Kiss a Vampire Box Set

Chapter 4

Chapter 4Devin grabbed a roasting pan from the oven. He’d made two pans of lasagna, and then, unsure if it was enough or if everyone ate lasagna, he’d made a big pot of a made-up recipe for chicken, mushrooms, and wine sauce. It turned out fabulous in his opinion, creamy and nice, and the mushrooms heightened the taste. He’d made rice and a big bowl of salad, and in a last-minute fit of panic of someone not liking either chicken or lasagna, he put bread and cheese on the table.

Rei and Hanna entered the kitchen as he put a stack of plates on the table.

“Holy s**t, is that lasagna?” Hanna ran over to the pans of lasagna and inhaled deeply.

“Ah…yes. There is chicken and rice too.”

Both Rei and Hanna stared at him, and he had an urge to run and hide.

“There is chicken too?”

Devin’s voice dropped into a whisper. “I didn’t know if everyone liked lasagna.”

Hanna barked a laugh. “Oh, honey, last week Kenia served burned oatmeal. Lasagna is divine compared to that.” She grabbed a spatula and cut herself a piece.

“I thought the oatmeal was for breakfast.”

“She served it again since more than half was left since breakfast.” She grimaced, and Devin huffed. He might not know a lot about shifters, but from what he’d gathered, they ate a lot.

“Devin?” Rei walked closer to him.

“Yeah?”

“I’m double booked.”

Hanna snorted, and Devin narrowed his eyes. “You’re double booked?”

“Yes, tonight.” He gave Devin a pleading, though somewhat playful, look. “I don’t know how to solve it.”

“Oh, come on.”

“It’s true. I’m double booked, and I don’t know what to do.”

Devin crossed his arms over his chest. “And you think I do?”

“You solved Murrie’s problems.”

“I hardly solved his problems. I fixed it so he only had to tackle one problem at a time. It’s not the same as solving them.”

Rei slid his phone toward him on the counter. “Please.”

“Shameless.” Hanna shook her head as she reached for the salad.

Devin looked at Rei’s phone but couldn’t help but smile. “And what exactly do you want me to do?”

Rei walked to the refrigerator and opened the cupboard above, then he frowned. “Where are the M&Ms?”

“In the pantry. I didn’t know we had a snack cupboard.”

Rei found the M&Ms and poured them into a bowl he handed to Devin. “Please.”

“You’re bribing me?”

“No. It’s a gift to my favorite human in the whole wide world, is all.”

Huffing again, Devin grabbed the phone, only to hand it back to him. “Give me access to your calendar.”

Rei didn’t have to ask how to do it, and Devin checked his schedule once he got a confirmation that he’d been given admin status. “My God! You have three dinner dates this evening.”

Rei grimaced. “Yeah.”

Devin shook his head. “How many of these are work-related?”

“None, but feel free to use work as an excuse when you turn them down.”

“Excuse me? When I turn them down?”

“I don’t want to disappoint anyone.” Rei rubbed his neck. “Look, Tom is a nice guy, but all I wanted was a one-night stand. He turned clingy after, and I didn’t want to hurt his feelings. I believed we had an understanding. I don’t want to break his heart. Amanda was fun, but she’s human, and I don’t have the energy to lie and hide. She’s not my mate, so telling her the truth is out of the question. Eleanor is…not the most pleasant creature, but she’s great in bed. Vampires are something else, you know.” He sighed dreamily while Devin fought the icy fear rolling over him. “But as I said, she’s a bit of a b***h, and I don’t want to get on her bad side.”

Devin stared at him. “You’re a slut.” He also noted his conquests were both male and female and of all species. He had never gotten any vibe whatsoever from Rei, and he hadn’t cared enough to wonder.

“Yeah, well, you’re a prude.”

“Doesn’t have the same ring to it. I’d rather be a prude than a slut.”

Mars chose that moment to walk into the kitchen, his eyes instantly focusing on Devin, and Devin sucked in a breath. Great.

“Yeah, well, fix it for me. Please.”

He did his best to focus on Rei and not watch as Mars walked over to the table to inspect the food. “Am I to cancel all three?”

“Yes, and no rescheduling.”

“Do you have their numbers?”

“I added them to the schedule before I came here.” He grinned.

“Smug bastard.”

“I’ll love you forever and ever.” Rei blew him a kiss as he, too, walked over to the food. Devin escaped the kitchen and jogged to his room. His heart was banging hard as he looked at Eleanor’s number. Vampire. He better call her first and get it over with. She couldn’t tell he was human over the phone. He didn’t think so, at least, and he’d pretend to be Rei’s assistant. If she knew what Rei did for a living, she’d assumed he was a shifter or a vampire. Maybe.

* * * *

Mars sat next to Rei. The food smelled delicious, but he had yet to taste it. He was busy replaying Rei blowing a kiss to Devin. Had he misjudged their relationship? Nah, Devin had called him a slut. You didn’t call your lover a slut…unless you were into that sort of thing. He didn’t think Devin was. Rei…Rei was into most things.

