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“And you’re still an attention whore—”
Kazi launched from the couch, Zaine lunged to stop him, and Saint watched it all unfold with a tickle of amusement, like watching a trainwreck in slow motion. The fate of the world hung on this dysfunctional Brotherhood getting their shit together. It was almost as though Mikalis had held them back.
Someone rapped on the door, pausing the almost-brawl before things became too bitey. Kazimir shook Zaine off him and Octavius sheathed his fangs.
Aiko answered the door. Two humans stood in the corridor; one smelled a lot like Kazimir, likely his feeder, and the other was Jay, holding a tray of stacked cookies.
“Er, so, this guy says he’s friends with… Saint,” Kazimir’s human said, gaze dancing, “and he brought cookies.” He shrugged. “This day has been so fuckin’ nuts, I figure what the hell, maybe he’s for real?”
“Hi,” Jay said, smiling nervously. He wore an oversized shirt and baggy sweatpants, and was as out of place as a rabbit that had hopped into a lion enclosure.
Saint fought to keep the grin off his lips and poked his tongue into his cheek as the rest of them stared, mouths open.
Kazimir’s human sidestepped through the door, passing Aiko, and read the room in a few seconds. He sat next to Kazimir. “You good?”
“I am now,” Kazimir said, drawing the human close and breathing him in. Interesting. They weren’t all oblivious to the benefits of maintaining a symbiotic relationship with a human then.
Jay’s smile cracked a little, now that he stood alone with a tray of cookies and a whole bunch of blood-hungry vampires staring at him. “Uh, so… I’ll just leave these then.” He handed the tray to a stunned Aiko. “So there’s maple and chocolate, and cinnamon and er… Well, I couldn’t really find much else, so it’s just basically cinnamon and chocolate chip. Apple would have been nicer, but whoever owns the apartment we’d hijacked didn’t have any apple, so… Anyway. It’s nice to meet you all.” He smiled again, then swallowed and shrank some.
Saint pushed from the wall and sauntered to the door. “What these Neanderthals have forgotten to say isthank youfor thinking of them. They appreciate it. I’d invite you to stay, but until they figure out how to behave like civilized creatures, I fear you’d be at risk.” He caught Jay’s chin, lifted his face, and kissed him on the lips, then whispered, “Be ready later.”
Jay nodded, understanding, and throwing the group a little wave, he returned to his apartment next door.
Saint closed the door, picked up a cookie from the tray Aiko still held, and said, “If any of you so much as snarl at Jayden, I will rip your fucking arms off. Cookie?”
Interestingly, they looked at Octavius, as though expecting a backlash, but instead they found a curious, sideways smile on his lips.
“I have no idea what’s happening,” Aiko admitted, setting the cookies down on the coffee table in the middle of the room. The others swooped in and helped themselves.
Saint caught sight of Storm’s small smile too, before he saw Saint looking, and banished it, returning to his usual stoic expression. “Nightfall is going to be worse than what we experienced earlier,” Storm said. “My instincts tell me the older nyks will be out in force. They’re here for a reason. This isn’t random. So we need to figure out what their objective is.”
Zaine grabbed a cookie and made his way over to Storm. “Take it.”
Storm took it and eyed the cookie.
“I doubt it bites, big guy,” Zaine said. “You saw the bro who made it. I bet it’s baked with fuckin’ rainbows and unicorns. That right there is the best cookie you’re ever gonna eat.”
“Do you mind if the grown-ups talk now?” Storm asked.
“You know you love it.” Zaine smirked and flopped back down in a chair.
“When is Eric getting here?” Kazi asked.
“Not for a while.” Zaine’s smile faded. “The NYPD is stretched, to say the least. He’s helping where he can.”
“We’ll save him a cookie,” Kazi said, leaning forward. “And we’d better order in some blood, if our supply chain is still available.”
“I’ll get on that,” Aiko said.
“We’re going to need it,” Storm said, sampling his cookie. His eyebrows lifted. “All right, so let’s figure out how we’re going to bring down an army of nyks and survive to see the sunrise.”
They finally appeared to be working together, discussing what had happened and how to better organize for the next wave. But as Saint listened and watched then work, Octavius lagged beside him. He’d taken a beating in the street, and Saint could do something about that. “Hey, Little Wolf,” he whispered. “Will you come with me for a while?”
Octavius lifted tired eyes and nodded. They slipped mostly unnoticed from the room. Storm caught Saint’s eye, but made no comment. Perhaps he wouldn’t be such a terrible leader after all. Saint led Octavius into the apartment next door, where Jay was waiting. He stood, and his gaze fixed on Octavius. They didn’t need to speak, words would just slow them down. Jay nodded and turned his face away, exposing his neck. Octavius left Saint’s side and crossed the room. Without hesitating, he took Jay in his arms and licked over his jugular.
Saint circled around the pair. Octavius saw him, peeled his lips back from his fangs, and bit deeply into Jay’s neck with his gaze locked on Saint’s.
He’d wanted to see Octavius feed from Jay for weeks. The need, the hunger, and that moment his teeth pierced Jay’s skin—a dart of lust shot down Saint’s spine, spiking his own arousal.
