alas, he’s still alive.
Cyrus, hearing us, jerks awake. “Ah… uh…” Then he looks down at Ezio but doesn’t seem at all confused about why he’s on the floor.
“Is there a reason for this?” Julian asks.
“There is,” Ezio says as he opens his hand and presents to me… a pen cap. It looks like the cap that goes on the pen Cyrus is currently holding.
“Soooo… you reached down to grab the cap and just collapsed there?” Julian is confused, which means he hasn’t been around Ezio long enough. Nothing Ezio does ever makes sense. Hell, I figured that out within five minutes of knowing him.
“When Cyrus fell asleep, his pen dropped, and as I rolled across the floor to fetch it, I was hit with inspiration,” Ezio declares.
“Which was?” I ask.
Ezio slowly sits up. “The man who jumped at the apartment was there for a reason. We’ve searched the apartment complex for other vampires who live in the area and came up with nothing, but you know what we didn’t look into? Werewolves. Because why would we think the vampires and werewolves would do shit together? But wasn’t that our own brains thinking that they couldn’t get along? Upon looking into it, there is a werewolf who lives there, whose name is Keats.”
“Keats?” Julian asks in surprise. “So you think Grady, the vampire who jumped, was meeting with Keats?”
“Where does Keats go when he shifts for the full moon?” Cyrus asks.
“I would have to double-check, but I believe the bar,” Julian answers. “I honestly don’t know much about him.”
“So if Keats happened to bite the woman Ivo cared for… Keats could have asked Grady to deal with her, which is why they were meeting at the apartment,” Ezio says. “After she died, maybe Ivo tracked down who bit her, but found Grady there and proceeded to have him killed by tossing him off the roof and having Yorick stake him.”
“Ezio, it creeps me out when you try to use your brain,” I announce.
Ezio’s eyes show me his displeasure at this statement. “What the fuck? I was being an amazing detective, and I get berated for that as well?”
“Ignore Casimir, this is good,” Julian soothes. “Let me see if we can bring Keats here.”
“It still doesn’t answer everything, so maybe he’ll have some answers for us,” Cyrus says. “If we agree that everyone who was killed was involved, what about the two vampires who were staked to a tree? Not only those two but the guy who killed himself with the bomb?”
“Which we assume he did at Ivo’s command,” Julian adds. “He probably knew the two and was forced to kill them before becoming a setup to kill whoever found the bodies. It seems like Ivo kind of stopped caring whether or not people were involved at that point and started killing indiscriminately. Or maybe he thought all of them were involved?”
“Possibly. Let’s see what Keats says,” Cyrus responds.
After Julian finishes a brief call with his father, he turns to Cyrus. “You were bitten. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. I’m just glad it wasn’t on a full moon,” he says with a laugh. “It’s really not that bad.”
Julian doesn’t look reassured, but I haven’t seen the wound to tell him one way or the other. He’s acted fine since he arrived, though, so I can’t fathom it’s too bad.
Ezio taps the pen cap against the table. “I’m still stumped on something, though. Ivo acted like the werewolves killed her, but if they bit her… she didn’t die. At least, the medical examiner didn’t write off her death as having been mauled by an animal. And we can’t forget she was found dead in the vampires’ freezer. Like… that’s why I feel like she had to have been attacked on the full moon, but if she was, that was hell, two weeks before you stumbled on the freezer, right?”
“I saw her body. She’d definitely died shortly before her body was found,” Cyrus says. “Maybe the wolves were involved in some other way?”
“Why did they become fixated on you, Cyrus? Why would Ivo make the wolves target you?” I ask.
Cyrus shrugs as he leans back in his chair. “I… I don’t know. I guess it could have been because of my relationship with you guys. Maybe he knew I’d be easy to get to, unlike the rest of you who were hanging together. Or maybe he thought it would draw someone to me. I mean, he did have them text Julian to come in.” He sighs as he rubs his head. “I’m really hungry. Do you have food here or should I call a delivery?”
“I’ll get you something,” Julian says as he heads toward the kitchen while I’m left thinking about this mess.
Not too much later, the doorbell rings and I head over, planning on dealing with Terrance or Keats, but who I find instead is Willow.
“Come in,” I say, not wanting to get close to the door as it’s opened since it’s still light out.
She’s alone as she steps inside and looks around. I can tell she’s looking for Julian, who she’s likely concerned about after the attack this morning.
“I… I need to talk to you guys,” she says.
Julian peeks into the front room with Ezio and Cyrus behind him. He looks over at her in surprise, telling me she hadn’t informed him she was heading here. “Willow? I didn’t know you were coming. Did you come with my dad and Keats?”
“No… I… I heard you were asking for Keats. You think he has something to do with this?”
“We don’t know that. We just noticed Keats lived in the same apartment where the vampire, Grady, jumped off. Grady had been meeting someone there. We assumed it was Yorick… but Yorick could have been there to finish him off,” Julian explains.
She’s looking quite anxious now, and when I glance over at Cyrus, I notice I’m not the only one picking up on this. Julian seems oblivious because he sees Willow as his friend and doesn’t expect her to have done something wrong.
“Were you the one who did it?” I ask.
Willow immediately looks away, giving me all the answers I need.
“So instead of confessing at any point so we could fix this, you just pretended it never happened and thought you could sweep the deaths under the rug?” I ask.
“What…?” Julian hesitates. “But…”
She looks so fucking guilty that I’m surprised she made it this long without breaking. “It… it all spiraled out of fucking control,” she says. “It’s not all my fault. I was… I was hooking up with Keats. It was just… some foolish bullshit, okay? On the full moon, Keats generally goes to the bar, and Olive and I will either go to the bar or stay in our basement. But Keats and I fucked up. We were at his apartment where we had gotten drunk and lost track of time, so I told Olive I was staying home. Since Olive was at the bar, Keats could stay in her crate since we obviously couldn’t stay in his apartment and my place was closer than the bar. We got into the Lyft and there was a vampire driving it. It was just our luck, but we couldn’t wait for another one, and he didn’t seem too bad. I never assumed anything would happen with it, you know? I just… I thought we’d get home, and everything would be fine.”
Willow takes a deep breath before resuming. “The driver was Grady. He really didn’t act weird with us or anything… until someone hit the car. I thought back on it again and again, but it was clearly a calculated attack… not against us, but against Grady. We just… we were in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was a group of vampires who we later realized were the ones who attacked Julian. A human woman was with them, and it was like she was in charge of them or something. She told them what to do and they had no hesitation when it came to listening. I think I remember someone calling her Joanna, but I could be wrong.
“She told them to kill us, but I don’t think she realized what we were… or maybe she didn’t give a shit. But we’d wasted so much time with the accident that the full moon was already out. Keats shifted first. He just… he couldn’t control himself. I tried running. I knew I had to get somewhere, but the vampires grabbed me and threw me back into the street. I ran for the car, thinking I could lock myself in at least… or call someone or do something, but the moment I got into the car, I lost control. I don’t… I don’t remember anything after that. I just… when I woke up, I was in the middle of a field and that woman was lying there.”