“How did it go with the bear?” He looked at Rei as he put the first bite of chicken in his mouth and almost moaned. Damn, the boy could cook. He wondered if he could come up with a way to bribe Devin into taking his shift. “This is divine.”

“You should try the lasagna.” Hanna was on her second helping. “So good.”

Mars smiled at her. He’d try it after he’d finished the chicken. Turning back to Rei, he gave him a look with raised eyebrows.

“What?”

“The bear?”

“Oh, nothing stood out apart from them calling the human police when he went missing. Who does that? Everyone knows shifters are better at tracking. Bears have excellent noses, so why call in humans when the sleuth has a better chance of finding him?”

“Do they belong to a sleuth?”

Rei stilled. “I…eh…we didn’t ask. I assumed they did since they live in Berfok Pass. It’s bear territory.”

It was up in the mountains outside the city, but bears were confusing. They were both solitary and pack animals. Most of them preferred to be on their own and yet wanted bears around them.

“I’ll ask.”

“Do. Rina Volkov is mated to a human. The missing female is a crossbreed who can only partially change.”

Rei grimaced. “But the pack took them in anyway?”

“Nope, no pack.” He studied Rei. “The bear is a true shifter?”

“I didn’t ask. I assumed he was.”

“Rina and her mate are from Terrena.”

Rei squeezed his eyes shut, only to then look toward the doorway where Devin disappeared. “Please say there is no connection.”

“Connection to what?” Hanna pushed away her empty plate and leaned back in her chair.

“Devin’s from Terrena.”

She winced. “Crap.”

“I have to ask him about…” Mars rubbed his forehead.

“I can do it.” Rei looked as if he was about to reach out and touch him but changed his mind and snagged a bread roll instead. Mars considered it. Devin would be much calmer with Rei, but he wanted to be the one to do it. They’d hardly spoken to each other since they got out of the underground mansion. They hadn’t spoken when there either, but Mars needed to be the one asking the questions.

“No, I’ll do it. Check with the bears if they’re part of a sleuth, ask why they called the human police, and eh…see if you can ask about the male’s shifting abilities without offending anyone.”

Rei nodded, then fished his phone out of his pocket.

“Not now.”

“No, it buzzed.” He unlocked it and grinned before angling it so Mars could see. “He’s a miracle worker. I now have a night off. Does anyone want to hit a bar?”

Hanna shook her head. “You should stay at home considering Devin had to clean up three of your one-night stands turning into relationships.”

Rei shrugged at the same time as Murrie entered the kitchen. His hair was cut short, and he was dressed in slacks and a button-down shirt. Normally, he was a jeans and T-shirt kind of guy.

“Hot date?” Mars gave him a questioning look.

Murrie’s gaze was locked on the lasagna. “Eh…no. Meeting with the human detective and then Mrs. Lewis before I need to get ready for the charity event.” His gaze moved back to Mars. “I was gonna eat on the way, but…” He slid closer to the food.

“Well worth it.”

Murrie nodded. “I should have asked him to cook sooner.”

Maybe, but no one wanted to push Devin. Mars held in a wince as he imagined the conversation they’d have.

* * * *

Devin repeated the pattern of breakfast and waited in his room until he assumed everyone was done eating. He then slowly descended the stairs, and when he didn’t hear any voices, he rounded the corner into the kitchen, only to freeze in the doorway. Mars was sitting at the cleared table with a stack of papers in front of him.

Devin looked over his shoulder. Could he escape? A band wrapped around his ribcage, and it grew tighter with each breath he took until he couldn’t fit any air in his lungs.

Slowly, he took a step backward. Maybe Mars hadn’t noticed him.

“I need to talk to you.”

Every muscle in his body froze. Talk. It had been three years. They didn’t talk.

Mars looked up from the sheet he’d been reading. His eyes bored into Devin’s soul. Memories of teeth tearing into his skin took over his vision. The wooziness and nausea, the inability to move, the slicing pain. Something was different with him. He hated it, and yet it had saved his life. The others grew as weak as he did when they’d been fed on, but Leonardo made sure he didn’t die. Sometimes he’d wished for death. It would’ve taken the pain away. Few people lasted as long as he did, and they were numbed from the pain. The tearing, paralyzing pain. He’d seen a woman die once. She’d looked blissful to her last breath as the two men who’d fed on her drained her.

If the vampire biting them wanted them to feel pain, they did, but most often, they gazed into their eyes, and a look of rapture overtook their faces. It didn’t work with Devin. Leonardo loved it. Not only did Devin have an unusual blood type, but he was an exotic creature they couldn’t control mentally. More than one found it fascinating.

He didn’t know if he should be grateful or not. People didn’t last long in Leonardo’s care, and the only reason he had was because he was different and Leonardo’s favorite. Or so he claimed. When he was too weak, too starved, or too anemic, Leonardo fed him some of his blood.

