“What did you want, Raven?”
I poured two cups of coffee as Ronan leaned on the side next to me, watching me carefully, waiting for me to answer.
“Tell Malrik he will need to leave soon; Vespera will be strengthening the wards.”
“I can’t talk to others.”
Oh yeah.
Ronan’s arm brushed against mine as he took the coffee from me, “I need to ask you something else. Kieran is getting suspicious.”
He would be, but he could just be on edge from the drinking.
I opened my mouth to reply when suddenly the door swung open, and a body was thrown inside, crashing against the wall. Malrik stood in the doorway, looking furious as he glanced at the person who was staggering to their feet with a scowl.
Kieran.
Now I had another hunter in my house, and I doubt he would be as understanding as Ronan.
Chapter 10
KIERAN
That smug bastard of a vampire managed to sneak up on me; I didn’t even hear him coming. Probably because I decided to down a full bottle of whisky before trailing after Ronan into the Whispering Woods like a bloody idiot.
He's been off all week. Jumpy. Twitchy. Not a single prank on Darian, which is already suspicious as hell. No itching powder in his shirts, no glamoured fake spiders in the sink.
Darian hates spiders.
Just the little things I have noticed, too. His body wash smells like cherries and vanilla now, and he’s been baking.
A lot.
Most nights after a hard shift, I would find him in the kitchen, absolutely caked in flour, shit everywhere, but that’s his therapy.
I drink, he bakes, and Darian likes playing the piano.
We all have our vices, I suppose. He just comes with frosting. The meeting we had, I knew something was wrong with him, and he fled the building like his ass was on fire, so I let him and left for the pub, fucked a girl after multiple shots, then headed home to drink my whisky in peace.
Ronan came out of his room and told me he was going to the gym.
Big fucking joke.
The guy only works out when we make him; he would rather bake all day or sit playing games with Drew when not pullingpranks. I know what everyone does, even if I’m drunk half the time. I still notice everyone around me; the responsibility of keeping everyone safe never lets up. As the oldest of our group, at thirty-three, I take it seriously, so when there's a change, I feel it deeply.
So, I downed my bottle and followed him, all the way to the Whispering Woods. I nearly got trampled by some sort of creepy wolf thing trying to catch up to him.
The further we got, the deeper the snow became, and I wondered why I didn’t bring a damn coat with me.
Because I’m drunk.
Now I’m here in some abandoned cottage that smells like cherries and vanilla after being attacked by a vampire.
I stumbled up against the wall, my sight a little hazy, but I could see the fucker standing in the doorway, and he was smiling.
I think.
“Kieran man, what are you doing here?”
