Dhampirs of Sgiach

13. Kieran

Kieran yawned as he slid his key into the lock of his apartment door, Kage and Echo both stood next to him. Echo glancing at the door to the apartment she had shared with Steve.

“Do you want to move in with Kage and I?” Kieran asked her as he opened the door.

Echo was startled a bit as she looked over at him. “Are you sure?”

“You’ve been staying with us for the last week. Why not make it a permanent change?” Kieran said as they all entered the apartment.

“I wouldn’t be a bother to you?”

“No,” Kieran said with a smile for her. “Kage seems attached to you and the gods know I can’t cook to save my life.”

Kage smiled at her as well. “Remember how he burned the pancakes when his mama asked him to watch them?”

The tentative smile that spread across Echo’s face held the promise of beauty that Steve had beaten out of her. “Well, we can’t have him burning pancakes every morning. You’ll both starve.”

Mr. Arias had gone through and managed to get Lacey to leave the apartment. As Kieran looked around, it looked like she decided she was owed the lion’s share of the furnishings. Including the TV in the living room and their bed. The old beat-up couch and the bed in the spare room had been left, along with the bookshelves with Kieran’s comic collection and the unfinished wood dining table.

“At least she left my comics,” Kieran muttered as he looked through his closet. Everything he had hidden there was still there. “Thank the Gods for my Shadow Spark…”

“Where’s your bed?” Kage asked, as he and Echo looked around Kieran’s room.

“Lacey took it,” Kieran said absently. He frowned as he looked into the spare room at the small twin-sized bed. “We can go out and buy a new one along with another bed for this room tomorrow. I need new sheets anyway.”

They spent the rest of the day going through Echo’s apartment. Throwing out what needed to be tossed. Cleaning what needed to be cleaned. And salvaging what could be salvaged. The place was a mess and Kieran didn’t know how Echo could have lived there for so long. The only bright side was that Steve hadn’t been killed in the apartment, but Kieran did catch the faint scent of wereracoons.

They ordered pizza and watched a movie on Kieran’s laptop. Echo’s TV had a remote thrown into it during one of Steve’s rages at one point. Adam came by later that night with a couple of inflatable beds.

“It’s a b***h move to take the damn bed,” Adam remarked as he and Kieran inflated the bed in Kieran’s room.

“I was going to get rid of it anyway,” Kieran responded. He ignored the twinge in his chest as he threw the plastic wrap for the new pillow in the trash and put the pillow cover on.

Adam regarded Kieran for a while before he finally spoke again. “You know the Sleuth would help you replace what she took.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“What about Kage and Echo?”

Kieran smiled. “They’ll be fine too. Neither had much to begin with. But I won’t say no to mom taking Echo clothes shopping. She needs an entire wardrobe.”

The werebear shook his head with a chuckle. “So does Kage, he can’t keep wearing your clothes. Especially when he starts to go out to feed.”

“He still needs to gain a lot of weight…” Kieran said.

“Mom won’t care that he’ll need new clothes in a month. She’s gone through that with all three of us. I think she’s getting antsy for some grandbabies. She was all over Kage and Echo while they were at the Lodge,” Adam said with a chuckle. “When will you take Kage out to feed? She’ll make sure he’s in something that he won’t need his magic to attract his prey.”

Kieran leaned against the dresser as he threw the pillow on the mattress. “Dr. Ebonwings says I should take him this weekend.”

“Those cheating hoes won’t know what hit them when you and Kage enter that bar.”

“I’m not going to be joining in the feeding. I’m just going to stay nearby and punch anyone that tries to hurt him.”

Adam frowned at that. “Last time you broke up with a girl you were back to breaking hearts the next day. I remember the girl coming up to you in the lunchroom and slapping you in front of the entire school.”

Kieran turned and opened the top drawer of the dresser he was leaning against. Adam’s eyes widened as he caught the small velvet box the dhampir tossed him. “s**t…”

Kieran nodded and left the room. Kage and Echo looked up from the computer screen where they sat on the couch as he walked past them. “What’s that?” Kage asked as Kieran pulled down a clear bottle from one of the cupboards above the fridge.

“Ignis,” Kieran said as he poured himself a large shot and downed it. The warm burn down his throat felt nice, the same as the tingly fuzzies that filled his head.

“Can I try some?”

“You don’t want to try that,” Adam said as he came into the living/dinning room and snatched a slice of pizza from the open box on the table.

“Why not?” Kage asked.

“It’s made with ignis peppers.”

“Oh.” Kage sank back onto the couch so only the top of his head and eyes showed. “Those are spicy.”

“Super spicy,” Echo added as she peeked out next to Kage.

Kieran smiled at them and took another shot. “Can’t take the heat?”