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"Don't call me that," Allister quipped but didn't have any anger behind it.
We waited for Piper to reach the top of the stairs before the discussion began again. There were many concerns with what we should do to prove Allister's innocence. None of them protested more than Allister himself.
"This is pointless. We can't even go check the club out until after dark. We should all just go to bed and deal with this when the sun goes down." Allister threw himself into a chair at the kitchen table and slammed his hand down on the top of it. "What the fuck was Benny thinking?"
"Benny?" Rayne asked. "The bartender?"
"Yeah," Allister grumbled, rubbing a finger between his brows.
Rayne snorted in disbelief. "You're on a first-name basis with the bartender? You really have been going there too much."
Allister stared hard down at the ground.
The younger vampire barked a laugh. "Seriously? You thought those bimbos would make you feel better? Idiot."
"Stay out of my head," Allister snapped at Rayne, slamming his hand down on the table again. "What I was doing there is none of your business."
"It is if your decisions affect this family." Drake stalked over to his brother and grabbed him by the front of his shirt, lifting him up from his seat. "Especially if they hurt Piper. How could you do that to her?"
Allister jerked away from his brother's hands and shoved back up from the table. "I've already taken care of it. And I wasn't doing anything you're thinking of. So, just fuck off."
Drake glanced over at Rayne, who shrugged. "He's telling the truth. He only talked to them after he fed."
"Obviously, you spent too much time with these women, or the bartender wouldn't have remembered you being with them," I pointed out, crossing my arms over my chest. "When we left Bulgaria to form our own household, we made a promise to each other. A promise to protect this family. How are your actions upholding that promise?"
Allister dragged a hand over his face and sighed. "I never intended it to get that far. It was just one time, and then the next thing I know, I'm in this cluster fuck. Look. I know I fucked up. Now, instead of berating me about it, why don't we come up with a solution to figure out who actually killed those women?"
"Young Allister has a point." Wynn mused, pushing away from the fridge. "Arguing amongst ourselves will get us nowhere. We must retire for the day. Antione," he paused until he gained our leader's attention. "Can you reach out to Morpheus? See if he has anything to say about this? It would be a sad coincidence indeed that he would be saved by us only to have one of our own be punished for someone else in his club's mistakes."
Antoine inclined his head. "Agreed. The timing is too precise to be just fate." He walked to the doorway of the kitchen. "I will make my inquiries, and I too will retire for the day."
I cleared my throat. "What of the human?"
Our leader stopped at the doorway. "Ah, yes." He sighed as if it was all catching up to him, and it was just too much. "I suppose I will be stopping by Mr. Biggs's room on the way to bed as well. Good day, brothers."
We muttered our good days in response. Then we went off to do our assigned tasks. Allister to make a list of all the women he spent the evening with and what time he left each of them. Rayne would cross-reference the times he left with the times he returned home on the security system here at the house. One thing for modern technology, it made it much easier to prove someone's innocence or their guilt. I could have used a camera or two on my crusades. It would have made my life easier for sure.
Drake followed his twin, either to help him or to give him shit for putting us all in such a predicament. Wynn went to do whatever he did to help. After centuries by his side, I had stopped asking. Usually, it wasn't an answer I wanted to know.
I found myself sitting in the kitchen when Darren returned. He walked through the kitchen as if I didn't exist. Only when Darren pulled down two mugs from the cabinet and filled them both with coffee did he even show that he knew I was there. He brought the cup to me. The liquid inside, blacker than my eyes. After all these years, Darren had done well to remember our preferences.
"Thank you." I wrapped my hands around the mug, breathing in the scent without taking a sip. "How is she?"
Darren sat across from me at the table and sipped from his coffee mug. "Tired. She's suffered a lot of blood loss lately, not counting all the beatings she has sustained. I think it's catching up with her."
I hummed. "Yes, she does seem to keep going even when on empty."
"Stubbornness will be her fall one of these days."
Lifting my mug to my lips, I gulped a mouthful of hot liquid. "I do not know what we are going to do with her. I sometimes wonder why Antoine even bothered with a human servant." Darren didn't take offense to my comment and simply listened. "They were just inconveniences. Or someone to clean up after us. We could have paid people to do that. Why keep someone who you'd be stuck with forever?"
Darren nodded. I didn't know if he agreed with me or was just being a good listener.
"Then, there's Piper." I held the cup between both of my hands tight enough that the heat of the mug was beginning to get uncomfortable. "I didn't want her here either. She was an even bigger inconvenience. No offense meant." Darren waved me off. "She's loud. Rude. Sticks her nose in where it doesn't belong." I chuckled. "And she attracts too much attention. Good and bad."
"That she does," Darren murmured.
"She's so strong. So much stronger than I gave her credit for." I sighed and lowered my head over my cup. "I always thought to be strong, you had to be physically strong. Be the better monster. I forgot about being strong...in here." I touched my chest with an open palm. I'd give up all my strength to be even half as strong as her."