Willow bites her lip before continuing. “Honestly, I don’t know if Keats bit her or I did. I wanted to help her… I tried to help her, but she fought me, screamed at me about how we ruined her life… like she didn’t think about how she’d sent the vampires to kill us. And when I heard a noise, I went to Keats because I didn’t want to deal with her alone and thought he could help me find a phone or get some help for her. When we returned, she was gone. I didn’t know what to do. We sat on it all day before deciding that we needed to tell Terrance… but when it turned dark, Grady arrived at our place with a couple other vampires and begged us not to say anything. He told us that… that we’d killed a couple of the vampires, and that if we went to someone about this, the pact between the weres and vampires would be destroyed. He said that it’d be best to just let him handle it. He’d… he’d insist that the woman move elsewhere and that would be that; no one would ever hear of it again.”
“You should have come to me,” Cyrus says.
“Or me,” I add.
“I know that we should have gone to someone, but at that point, I didn’t trust Casimir at all. You’d been built up in my mind to be some horrible leader. And… I didn’t know they were vampires who weren’t permitted. I really thought we killed people who were on your side… but when Julian was attacked by the same group, I started to believe that Grady lied to us because he didn’t want to be thrown out of the territory. I think he thought you’d offer him protection if he stayed here—until we found the bodies of the two vampires buried in the woods. They were definitely with those who attacked us,” she says.
“But if they were vampires who weren’t permitted, why wouldn’t Grady have come to you?” Julian asks me.
“There had to have been a reason they were targeting him. It wasn’t like he was a higher official or something. What about the other vampires who were killed?” I ask. “Cyrus, do you have a picture of them?”
“Yeah,” he says as he hurries over to his computer and pulls up some images of them, which he shows Willow.
Willow points at the woman who’d been staked to the tree. “I definitely saw her with Grady, and I recognize the man, but never spoke to him. They were the ones who said they’d help find the werewolf and… move her. I… they really made us think they were transporting her elsewhere… you know? To a different pack that wouldn’t ask questions.” The way Willow talks tells me that she’s not even sure she believes what she’s saying.
“What happened to the woman who was grieving over the two dead vampires in the woods? Ezio told me she was turned by the male, right? I want to speak to her,” Cyrus says.
“Yeah, let me find her,” Ezio responds as he pulls out his phone. “When I spoke to her previously, she claimed she knew nothing.”
“Oh, Nikki? I totally killed her the other day,” I say.
“You did what?” Cyrus asks in disbelief.
“She was working with Ivo and tried stopping me on the way to the old school.”
“And you never thought to mention this?” Ezio asks.
“I just did.” Clearly, they have way more of a problem with this than I do. “Honestly, it just cements the fact that the vampires staked to the tree were somehow involved with Ivo.”
“We need information like this in advance,” Cyrus chides as he gives me a look. “I thought you wanted answers so you could stop this tonight. So don’t leave shit out.”
“I can give you answers. The two who were staked to a tree despised me because they thought they could do it better and didn’t agree with my rule because they were firm believers that the werewolves should be thrown out. They weren’t powerful enough to do it themselves, so they needed to bring someone else in to do it. They probably started to regret it when they realized how little power they would have under Ivo’s control. The group who attacked Julian… were somehow connected to Ivo if they were following the woman he loved around,” I say.
“But then why would they kill Ivo’s love?” Julian wonders.
“Her body was the only one covered with a cloth, like they actually cared about that one,” Cyrus says thoughtfully. “They might not have killed her. The medical examiner said she died of blood loss like the others, though.”
“Vampires wouldn’t willingly feed off a werewolf, which she now was,” Ezio reminds us.
“Right. Out of their hatred of me, a small group of vampires called Ivo here in the hopes that Ivo would take over my position. I don’t know what made them turn against Grady and the others, but that’s my guess,” I tell them. “Now everyone is staying here while I handle it… by myself.”
“I won’t fall for the same trick twice,” Cyrus says. “If that man could control me, he would have done it when I was shooting through the car window.”
“And he would have controlled me at the school,” Julian adds stubbornly.
“He could have a limit on how many he can control at once,” I say.
“He sure didn’t when he was controlling the pack. I… I don’t think he can control humans,” Julian replies. “While I’m not… human, I’m not… quite… a full werewolf. I don’t think he can control me.”
“Well, we’re not testing this out,” I say. “I don’t need any of this information to kill him. I don’t need to know any of this shit. All I know is that Ivo is going to be dead at the end of this.”
“Just like that,” Cyrus says, and it’s a weird tone. Weird enough that everyone looks over at him, but he quickly waves it off. “You’re right. Okay, so we need to think through how to kill him.”
“I will go alone,” I state, which immediately gets ignored. Do they honestly think I’m going to let them go with me?
“You think he’s still in the school?” Julian asks.
“When you have no one to fear, why would you bother moving? Wouldn’t he love for us to come to him? It’d save him half the work.”
“If we think that he can’t control humans, then humans need to go inside,” Julian says.
“Absolutely not,” I retort. “He’d kill humans with ease. We can’t forget that he is an older vampire. You think he sent the weres in to attack Cyrus because he needed help? No, he wanted to watch them suffer as they were forced to kill someone they cared about. He’s probably done that every step of the way by making those who’d been working with each other kill each other. Which is why you’re not going, Julian. He can’t use anyone against me if I go alone.”
“Casimir is right,” Cyrus says.
Julian gives him a look of disbelief. “Please do not encourage him to run off alone.”
“I’m not. But we know there’s a high possibility that Ivo will control whoever walks in through that door.”
“Then why would we send Casimir in?” Julian asks, seeming frustrated before turning to me. “Why do we have to risk your life for something you didn’t even do? This is fucking bullshit.” He smacks a plastic cup off the table and storms out of the room as I stare after him for a long moment.
He’s… he’s upset over the idea of me getting hurt? Like… really upset.
Why’s that make me feel so good? I mean… does he really care that much?
I walk after him only to find him rummaging around in my drawers.
“What are you doing?”
“Looking for a lighter. I’m going to go burn the school down while Ivo’s sleeping.”
“You really think he’s not sleeping in something fireproof?” I ask.
“And then when I find the fireproof thing, I’m going to tear it open and watch him burn to death.”
“I really have my doubts he’d be so careless,” I say as I grab his wrists. “He knows how easy it would be to kill him like that, so I’m sure he has something to protect him.”
“You’re not going in alone.”
“You’re right. I’m not. You’re going to go with me,” I decide. “But I don’t need you to fight. I need you to help me, okay? We know he’s going to try to allure me. We know that he takes control through words; otherwise, why else would he have spoken words to get us to stop? So I’m going to have to go in alone while being unable to hear. But even if we blasted music into my ears, my ears are sensitive enough that I could still hear him, so I need you in my head, Julian. Because the only moment where I thought that I could possibly regain control was when I heard you in my head. When I knew you were right there, you were able to help me. Okay?”
“What if it’s not enough?” Julian asks.
