Page 55 of Call of the Blood

“I’ve realized that,” Callahan replied, reaching out to pat my brother’s shoulder. “Young man, you’re a good employee, and you’re just in over your head with these two. It happens, and it is on them, not you. Bad luck. No one is actually mad at you. In fact, I feel bad for you. I’m probably going to give you a pay raise, a really large one, to make sure you keep working for me.”

“So,” Declan sighed. “What are we doing in here?” my brother asked, his eyes closed as I knew he was embarrassed, dragged around, talked about, fought over. He was so pissed at me, but not only at me. He wanted out of this room. He wanted to leave this party, which would have been his scene if not for everything going on.

“Discussing your safety,” I said, sighing. “I just wanted to make sure you had someone with you when you went out.”

“These vampires I’ve been looking for are few in number, and I believe it was the wrong place at the wrong time for everyone involved. I don’t know or see anything that would imply they would target Everly or Declan to get to her,” Alexius said, looking only at Callahan. “So, if you could just provide him with someone who checks in at one or two a.m., just to verify he’s home safe, then I believe him being with his girlfriend or with Everly is more than enough protection.”

“Young vampires?” Callahan asked, all his attention now on Alexius.

“Certainly. Nothing about their behavior says they’re older than five or so years,” Alexius confirmed. “They’re just slippery and not stopping to talk to any other vampires. Once we’re done here, I’m going over to follow the trail.”

Callahan sat down and drummed his fingers on the desk.

“Can I send a wolf with you just to learn the scent, perhaps help you tonight to make up for lost time?”

“Certainly… Is that werewolf in Alaska walking again? I never had a chance to ask before.”

“Yeah, he started walking again about a month ago.” Callahan looked at the werewolves in the room, Lexi and her family. “Lucas and Lexi will go. Lucas to help track tonight, Lexi so she knows the scent in case it comes close to Declan’s home again when you go visit him or you’re out with him. Alexius?”

“That works for me. And on nights Lexi isn’t there, Everly will be.”

“I saw him. He ran off, and I decided not to follow in a city I’m unfamiliar with,” I explained to Declan.

“Did you have a chance to save my neighbor? Who was it?”

“A woman getting home from a night shift is all we’ve identified so far. And no. By the time I saw her… I couldn’t save her, Declan.”

“Okay. Shit. This sucks.” Declan huffed, running a hand through his hair as he took a few steps away from the rest of us.

I looked at Lexi, who was watching Declan with concern. Enough concern that I decided to help.

“Look at it this way, Declan… this would have happened whether or not you and I were related or whether I was in town. You just get more information and protection than the average human. There’s no reason to think this vampire had anything to do with you.”

“Yeah… I would just rather be on the beach watching waves right now.”

Callahan cleared his throat, and it was Yiva who grabbed him.

“Then let’s go. Lexi will be back soon, right, daughter?”

“As fast as possible.”

“Then I’ll wrap this up. Alexius, we can give Everly a ride to wherever she would like to go when she wants to leave.”

“Would you like to stay here and go home when you’re ready?”

“You would be okay with that?” I asked. He only nodded. We both knew he couldn’t stop me. We were asking each other out of courtesy to be on the same page if we needed one another, and I liked that. “Declan is still here, and we were supposed to hang out tonight, so I’ll probably stay as long as he’s here.” I looked down at the hand he was still holding, and he let me slide it out of his grasp without a comment, then I followed Declan downstairs and onto the beach, Yiva hovering. Werewolves looked at me, but none stopped me to talk.

“Hey, bro,” I said, walking cautiously up to him. “How angry are you?”

“I realized after I walked out that Callahan treated me like I was made of glass when I wanted to leave,” he said softly, staring at the ocean. Yiva made a noise, and I glanced her way, seeing a bit of guilt on her face.

“Have you considered, Declan, that as a human, you are made of glass here?” I asked, trying to be gentle, but it was the honest truth. “And I’m sorry it’s like that.”

“Yeah, my ego has taken a beating,” he said, chuckling sadly. “I was an independent adult for so long, and now, I am being babysat.”

“A little bit,” I said, holding two fingers close together as I moved to where he could see me. “You can sit home alone. We both know you order groceries instead of going to the store. How much does this really change anything?”

Declan looked thoughtfully out at the ocean, then started to chuckle.