“Good evening, friend!” He greeted. “You want a cup?” I nodded, and he went to the cabinets. “I need to apologize.”
My mouth fell open, and I closed it quickly.
What?
“Scout and I have a rather—” he paused, poured my drink, then brought the two cups to the table, motioning for me to sit with him. I did so, eager to hear what he had to say. “—difficult dynamic.”
“How so?” With a forced light chuckle, I grabbed my cup. Sighing after a small sip. God, I missed a pulsing vein. Blood warmed up wasn’t the same as fresh from a body. I watched him take a sip himself and then give me a tight smile.
“Scout is very independent. She doesn’t like help. She doesn’t want gifts or anything that could be weighed against her. Which is difficult for me, you know?”
I nodded. That was Arsenio’s go-to. He loved showering a lover with presents. I remembered having to stay in shit-hole hotels more than once because he blew our mark money on a necklace or expensive shoes for one woman or another.
“That’s why she doesn’t live here.” I nodded.
“That, and the fact that we are not dating more than we are these days. She doesn’t always agree with how I entertain myself.”
“What does that even mean?” I tilted my head. He shrugged.
“We fight, break up, then make up again. It’s always been like that. I adore her, but…” he trailed off, his mouth puckered, and his eyes went down to his cup.
“You seem like such an odd match.” My words sunk into my gut. I knew it was an overstep. Arsenio didn’t catch it, though. He laughed.
“We are. I like her. She’s fun, interesting, and doesn’t take my shit. She’s just what I needed.”
I didn’t reply, instead chose to drink the blood.
“Her vehicle is fixed. It was just a dead battery. She left her lights on. Thank you for letting me know. I had it fixed before she woke up. I love being able to do things for her, even if she fights me on it.” He laughed and finished his cup. I did as well and excused myself.
As I drove to the theater to meet the guys, I went over Arsenio and mine’s conversation. None of it made sense. They were total opposites.
Dylan and Adam were in the lobby already with popcorn in their hands and large fountain drinks. I grimaced when Adam shoved a handful of the buttery snack in his mouth.
“What? You don’t eat?” He scoffed. I shook my head and pulled a cinnamon candy out of my pocket.
“Just these.”
“You’re not living, man.” Dylan laughed, taking a sip of his drink. His lips stained red when he pulled the straw away.
“I’m not,man.” I pointed out. I was technically dead. As were they. They both rolled their eyes. “They sell blood here?” I nodded to their cups.
“No, we brought our own and poured it into the cups.” He swished the cup side to side so the ice clanged around. “We like it on ice.”
I grimaced. “That’s disgusting. Let’s go.”
The movie was alright. I was a gore-whore—as in, I loved blood, so when they asked for me to join them for a scary movie, I was down. However, the experience was muddled by them talking and laughing through the entire thing. By the time the movie got out, I wanted to punch them in their annoying faces. I understood now why Scout regarded them the way she did.
I went straight to my office when the pair started talking DnD. I shut and locked my door automatically. They had drained my social well for the day. For the week, honestly.
I pulled my earbuds from my desk and turned my computer on. While Iron Maiden played in my ears, I decided to search for Ludovica on the internet.
All of us, the Seven Sins, had different ways of handling the public knowing of us.Of vampires.
While Arsenio had cashed in on the need for more business, I had chosen to remain a shadow. I didn’t need any of this fancy bullshit. But I wasn’t so sure of the others. What had the other five members of our group done with the freedom to exist as we were?
I went through the list of six names. Who to call? I pushed the number I had for Tully.
“Is this who I think this is?” He greeted me.