“Do you trust me?”
“I don’t trust that you care about yourself enough to stay safe,” he says, his eyes searching mine. “And I’m sorry if that seems… harsh. I just…”
I give him a grin. “You’re too observant.”
“Am I?”
“But you missed something crucial.”
“Which is?”
“I have two things to live for now,” I say as I tap his chin before turning toward the stairs.
OceanofPDF.com
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

JULIAN
My heart is beating a bit wildly as that sinks in. Quickly, I rush up the stairs after Casimir. “You mean it?”
He glances back at me. “Mean what?”
“That you’d keep yourself safe for me? You really would?”
“If I don’t persist, more will die. But yes, I promise that I won’t be reckless,” he says. “The others can come and fight them from far away, but think about this realistically. How much harder would it be for me to fight them if I have all of our side against me as well? Imagine having to fight our own people in a way that won’t hurt them.”
I give him a slow nod, honestly hating it, but I know I have to trust him. He’s asked me to trust him, so I will.
Casimir stops before a bedroom door and sets his hand on the doorknob. “I need you to go get me the best noise-canceling headphones you can find, okay?”
“Yeah,” I say as I notice that his body language is odd. Did something happen? “Hey.” I set a hand on his shoulder and can feel the tension in his body. “Are you… anxious about going?”
“No,” he says as he pulls out his keys. “I’m pretty sure I’m the only one who isn’t stressed about that.”
“True…” Then why is his body language off?
My eyes drift over to the door he’s staring at, keys in hand.
Why is the room locked? Is it what’s inside that’s bothering him?
“Why’s the room locked?” I ask.
“To keep nosy people out,” he says, and I know he means it teasingly, but the way he says it just shows how off he is.
“Yeah? I promise I won’t nose through your things. I mean… besides your cupboard full of Gustov clothes.”
Casimir gives me a smile that seems a little forced. “I thought we agreed to never mention that?”
“Don’t remember that.”
He turns the doorknob and pushes the door open just a sliver. I’m dying to look at what’s inside, but that’s definitely not what I’m going to do after just promising him that I won’t be nosy.
“I’ll… go get you the headphones. Best I can buy!” I assure him.
“You like to play fetch, right?” he asks, but the words don’t hold the humor they usually do, even though he’s obviously trying to tease me.
“Favorite pastime.”
“Can you fetch my swords?” Casimir asks, and I hesitate as I look back at the room.
So he keeps it locked so people can’t be nosy… but wants me to go inside?
“Uh… yeah. Of course. You going to lock me inside or something? Is this how you’re planning on keeping me from following you?”
“Considered it,” he says as I turn around and set my hand on the door. I push it open just enough to slip through before stepping into the room, honestly surprised by how bare it is. I expected something more, or for it to at least be furnished, but all I see are a stand with the swords he’d used at the school and a chest resting off to the left.
I reach out and grab the weapons before turning. My eyes land on the wooden chest and I realize how absolutely beautiful it is. The carvings that adorn it are like a masterpiece that I want to examine. I can see what look like hounds etched into the wood and what I think is a horse, but I’m afraid to look too long. Clearly, something about this room is off and if Casimir wants the weapons… I can’t imagine they’re the issue.
No… whatever it is that is making the strongest man I’ve ever met stand back… is inside that chest. But then why keep it?
When I step through the doorway, he slides the door closed behind me and locks it before holding his hands out.
“You’re pretty talented with these, aren’t you?” I ask.
He’s quiet as he takes them, and I mentally kick myself. Did I fuck up again?
“I have a lot of talents. Taming wolves seems to be one as well,” he says as he gives me a wink and heads down the hall like none of that just happened. I’m torn between going to fetch him headphones and wanting to trail after him. He likes to beat himself up over things and I want to keep him from doing it, but I also don’t want to push him too hard.
We have a few hours before dusk, so I trail after him, but I find myself unsure of what to say at first.
Casimir disappears through the doorway into his bedroom, so I follow him inside as he sets the sheathed blades down on his bed before watching them like he just placed two venomous snakes there.
I slowly walk over to the bed and sit down on it in front of the weapons so he has to look through me to see them.
His eyes drop down to me and his eyebrow quirks. “Sorry I wasn’t paying attention to you,” he teases.
“You know I like your eyes only on me.”
“It’s going to make doing anything in life extremely hard if I can only ever look at you.”
“I like hard things.”
Casimir’s lips quirk. “You’re ridiculous. I’m fine, alright? I was just thinking.”
“You’re too pretty to think.”
That makes him snort as he shakes his head. “I… I’m going to go with no on that one.”
“Just don’t think too hard. I enjoy watching you try to figure out things like holding hands and pinky promises.”
“Yeah? But I know how to do the important things.” He leans forward and gently presses his lips against mine. I lean into the touch, parting my lips, but instead of deepening the kiss, he softly nips me and when he pulls back, he has the longer of the two blades in hand. He draws it out of the sheath and examines it. “You’re intoxicating, but I need to stay focused or the next thing I know, I’ll be letting you talk me into taking a werewolf army with me.”
“Hmm…”
He turns the blade just right so the light shines off it.
“It’s a beautiful blade,” I say.
“It is, isn’t it?” he agrees. “A… gift.”
The word seems to sit oddly between us, making me feel like the person who gifted him the two blades wasn’t exactly someone he liked.
“Blades like these weren’t seen in Europe at the time. I never would have learned about this style of blade if it weren’t for a vampire who provided us foreign weapons unlike we’d ever seen and that most of Europe wouldn’t see for years. The katana excelled in slicing, unlike the many piercing blades that were more common. It’ll do nicely for hacking Ivo’s head off,” he adds.
“I bet. It also works nicely for terrifying cops.”
That makes him grin, clearly enjoying the memory. “I bet they’d cut your clothes right off.”
“I’m sure they would but… you’re right. We need to stay focused and I need to get the headphones first.”
Casimir tsks and slides the blade back into its sheath. “Right. Now don’t fret so much.”
“I’m not fretting.” I want to tell him I’m only fretting because he is and… he’s not even fretting about Ivo, he’s fretting about… I’m not sure what. “I… I’m going to go get those headphones.”
“Don’t cheap out on me,” he says as he holds out his credit card.
“I can pay for it.”
“Take it. And buy yourself something good, like more canvases or paper to paint Gustov.”
“Is… Is that buying myself something?” I ask skeptically.
“Sure is,” he says with a beaming smile like he can fool me into believing it. “Take Cyrus with you.”
“Cyrus has been gnawed on by a wolf.”
“He’s got another leg. He’ll be fine.”
I raise my eyebrow at him, but he doesn’t seem deterred in the slightest. So with a sigh, I head downstairs so I can go to the store. Cyrus proceeds to insist on going with me and assures me he’s not hurt at all, which… seems unlikely, but he won’t take no for an answer.

Casimir’s phone beeps and I look over at it to see that it’s a message from someone called “Satan’s Nut Hair.”
“Is that Steve?” I ask.
