Page 18 of Call of the Blood

When I reached the kitchen, he was already there, preparing the blood once again. He held it out to me once it was ready without a word. Neither of us spoke until after I took my first drink.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, leaning on the counter.

“Good,” I said, swirling the glass between swallows. I drank fast, finishing the glass before continuing the conversation, and he waited, not pushing or prying. When I put the empty glass down, he immediately grabbed it and started cleaning.

“Would you like more?”

“Oh, no. I’m full,” I said, lifting a hand. I wasn’t sure how vampires drained anyone. Sometimes, I felt like I would burst if I had a pint, much less the several needed to drain a human. I felt great, really. I was about to see my brother and witness his human life up close. It had been foreign to me even while I was human since we lived on opposite coasts. Once I had shaken the bad vibes off, I was committed to not letting them come back.

“If you get hungry at all, call it a night and get home to feed,” he said, staring me down.

“Of course. Just like in Savannah. I don’t like feeding off people. Don’t plan to eat my brother or one of his neighbors.”

“I know…” He tapped his fingers on the counter. “If he gets a cut or anything, leave the room to make sure you have control.”

“And don’t go back in until he’s fully taken care of it and cleaned up,” I said, nodding. “I know, Alexius.”

“And don’t get too worked up. Or show off your abilities. You don’t want to burn through what you’ve had and get hungry too early.”

“Alexius…”

“I just want to make sure everything goes well for you,” he said, huffing.

He was fretting. I didn’t say anything as he continued to grill me, making sure I had plans for anything. He was worried, and I indulged him. This was the first time I was going out on my own, and he couldn’t stalk me to make sure it would be okay. He had places to be on his own. But nothing ever happened in Savannah, and if something happened here, it wasn’t going to be my fault. I fully believed in myself.

“Do you believe in me or not?” I asked, sharper than I wanted.

“I believe in you,” he answered, leaning back and finally relaxing. “I’m sorry. You’re ready for this. But please call me if anything happens.”

“Don’t break your phone, and I will,” I said, breaking out into a smile. “I’m heading out now. See you for a check-in before sunrise?”

“Certainly.”

I grabbed my set of keys and went into the garage to find the car left for us. It was a sedan of a make and model I didn’t care about. A sedan I could work with, not too big for me, not too small. There was a larger SUV in the garage as well, which was certainly for Alexius. I took note of it, wanting to commit it to memory if I needed to know later, then left.

The drive to my brother’s had more cars on the road than I expected, but I suffered through it and got to his building in thirty minutes.

“Okay, Everly. This is it. Time to see your brother,” I said, taking a deep breath. That deep breath was a habitual preparation that I couldn’t seem to break.

I parked in the guest parking outside his building’s garage, and he’d texted his code to get in the building during the day. I just had to find the elevator, and that was easy. He was on the fourth floor, and I could have easily run up the stairs, but there were probably security cameras that would catch me doing that.

No one was on the elevator, thankfully, and I went straight up to his floor without any stops. I hunted down his number and rubbed my hands together nervously before finally pushing his doorbell.

I heard thumping as he ran for the door.

It swung open, and I was ready for what was coming.

If I were still human, the hug would have hurt. He would have run me over with it, and I would have been bitchy about how he couldn’t be more careful.

Instead, I was firmly planted and refused to move as he barreled into me and ran into a proverbial brick wall. He didn’t pause at all, though. His arms were around me, squeezing tightly.

“It’s fucking good to see you, Everly,” he said.

I hugged him back, smiling into his chest, nodding.

“It’s good to see you, too, Declan.”

We didn’t move for a while. I was the one who had to break the hug and pull away.