“Our coven, and quite a few others, have an agreement with the Vampire Liaison and Crimes Division. It covers a fair few things, but basically we don’t feed from humans anymore, and in return they won’t hunt us.” Unconsciously his fingers went to his tagging bracelet, and he tapped it, drawing Ian’s attention. “These identify us as vampires they can’t hunt and also keep track of our movements should any suspicious deaths occur.” He watched Ian’s face as realisation dawned. “You need to stay in this room because you don’t have one, and if any VLCD members caught on to what you are, they could kill you.” He clasped his hands together to stop himself fiddling with his own bracelet. It bothered him most when he focused on it.
“Another reason is you’re newly turned. Thirsty.” Jesse gave a pointed look at the discarded pile of blood bags. “What do you think could happen if you get hungry in a room full of humans?”
A horrified look passed over Ian’s face. “You mean I’d eat them?”
Jesse shrugged. “It’s not like you’d lose all control, but you’d be tempted. And if anyone pissed you off...” He let that hang there for a moment. “Let’s just say it’s better for everyone if you learn to control your newfound strength and senses before going back out amongst humans.”
Ian sat there, seeming to quietly take it all in. Then his eyes narrowed. “These trackers you all wear...”
“What about them?” Jesse asked warily, guessing where Ian was going with it.
“Do the police monitor them all the time?”
“No. If there’s an unsolved crime that looks as though it could be vampire related, then the head of the VLCD meets with Raph and they check the data together. It takes both of them to access it. And then they can see if any of us were in the vicinity when it happened.”
“So last night, if the police checked the tracking data, they’d find you, Peter, and the others had been there.”
Jesse ran a hand through his hair. “Apparently Peter’s found a way to take the tracker off without using the special tool only Raph has. According to him, the data will show that he, Michael, and Simon were never there. They were either on their way home or already back at the coven. That it was just me in that alleyway.”
“I see.” Ian drew his bottom lip into his mouth, and Jesse would give a lot to know what he was thinking right now. “So if the police discover I—I died in that alley, then all evidence points to you.”
“Yep.” And rightly deserved too, Jesse mused. He might not have been the one to drain Ian’s blood, but he’d put him in that situation. “There’s no evidence to suggest you were ever there though.”
“Nothing?”
“Peter has your phone. He drank your blood, and he wouldn’t have been sloppy enough to spill a drop.”
Ian grimaced.
“Sorry.”
“Yeah, that’s going to take some time before it doesn’t freak me out.”
“Understandable. IaskedPeter to change me and it still took a while to get used to it... after.”
“You asked for it?” His eyebrows shot towards his hairline. “Why the fuck would you do that?”
Because I lost the love of my life and I wanted to die.“That’s a story for another time,” he said softly.
“Fair enough.” Ian covered his face with his hands for a moment, and Jesse wondered if this was all too much to take in. He’d been tossed in the deep end, no easing into it, and looked as though he couldn’t take much more.
When he dropped his hands a few moments later, he seemed to find some resolve. “Assuming no one saw me go into that alleyway, there’s nothing to put me there. So you should be in the clear if they start to look for me.”
“I guess.”
“Good.”
Jesse’s dead heart ached at the fact Ian was worried about him. He didn’t mention that Cate had his photo. And if the VLCD got involved, the first thing they’d do is check for vampires at Ian’s house. Then he’d be shit out of luck. “There’s another reason you need to stay out of sight for a while.” And probably one of the more important ones as far as Jesse was concerned. “Raph doesn’t know about you and I’d like to keep it that way until I figure out what to do about that.”
“Raph’s the coven leader, right?”
Jesse nodded.
“So does that make him the boss of everyone?”
“Yes, I guess you could say that. His decision is final in all coven matters.”
“Right.” Ian’s eyebrows scrunched together. “And he won’t be very happy to find out about me.”