Casimir glances at his phone before smiling fondly, like I’ve said something that pleases him. “It is.”
“Of course it is.”
He opens the phone and stares at it so long that I can’t help but be nosy enough to look.

Satan’s Nut Hair: We’re having a meeting. Do you think you can make it?
“Well, Steve’s been abducted by Ivo, which… I mean… honestly, does anyone care?” Casimir asks. “Finally, an excuse to kill him.”
“I’ll go for his ankles, you go for the throat,” Ezio says, like this helps the situation at all.
“Or, we could… you know, not kill Steve,” I suggest.
Cyrus sighs, like he’s already exasperated from dealing with these two. “You guys are missing the big issue here. If Ivo has Steve… he’s probably not at the school.”
“He’s at the casino,” Casimir realizes. “Fuck.”
“What time does the casino open?”
“It’s open now. I’ll call some of the humans to close it,” Casimir says as he hurries toward the garage.
“Casimir, stop, we need to plan things⁠—”
“The plan hasn’t changed,” he declares.
“But now we know he has some of your vampires to use against you,” I say.
“Steve’s life doesn’t matter.”
Of course he thinks it doesn’t. “Yes, but aren’t Dan and Genevieve always there too?”
Casimir shrugs. “I can handle them just fine.”
I sigh because Casimir’s going to do what he wants. He’s confident he can stop Ivo… so maybe I just have to trust him.
“Okay,” I say.
He glances at me, even raises an eyebrow. “Okay?”
“Yeah… I trust you.”
That puts a smile on his face, which makes my heart swell. Who am I kidding, this man could probably convince me into doing anything.
As Ezio drives, Casimir calls the casino and I’m stuck twiddling my thumbs, feeling like I’m not doing enough. Cyrus is in the front passenger seat, tapping his finger on the door in a way that I feel hypnotized by. He doesn’t seem overly worried about any of it, even though I feel like my insides are twisting into a ball of anxiety. Like… I’m a freaking art professor! Not some badass werewolf! I make jokes about chasing balls, not going out for brawls!
Casimir reaches over and squeezes my leg as I realize he’s ended the call. “Stop fretting. You’re going to be perfectly safe.”
“I’m not just worried about myself,” I mutter.
“As long as you’re not worried about Steve, that’s fine.”
“I would love to know why you started disliking Steve.”
“I will tell you,” he says confidently, which already tells me this story is going to be ridiculous. “About seventy-five years ago, I was here in America and walking through this bar when a man bumped into me. It was at that moment that I met Steve, and we became mortal enemies.”
“Because… he bumped into you?”
“Correct.”
“There has to be more to that story.”
“There really isn’t,” Ezio says. “But what cemented the hatred is when Steve saw Gustov and guffawed.”
Casimir growls like he’s just been faced with his mortal enemy. “Anyone who laughs at Gustov deserves death.”
I grimace as I remember that I also laughed at Gustov the moment I met him. I guess the vampire wanting to do the nasty with you determines whether or not he holds a lifelong grudge.
“Does… does this mean my life is also limited? I… I laughed too,” I whisper.
“No, you’re allowed to do anything,” Casimir says.
Ezio’s head snaps around. “What the fuck? Why’s he allowed to laugh at your weird dog, but I can’t?”
“Because he’s cuter than you,” Casimir announces. “Stop here, we’re getting close to the casino.”
“We need to wait until all of the humans leave,” Cyrus says.
“I’ve been told they pulled the fire alarm and the humans have exited the building,” Casimir replies as Ezio pulls over on the side of the road. Casimir gets out of the car and shuts the door as I look at the others.
“Is this wrong?” I ask. “I don’t think he should go in alone.”
Ezio sighs as he tightly grips the steering wheel. “Wrong? No. We want to make it easier, not harder on him. We know Ivo can control any one of us… hell, we don’t even know if you being in Casimir’s head while he listens to music through the headphones will work. But it’s all we have.”
Cyrus turns in his seat and the look he gives me appears weirdly distant. No emotion seems to cross his face as he simply says, “He’ll be fine.”
“Yeah…” That didn’t encourage me at all.
And then he gets out of the car.
“Cyrus is acting strange,” I say.
“I noticed,” Ezio responds as he watches the human walk over to Casimir. “He… gets like this sometimes. I don’t know why.”
“How long have you two known each other?”
“About a year. But he gets like this when he has to deal with vampires. I… don’t think he likes vampires very much.”
“I’ve noticed,” I say as I get out and go over to the others. “You okay, Cyrus?”
He looks startled as he glances up at me. “Oh yeah, sorry. Vampires just… remind you how weak humans are, you know? It just makes me a bit on edge when I have to do things like this.”
“Ha… I can turn into a wolf and they still scare the shit out of me, other than these two. These two just scare me for different reasons. Like Casimir scared me when I looked into his secret cupboard of Gustov⁠—”
Casimir clamps a hand over my mouth. “I need silence to focus.”
Cyrus grins as Ezio stares at Casimir like he’s seen a whole new world. “What do you have for Gustov in the cupboard?”
Casimir ignores him and readies his headphones.
“What if someone tries to get your headphones off?” I ask.
He cups my chin. “The goal is to not let anyone close enough that they could even fathom trying,” he says. “You ready?”
“Nope,” I admit.
Casimir squeezes my shoulder. “I can do this alone.”
“Not going to happen.”
I pull my clothes off and toss them at him. “You wouldn’t mind holding on to them, right?”
“I’ll keep them nice and clean while I kill Ivo,” he assures me as he throws them at Ezio to hold. “I will keep these for good luck, though.” He holds up my underwear, which makes me laugh.
“Oh god, stop.”
“I’ll tuck them in my pocket so I can pat them for luck.”
“Now this has turned weird.”
“It’s always weird between us,” Casimir says with a grin before leaning in and giving me the smallest, lightest peck.
I want so much more, but he steps back before I can deepen the kiss.
“You can have more when I’m done,” he informs me before tossing my underwear at Ezio who gags… literally gags, like he wasn’t the man who tore off all of his clothes and begged me to paint him.
But what if Casimir doesn’t come back?
I choke those thoughts down and give him a nod. He puts some earbuds in his ears and then headphones over them and turns the music on loud enough that I can hear it from here. I don’t know how he’s going to hear them coming for him, but he seems confident as he walks toward the casino.
With one more glance back at Ezio and Cyrus, I take a deep breath and shift. My heart is pounding as I catch up to him, but his footsteps are so steady, absolutely silent. Everything about him is soundless and I suddenly realize I’m over here crashing around. Trying my hardest to quiet myself, I walk beside him as he nears the casino. His employees must have done a good job getting everyone out because there are only a few cars left that turn out just as we reach the road. Casimir stops and then kneels down to cup my face.
“Will you do something for me?” he asks.
“Anything,” I say into his mind.
“Don’t watch.”
I hesitate as he stands, his hand lingering just a moment before he pulls it free.
“I don’t hate what I see when I look at you, Casimir.”
