Jesse cast a quick glance at his phone. “I’m twenty minutes early if anything,” he snapped, refusing to be intimidated by the likes of Peter. “Chill the fuck out.”
Instead of backing off, Peter crowded him against the car. “Fucking a human?” He tsked, shaking his head. “What could he possibly offer you?” His eyes narrowed and Jesse’s mind helpfully tacked on thethat I can’tto the end of that sentence.
Anything, everything.
Jesse had made that mistake once and he was never going back there. No matter how much Peter tried to persuade him otherwise. Ignoring Peter’s heated look, Jesse shoved him backwards, then walked to the back of the car and opened the boot. Four large refrigerated cartons sat in a row.
Peter joined him, standing far too close again. He sneered when he looked inside. “Oh look, you brought breakfast.”
Jesse’s coven followed the rules laid out by the Vampire Liaison and Crimes Division, had done for the last fifteen years, but not all covens did and not all members of Jesse’s were happy about it. Some, like Peter, were more vocal than others.
Jesse shrugged, already bored of listening to the same old shit coming out of his mouth. “Don’t drink it if you don’t want to.” He stacked two of the containers on top of one another.
“Since our illustrious leader made a deal with the devil, what fucking choice do I have?”
Ian shot him a withering look. Like the police were the bad guys in this situation. Peter was old, way older than Jesse, and in the sixty-four years he’d known him, Peter had done some awful things. Things Jesse wished he could unsee. And some of the stories he’d heard about him from the others were horrifying. He was well aware what choice Peter would prefer to have.
His mind drifted back to Ian, unsurprisingly.
Ian was exactly the type of thing Peter would like for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. The thought tightened around his chest, and he fought to push it away. With the agreements in place, Peter wouldn’t be feeding on anyone again. “Why don’t you make yourself useful and grab those last two cartons?”
Peter grunted but did as asked, shutting the boot as he hefted them onto his hip. “I much preferred the years when you were frightened of me.”
Jesse’s laugh had a touch of bitterness to it. “I’m sure you did.” Thankfully those years were long behind him.
As Peter brushed past him, he leant in close, whispering, “Of course my favourite years were when I had you naked in my bed, begging for my cock.” His hand brushed Jesse’s, making him flinch. “And we’d feed together, sharing—”
“That was a long time ago.” He marched forward a couple of steps, putting some distance between them, then glanced over his shoulder. “And we all make mistakes.” The flash of anger in Peter’s eyes was extremely satisfying, and Jesse smirked as he walked the rest of the way towards the main front door of their house. Peter was self-obsessed, cruel, and a right wanker, but Jesse was no longer intimidated by him. Some days he wished Peter would slip up, feed on a human, and get caught by the VLCD. The punishment varied depending on what state the victim was left in, but Jesse was pretty sure he’d be banished from their coven at the very least.
As they approached the huge front door, it swung open and Raph smiled at him from within. Raphael Miller, coven leader for the last eighteen years and the best thing to ever happen to their coven. He didn’t mention the fact that Jesse smelt of human and sex, just stepped back to let them inside. “No trouble, I take it?” Raph glanced down at the two cartons Jesse held, then over his shoulder at Peter. “Was Lys okay?”
“No trouble, and she was fine.” Jesse frowned. “She’s working at the hospital until four thirty though.” He sighed when Raph’s frown matched his own. “I told her she was cutting it fine, but she said she didn’t have much choice in the matter.”
“Much choice?” Peter grunted from behind them. “She could decimate that whole fucking hospital if she wanted to.”
Raph rolled his eyes. “And then what would we do for blood?”
“We could always get it the old-fashioned way.” Peter’s tone was teasing, meant to be funny, but Jesse knew he meant every word. And so did Raph.
Ignoring Peter, he clapped Jesse on the shoulder and steered him towards the kitchen at the back of the building. “Let’s get this lot in the fridge then.”
Like the rest of the place, the kitchen was huge.
They didn’t use it for anything other than storage, but they kept it as a fully functioning kitchen for when they had to inevitably sell it and move on. The VLCD might be aware of their existence, but for the most part, the general population were blissfully unaware. They couldn’t stay in the same place forever, no matter what lengths they went to to stay under the radar.
Two huge fridges took up the back wall.
Jesse carried his cartons and dumped them on the kitchen table. Peter did the same.
As they started to unload the blood and store it in the freezer section, Raph hoisted himself up to sit on the table, watching them. “There’s a coven meeting at six o’clock this evening.”
Jesse nodded. “I’m gonna wait up for Lys to get back, I’ll let her know.”
“Thank you.” Raph seemed to brace himself and Jesse caught the look he sent Peter’s way. “We’re due a visit from the VLCD and I want to make sure everything’s in order.”
“Like good little vampires,” Peter muttered under his breath. Raph eyed him, expression guarded, and Jesse would love to see him pick Peter up and toss him across the room. Maybe break a few bones in the process. Peter would deserve it.
Instead Raph leant back on his hands, seemingly unaffected by Peter’s attitude, but Jesse recognised the signs. They’d been friends before Raph became coven leader, and he’d seen what could happened when Raph got that look in his eye.