He’s quiet, like he didn’t hear a word I said, even though I know he could hear it just fine. He starts across the road, and I have to jog to catch up.
“You’re not the horrible man you’ve painted yourself to be.”
Still nothing.
“Casimir, I love you for who you are. Not who you think you are,” I say.
That makes him pause and look over at me. He just holds up a hand. “Stay here.”
And with that, he’s gone.
No, no, no! He’s just going to leave me here. Was he never planning on taking me along at all? Did he say all that shit about me helping him just to appease me, knowing he could outrun me in an instant?
I race toward the casino when a vampire comes out of nowhere, moving straight toward me. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Startled, I step back, but I don’t want him to think I’m afraid. I don’t want him to think he can take control of the situation, but all too soon, I hear the footsteps of another.
“Little lone wolf come out to play,” the first man says, voice teasing.
Fear eats at me as I think back on the way they’d torn into my throat, ripped me to the ground⁠—
No! I can do this. I can fight them. I can do this.
The man’s headless body hits the ground faster than I can even take a step toward them. Casimir moves to another vampire who’d joined the first, moving so quickly that the man doesn’t even see him coming. Before I can even comprehend what’s happening, his body joins the first.
“I told you to stay back,” Casimir says, blood dripping from his long curved blade.
“And I told you I was going with you. You told me to trust you. I said I would. So you trust me.”
He stares at me for a moment before giving me a curt nod. It’s clear he’s not overly happy about it, but he lets me trail after him. This time, he doesn’t run off without me. This time he moves at my speed as I rush across the large parking lot toward the door. Then he picks me up and jumps straight up on top of the overhang that hides valet vehicles from the rain.
“Stay here and stay hidden. I should be able to remain close enough to you to hear your words.”
“Okay.” I crouch down as he makes his way over to a window which he breaks with his elbow before crawling in. “Please be careful.”
He’s gone in an instant and I’m left hiding out of sight.
OceanofPDF.com
CHAPTER THIRTY

CASIMIR
I hate killing in front of Julian.
How many times can I do it before he realizes that I really am a monster? It has to sink in one of these days. But of course he’s stubborn and won’t stay back. I’d already planned to leave him at the edge of the road where Ezio and Cyrus would care for him, but I forgot how reckless he can be. The thing is, I know he’s afraid, I can hear his heart beating wildly, I can see the way his tail tucks and his hackles rise, but he doesn’t stop. He never stops because he’s so damn good.
“I don’t know what to talk about. I didn’t think this far ahead, but I’m just going to talk, and I sure as fuck hope it helps and doesn’t just annoy you.”
How could his voice ever annoy me?
I step into the hallway of the second floor as Julian continues to talk and the music pounds in my ears. It cuts off one of my senses, but I simply have to rely on the others.
So when the door to my right swings open, I’m already standing before it, and the moment I recognize that the man coming out isn’t one of my own, I can kill him with ease.
“When I was ten, I accidentally shifted at school. I… I had a cold, I guess? And like lost all sense of myself or something? I really don’t know, but I was in the gym locker room and poof, I was a wolf and couldn’t shift back. I was like… wound up in my clothes, rolling my way toward the toilets since I could hear others coming. Like… imagine if I exposed my secret because I sneezed and turned into a wolf?”
He’s so ridiculous and yet I love it… and he loves me…
But I couldn’t say it back because I’m still convinced that I don’t deserve that love.
But what if I could?
I sense someone behind me and turn just in time to see Genevieve making her way toward me. She’s strong, stronger than Steve, but she shouldn’t pose an issue if I can just get her locked somewhere without hurting her. She rushes at me like a feral animal as I see the glint of someone in the window. I hate that I rely so much on my hearing that it makes me fumble like this.
I step to the side a moment too late, allowing the person to scratch me with their nails. I kick them back as Genevieve leaps at me. All I can do is dodge her as two other vampires join in, using my inability to kill her to aid their attack.
It’s wildly effective.
“And as I crouched there on the back of the toilet, I realized that all of my classmates would see my ripped clothes and underwear all over the locker room, like I decided to tear off all my clothes and streak through the school or something and suddenly, that horrified me even more than the idea of them seeing me turn into a wolf.”
What the hell is this ridiculous story he’s choosing to tell me?
As Genevieve stumbles, I kick her in the face—which I’m sure I’ll never hear the end of—and turn to the two vampires. Driving my wakizashi up, I catch the first one in the chest, pinning him against the wall as I kill the other with my katana. By then, the first vampire is up and coming at me. But it’s a joke that he thought he could even slow me down.
“Then suddenly I was naked in the principal’s office hiding under her desk and questioning all of my life choices.”
Hold on… what the hell did I miss in my moment of distraction?
I grab Genevieve and simply toss her out the window. She’ll bounce and be back to irritate me, but maybe it’ll keep her busy for a bit.
I wish I could use my ears to tell where Ivo is, but he has no reason to fear me. Honestly… I just need to make sure he comes for me, so I make my way down the stairs and onto the casino floor.
“What are you waiting for, Ivo?” I shout. “Come on, now. All you’ve done so far is irritate me.”
The slot machines light up, flashing obnoxiously as I stand between them and the casino tables, all left in a state of disarray after the people fled. But what I’ve done is place myself next to a few machines that show reflections, so I can see Steve coming a moment before he rushes me.
Turning, I slide under his attack as another vampire slams into me, throwing me back into a blackjack table.
Where the fuck did that one even come from?
I skid across the table as I roll off, grabbing one of the dice and throwing it so hard it slams right into Steve’s eyeball.
His mouth opens and I’m mildly disappointed that I don’t get to hear him cry as Julian goes, “And there I am, calling my mom and trying to explain to her how naked I am, and that I can hear the principal outside the office and the window won’t open more than a couple of inches. Don’t fret, the tale doesn’t end there, I definitely tried squeezing through the window, which was how the principal found me, a wolf, absolutely stuck in the window.”
Of course they did.
“Boy did she scream.”
I drive my katana up, disappointed that I can’t impale Steve on it who is trying to retrieve the die from his eye. I pull a stake off my belt while juggling my wakizashi and drive the stake into the chest of the vampire facing me, pinning him to the table.
As I turn, I lift my katana and slow it before I accidentally cut Dan’s head clear off. Startled, he looks at me before shaking his head and saying something that I can’t hear.
Ah, so he isn’t being controlled.
“Get out,” I order.
Dan says something as he shakes his head again, but I can’t hear it and I’m left questioning how important it is. He looks rather panicked as he says it and begins pointing to the front… toward where Julian is.
Did Ivo realize where I’d stashed Julian?
I hesitate as I realize that in my fixation on what Dan was saying, I hadn’t noticed that Julian had stopped talking.
Fuck.
OceanofPDF.com
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

JULIAN
“Well, well, well… look what I’ve stumbled across.”
I jerk forward as I spin around to face Yorick, of all people.
“Oh, don’t be afraid. I’m simply here to tell you that your fun little vampire is doing a skip and a dash right into a trap. But… I might be inclined to help.”
I hesitate before shifting so I can quickly talk to him. I know it’ll cut off my communication with Casimir, but if it’s just for a moment⁠—
“What do you mean a trap?” I ask, unsure if he’s lying to me.
“Oh, no, no. I… I just can’t seem to remember. I… I think I’d only be able to remember if you… if you promised me something,” he says as he walks toward me. I don’t know if he wants me to back away, but I stand my ground. I can’t run from everything if it means keeping Casimir safe.
“W-What do you want?” I ask, determined.
“I simply want to live. I… I’m starting to think that Ivo’s not going to last long. I mean… did you look in there?” He waves to the window that I look through and see the dead bodies lining the hallway, the blood splashed against the walls… I hadn’t looked because Casimir had asked me not to.
Yorick steps up behind me, mouth eerily close to my neck. “Your handsome friend is quite the monster.”
“He’s not a monster,” I snap as I push him back. “You’re a bigger monster than he’s ever been.”
“Oh yeah? What did I do? Toss a vampire out a window who healed perfectly fine? Set a wolf loose? But I’m the monster? Honey, honey, do you not see the death he leaves in his wake? A man like that has a mountain of bodies behind him, and I’ve realized that I really don’t want to be one of them. I’m much too pretty to die.”
“So you’ll tell me if I make sure Casimir won’t kill you?” I guess.
“Not just that. I also want him to protect me. Let me in his fun little circle. I mean… I can definitely replace the one who is about to betray him.”
“Who?” I ask anxiously.
“Is that a promise?”
“Yes, I promise Casimir will protect you,” I say.
“I don’t like liars.”
I don’t know if I’m lying or not, I just know that I need to keep Casimir safe. “I will keep Casimir from killing you.”
“Oh, you’re such a sweet wolf. Let me just say Dan has been playing sides. And if Casimir’s distracted, it might be all Dan needs to stab him in the back.”
Is that why Dan led Casimir to the woods the day of the bomb? Because he was trying to get Casimir killed? Did he also have some reason to take Casimir hunting for the bodies in the freezer? Maybe he thought he could pin the bodies on Casimir?
I shift and leap for the broken window.
CASIMIR
Why the fuck hasn’t Julian said anything? It’s been minutes now, but these fucking vampires keep slowing me down. At least Dan has my back; it allows me to drop my guard since it’s not like I can hear anything behind me.
“Casimir, Yorick said that Dan’s going to betray you!” Julian shouts into my mind.
Quickly, I turn just as Dan drives a stake right into my back. The wooden weapon had to have missed my heart by mere inches, and if Julian hadn’t warned me, he could have killed me… just like that. I’m slammed into the side of a table, shoving it back as the vampires rush me, taking the opportunity to keep me down.
I hit hard and twist as I lose the grip on my katana that’s kicked away from me. I still have my wakizashi which I use to drive into Dan’s heart, tearing it open before I slice right through his neck as the headphones are ripped away from me.
“Oh, there we go,” Ivo says, sounding thrilled to have my attention. “Finally. You’re just so fucking… dreadful. Can’t you just stop irritating me? Now, Casimir⁠—”
Ivo jerks back as Julian lunges at him, large teeth snapping. Ivo draws away quickly, not having expected the wolf, but Julian’s playing it safe. He’s not attacking him because he knows he wouldn’t win that fight; he was just distracting Ivo to give me a chance.
“Casimir, get up. You can do this. Listen to me, only listen to me,” Julian urges.
I throw the vampires off me as I tear the stake out and use it to replace my katana until I get it back.
“Stand down,” Ivo yells, and it’s as though the words hit me right in the chest. I stumble, like my limbs are weighed down.
“Casimir, I’m right here. Listen to me, please listen to me.”
My eyes shift over to him.
“You want to die, Casimir? So do it,” Ivo orders as my hand tightens on the weapon I hold. It’s like his words flow over my body, making my limbs feel like weights. Making me feel like everything he says is what I need to do, until Julian’s words slam into my mind, pushing Ivo’s away.
“I can’t wait to spend my life with you, Casimir. I can’t wait to paint Gustov until my hand threatens to fall off. I can’t wait to show you my super-secret stash of nude drawings I did in high school because I thought it made me look cool and ultra straight to draw boobs.”
I snort as his words hit me. It’s like whatever Ivo says is washed out by Julian’s words right in my mind.
“Fucking hell, I can’t miss that, now can I?” I ask.
Ivo lets out a roar as he rushes for Julian, but there’s no fucking way I’d let Ivo touch him. “I will fucking kill all of you for what you’ve done. I will⁠—”
I see my katana soaring through the air as I look over at who chucked it at me. The stake is still in my hand, so I throw it right at Yorick who yelps and tries to dodge it. “What the fuck! I just threw you your sword!” he cries as he smacks the stake out of the way.
“Yes, but I hate your fucking face,” I growl as I race toward Ivo.
“Stop!” he yells as he backs up, and while the vampires dash toward me, I find that Ivo’s words are meaningless in my ears when all I can hear are Julian’s. It makes me question how I ever listened to him.
Rushing up to Ivo, I drive my katana toward him. He scrambles back to avoid it as I realize that he really doesn’t even know how to fight because he’s never had to fight for himself. He’s never been beaten until he was forced to brutally kill. He’s never been⁠—
I drive him into the wall with my wakizashi as his crew come up behind me. Julian tears Steve down, likely in an attempt to save Steve’s life over mine. I mean… honestly, when else would I ever have a chance to kill him?
“Bro, look at this! Watch!” Yorick shouts before staking a vampire that’d been working for Ivo. “Look! I did good, didn’t I?”
“I will still kill you when I finish,” I growl.
Yorick gives me a look of shock. “What? No! But why? Look! Look at me stabbing! Stabby stab! Puppers, tell him!” he says, looking a bit worried.
“Hey, Cas, maybe we don’t kill him… yet?” Julian says.
“Yorick, kill⁠—”
I turn to Ivo and slide my sword right through his throat. He grabs for his neck as blood oozes out of the wound. He opens his mouth, but no words escape him.
“You were weak. It’s a wonder anyone ever thought I couldn’t kill you,” I whisper. “You could have come to me and told me what happened to this woman who died, and I could have done something, and instead, it led to your death.”
His throat is healing, so I know I need to end this.
“J-Just because you no longer wear a mask doesn’t mean you’re any less of a monster,” he whispers.
I cut his head off and drop his body to the ground as his words rip through me. They’re suffocating me. Choking me.
How the fuck would he know that? How would anyone know that?
“Casimir!” Julian calls.
I turn to look at the vampires staring at me, no longer with anyone to follow. Do they know what he said? Do they all know? I lift my katana and step toward them as they rush back, afraid of me, but fear doesn’t matter.
“Casimir, hey, let them run,” Julian says as he hurries up and into my arms in his human form. The moment he hits me, it’s like all sense of reason is slammed back into me. “Oh fuck. You’re safe. You’re alright.”
My hand is shaking as I reach out, careful not to cut him, and pull him in.
Right. Right. It doesn’t matter what Ivo knows, he’s dead. All that matters is this. All that matters is what is standing here before me.
I tuck my face against him and just breathe in his scent.
“Ah, man… I want a cute naked wolf to come running into my arms. Anyone? Here, boy… here, boy,” Yorick calls out as he holds his arms wide open.
“Can I please kill him?” I beg.
Julian grimaces but still says, “No.”
I growl and Yorick slowly looks over at me. “Ha… ha ha. I tease. I tease. I think I’ll take my leave.”
He turns to go but I pull Julian over with me and press my katana against Yorick’s neck. “Did I say you could leave?”
“Ooh, is there an afterparty or something I’ve been invited to? How fun!”
“Tell me everything,” I demand.
“Um… let’s see. Joanna was like ‘Hey, Ivo, there’s this fun new territory that I want you to take over.’ And Ivo was like ‘Nah, I don’t feel like it, but you’re cute and I love you, so I’ll go with you anyway.’ And she was like ‘Well if he won’t take it over, I’ll do it myself.’ And she ran off with her mini vampire army trying to create turmoil between the weres and vampires and was forcing some of your own vampires to help her until they threatened to go to you because shit wasn’t turning out so good for them. And then she’s like ‘I’ll just kill them’ and then was like ‘Boo-hoo, this mutt bit me,’ and she was so distraught over becoming a werewolf because she wanted to live her life as a vampire with Ivo that she killed herself. Then Ivo found out that the vampires were trying to cover it up and started pinpointing the ones who’d led to her death, trying to blame them. So he made them kill each other. And then, really, I feel like you guys know the rest, eh? Fun, huh?”
I stare at the man and question why he needs a head.
Julian gawks at him in disbelief. “So… you knew all of this… the whole time. You could have told me at the university, and instead, you were like, ‘Nah, I’ll watch them run around like idiots.’”
“Not like idiots! No, no, I would never call my new friends idiots.”
I scowl at him. “You are not my friend. Now if you want to live, you will fuck off, and I will never see you again.”
“I am fucking off,” he says before running from the room.
Julian sinks into my arms, taking a deep breath. “You’re safe… you’re okay.”
“I’m sorry for putting you in danger… but I guess I was wrong… I couldn’t do it alone.”
“You’re pretty magical, so you might have been able to… but isn’t it nice to know that someone has your back?”
“Just because it was you.”
“Well… and technically Yorick because I’d never have known Dan was going to betray you.”
“Never say that name in front of me ever again,” I urge.
That just makes him laugh, even though I was clearly serious.
OceanofPDF.com
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

JULIAN
While the relationship between the wolves and vampires isn’t as solid as I’d love for it to be, it’s better than before all of this Ivo nonsense. It’s only been a week since Ivo’s death, but the vampires who’d been hanging around because of him have all disappeared.
The group came together and decided that Keats and Willow were in the wrong for not disclosing this information sooner, but the pack will always protect their own and pleaded for there not to be any further repercussions for their actions. I couldn’t care less if Keats was thrown out, but I do have a soft spot for Willow.
Even so… I think it’s perfectly fine for me to be a bit mad at her right now.
Thinking about it some more, we had started to question if the attack on me hadn’t been as random as we thought. Were they hoping to place the blame for Joanna’s death on me? Bring my body to Ivo and hope that they’d be forgiven? Or did Ivo blame them, even though Joanna managed to kill herself? How still seems to be up for debate. Did she have a vampire drain her? Or did she find a way to make it appear like she did?
All questions that we might never find the answer for.
And even more… what made Ivo so powerful? So different from the rest of us?
“Let’s go,” Casimir says as he parks the car outside his home.
I glance over at him, wondering why he looks suspicious.
“I kind of don’t want to go inside now,” I inform him.
Casimir gives me a look. “Why the hell not? Do you not like me anymore? Have you moved on to Ezio?”
“At least Ezio never said my hands were clammy! And you look suspicious. Why are you being so suspicious?”
“I’ve never looked suspicious a day in my life,” he says while giving me a look that is horribly suspicious.
I narrow my eyes at the lying man and question where he comes up with this shit… and does he expect I’ll believe him?
“What’s in that house?”
“My mortal enemy,” he says, like that makes sense in any way.
“You… invited your mortal enemy into your house?” I eye it and see Gustov staring through the window, longingly wondering why we continue to torture him by not going into the house. He has a giant pink bow in his hair that I highly doubt Casimir placed there.
“I did.”
I slowly get out of the car and walk toward the house as I see Gustov dancing inside. “Is it Ezio? Is Ezio your mortal enemy?”
“Worse than Ezio…” he says as he trails after me.
“Hmm…” I reach the house, now more curious than anything.
I push the door open and jump as a bunch of people leap out with a “Happy birthday!” My mom, dad, brother, niece, and even Ezio and Cyrus are here.
“Oh shit,” I mutter before I can catch myself in front of Nina.
Casimir seems confused how I didn’t notice. “How did you not smell them walking up? I could smell the stench of your father the moment we drove in.”
“I guess because I wasn’t sniffing around!” I say.
“I know your birthday isn’t until tomorrow, but I knew you had to work, so I thought we’d celebrate today,” Casimir tells me.
“You set this up?” I ask as Nina runs over and blows a party blower at me.
She waves it excitedly as Gustov jumps around, looking like he’d also enjoy having a party blower to demolish. “This thing is so fun! It’s so much more fun than that Rubik’s Cube you made me work for hours and hours and like a quarter of my life to get,” she says then blows it at me again.
“Would you like to go in the trash can?” I ask.
She’s aghast. “NO! DAD, Julian’s being mean!”
“Aww, you’re so cute. I can be your uncle instead!” Ezio exclaims as he grabs for her.
Nina’s eyes get wide. “Dad, I think the vampire wants to eat me!”
“That’s what happens when you’re bad,” Rhett says.
Mom looks around. “If being bad gets me a house like this, then count me interested.”
“Mom, that’s clearly not what I was implying,” Rhett grumbles as Dad glowers at everyone. I’m honestly just surprised he’s here.
“Are you a vampire too?” Nina asks as she locks on to Cyrus who has taken over petting Gustov. He also seems mystified by the poof on Gustov’s head that’s being held up by a large bow.
“I am not. I’m fairly boring,” Cyrus responds, which seems to be quite far from the truth.
“I got you the best present ever,” Nina says as her attention shifts back to me now that she knows Cyrus isn’t going to do anything fun. “You should open it now.”
She rushes over to a pile of presents that I’m pretty sure I don’t need.
“You guys didn’t need to get me this much stuff!” I say. “You really didn’t need to get me anything. I’m just happy being here with you guys.”
Mom smiles as she pats my back. “How could I say no when Casimir wanted to do all of this for you?”
I glance over at Casimir who is trying to look stoic, like he has no idea how he’d be getting praised for any of this.
“You even invited my father!” I say.
Casimir sighs the ultimate sigh. “Grudgingly.”
“He threatened me. Allow me to read the message,” Dad says.
“How about we don’t?” Casimir asks, like by avoiding the message he can continue some façade that he’s kind and caring to my father… which is a huge joke.
Dad clears his throat. “‘This is Casimir. Julian’s birthday party is Sunday at eight. I hope you don’t show up. But if you don’t, I will hunt you down and drag you out of my territory. Please don’t show.’”
“Aww, that sounds really sweet,” I say.
“Does it?” Dad wonders.
“Depends on what you got me. Did you get me a rabbit?”
He slowly shakes his head. “I… learned from my previous mistake.”
“Did you?” I ask.
“Did you?” Mom asks.
“Did you?” Rhett chimes in.
Clearly, none of us believe him.
“Open mine first. It’s the bestest,” Nina announces as she holds it in front of me.
I take it from her. “How exciting,” I say as I rip it open and unveil… the Rubik’s Cube.
“You are no longer my niece,” I decide. “Casimir, she can be your dessert.”
“No! I don’t want to be a dessert!” Nina yells as she runs off before I can make her pay for what she’s done.
“My present is best,” Casimir says, and the look on his face tells me that it’s not going to be any better than the Rubik’s Cube. I stare at it apprehensively as I take the present that’s very flat… suspiciously flat.
As everyone watches, I rip it open and look down at a framed painting… of Gustov… that I did.
“Oh my god. Wow!” I toss in all the mock shock I can muster.
“RIGHT?” Casimir asks. “Literally my favorite one, too! That’s how much I like you.”
“I mean… how will I ever be able to make it up to you for doing this for me? Thank you… my heart. I’ve never received such a wonderful gift.”
Casimir is all smiles, obviously pleased with himself as he pats my arm. “It is my pleasure to bestow upon you such a gift. I hope it truly demonstrates how much I care for you.”’
“I just asked to hold one and I thought my life was in danger,” Ezio mutters.
“Good,” Casimir says.
“You’re ridiculous,” I decide. “But thank you.”
“You’re welcome. I also got you a car after yours got destroyed.”
“After mine got… wait, what?” I ask. “It wasn’t destroyed; my tires got slashed.”
“Oh, it looked destroyed, so I got you a new one, but it’s not as nice and priceless as this painting.”
Ezio looks quite disgruntled about this. “You got him a new car?” He turns to me. “I’ve been his friend for two hundred years and do you know what he got me on my last birthday? A stick… he picked off the ground… while looking me in the eyes.”
Casimir nods, pleased with himself. “It was a good stick.”
Ezio grumbles. “Let me see this car! My car actually got destroyed and you didn’t say a peep! It got destroyed while trying to protect Julian.”
“You literally already bought a new one,” Casimir says.
“I did,” Ezio agrees. “I bet it’s cuter than Julian’s new car.”
“You did not actually get me a car, right?” I say, a little worried about how much he spent on me. “We’ve been dating like a week.”
“A… A week?” Dad asks. “You’ve been rubbing it in my face for far more than a week.”
I guess now is better than never to make my father miserable. “Oh, that was all fake. Fun, huh?”
“Fake… hold on… this was… fake?” Dad growls.
The smile on Casimir’s face tells me he is enjoying every second of this.
“Well, it was fake, but not anymore. We’re heart bros now,” I say as I blow Casimir a kiss. His raised eyebrow tells me he has absolutely no idea what I’ve just done. He kind of just motions back to my father, like he wants me to return to torturing him.
“I’m taking your present back,” Dad decides as he starts scavenging through the presents for it.
“Not my rabbit!”
“It wasn’t a rabbit!” Dad protests before grudgingly handing it to me. Probably because of the vampire looming from somewhere behind me.
“This is so exciting, but I’m scared to shake it. I don’t want to kill it before I even get to see it.”
I tear open the package and look at the books inside. They’re actually books I’m interested in, and it fills me with shock. “Wow! Thank you! I’m… at a loss for words.”
“Olive told me what to get,” he explains.
Makes total sense. “Thank you! I was afraid that if I opened one of the books, I’d find that you carved out the middle and put a rabbit inside.”
Dad sighs. “It was one rabbit and I’ll never live it down.”
“Nope. Thank you!”
“My present is best!” Ezio says as he trots over with a bag. I open it up and pull out some lacy black underwear with straps and all kinds of fun things that I quickly shove back in the bag. “You are most welcome.” He seems to have no issue with this.
Cyrus lets out a noise that very much sounds like a laugh as I realize with horror what I’ve just pulled out in front of my whole family, father included.
“Oh my god,” I whisper.
“Clearly, you love it,” Ezio says as he gives me a wink.
Dad just growls as Nina looks confused.
“I didn’t get to see what it was!” she whines.
“And you never will,” Rhett says as he shields her eyes.
I open the rest of the presents that are fairly normal and appreciated.
And as the partygoers steadily dissipate since they’re not quite used to the weird nightly schedule that I’ve slowly become accustomed to, it’s just me and Casimir.
“Do you want to see your new car?” he asks.
“Wait… you actually got me a new car?”
“Yeah, your other one was destroyed.”
“The tires were slashed!”
“Absolutely destroyed.”
“I’m… I’m going to say thank you, but I don’t think I can accept that,” I say. “I’m just… you know, not feeling right about taking an entire car.”
He takes my hand and I’m mighty proud of the way he holds it as he leads me out to the garage and presents me with an extremely nice car that there’s absolutely no way I can accept.
“Oh hell, no.”
Casimir pins me against the wall and kisses me gently. “You have done more for me in weeks than you can fathom. A thousand cars wouldn’t be enough. The Gustov painting is close, but even that is not quite enough. Just… let me do this.”
I shake my head. “It’s too much.”
“Not for you. Now how about we go try out this outfit Ezio got you?”
I drape my arms around his neck. “I mean… it does look a little fun.”
“Right?”
I cup his face. “But you don’t owe me anything. I’m just enjoying every minute with you… well, almost every minute.”
He grins at me. “What do you want to do for your birthday tomorrow?”
“I… I really only want to paint Gustov,” I tease as the dog comes rushing over, hearing his name.
“Right? But we should let your hand rest for at least one day.”
“Oh, thank you for granting me such kindness.”
Casimir smiles a moment before it falls, and I can tell he’s lost in thought.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
He sighs before saying, “Ivo said something to me… that makes me anxious that others know who I was…”
“It doesn’t matter. I’ll stand by your side for every part of it.” I squeeze him to me.
“Thank you,” he replies, voice soft.
“You never have to thank me for doing something like this.”
“Hmm…” His hand slides around my back and I rest my head against his shoulder, soaking in his touch.
“Now about these drawings of boobs you did,” he says.
“Oh man, you’re going to love them!”
“I can’t wait.”
And I really can’t wait to show him every part of me. To tell him about all of the ridiculous stories of my past that are so mundane for a man who has seen five hundred years. Yet he acts like every one of my stories is thrilling.
I hope someday Casimir opens up enough to share who he was with me. But even if he doesn’t, I will keep loving the man he is now.