Devin gagged as he remembered the taste, and Mars made a sound. The memories shattered, and Devin was left panting in the doorway to the kitchen.

“Are you okay?”

Devin nodded. Okay was relative, but he was here.

“I need to ask you a few questions about when you got taken.”

Shaking his head, Devin took a step back.

“Were there ever any shifters?”

The question confused him. Shifters? He hadn’t known there were shifters until he came here. Though, considering there were vampires, he should have at least entertained the idea. “I…” He cleared his throat when it came out all hoarse. “I don’t think so. I wasn’t paying attention.”

Mars nodded and gestured at a chair across from him. Devin didn’t move. His feet were outside of the threshold, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to step over it.

“Coffee?”

“I was gonna bake.” Why those words slipped out, he didn’t know, and Mars gave him a confused look before presenting a blank face.

“Okay. Can I talk to you while you bake?”

He wanted to say no, but Mars wouldn’t talk to him if it wasn’t important. During the three years he’d lived here, Mars had apologized for scaring him the first day they brought him here, then he’d said hello a handful of times. If he wanted to ask Devin questions this long after, something must have happened.

An icy knot formed in his belly.

“I’ve already told Murrie everything that happened.” Not everything. He hadn’t gone into any details, but he’d answered Murrie’s questions.

“I know, but did anyone ever growl? Show claws or sharp teeth?”

Teeth. There were teeth everywhere.

“Come. Bake.” Mars got to his feet, which had Devin back yet another step. Mars sat on his ass again. “I’ll sit here, and you do your thing.”

It would be good to have something to do other than try to escape. He nodded, slid into the kitchen, and kept as far away from Mars as he could before slipping in behind the kitchen island. While the logic part of his brain told him he now was trapped in the kitchen with Mars, his emotional response was having the kitchen island between them was a good thing. Stupid brain.

He opened the tab he’d saved on his phone with the M&M brownies but hesitated. The groceries had only arrived this morning, and already several bags of M&Ms had gone missing from the pantry. “Ordinary brownies or M&M brownies?”

“Save the M&M brownies for a day when Murrie is here.”

Devin nodded.

“Or I could make apple pie.” There were apples. “Or both. Maybe there is someone who doesn’t like chocolate.” The last part, he mumbled to himself, but a quick glance at Mars told him he’d heard. The wide eyes said it all. He had no time to say anything else before Kenia walked into the kitchen.

“Devin. I’m double booked.”

“The hell you are.” Mars stood, which had Devin backing into the sink. “Get out of here.”

“You don’t know if I’m double booked or not.” She glared at Mars.

“I know everyone in this house managed to solve their schedule issues up until about four this morning. Simply because Devin is good at something doesn’t mean you all get to dump your problems on him. Sort out your own god damned lives.”

Devin stared, and Kenia growled. Maybe if he slipped out behind her, they wouldn’t notice. He took a step closer to the corner of the kitchen island.

“Yeah, so it’s okay for Rei to have Devin break up with his harem, but I can’t ask for a favor?” Kenia stepped closer to Mars and Devin moved. They might have super senses, but both of them were snarling. He passed the refrigerator and slipped out through the doorway. Mars was shouting something, but Kenia drowned out what he was saying with a vicious growl.

Devin jogged toward the stairs to get to his room, but someone was coming down the stairs. He pivoted and dove for the closest door. It was the office area. He’d only peeked in once before. It was bright. Large windows, white walls, and six desks in a row along the wall. It was spacious and in the middle was a large table, a board, and a TV. In the corner were a printer and a photocopier. There was a small room next to it with an open door and shelf after shelf of folders and boxes.

“What’s up, Dev?”

Devin jumped and whirled around as he searched for the source of the voice. Rei was watching him with an amused glint in his eyes. Next to him was Faelan. How could he have missed them?

“Eh…Mars and Kenia are fighting in the kitchen.”

Rei sighed and rolled his eyes. “They fight all the time.”

“Why?” Devin didn’t like it when people fought. It had made him nervous even before he’d been taken, but now…As soon as someone raised their voice, he flinched.

“They don’t click. They’ll have each other’s backs out there, but in here…” Rei shrugged.

Hanna entered the room behind Devin, making him jump. It must’ve been her coming down the stairs. “Oh, Devin.” She smiled. “Did Mars ask you about the shifters?”

“The eh…He started to, but then Kenia came.”

She sighed. “We have two missing shifters, and at least one of the families has ties to Terrena, so we want to make sure it isn’t connected to Louis Boucher. Do you remember any shifters?”

He shook his head. “I was mostly focused on myself.”

“Understandable. Survival comes first. If you think back, can you think of any of the other blood slaves who were bigger, faster, stronger, and lasted longer? You were there a long time. Was there anyone who lasted as long as you did?”

For a second, Devin did what he could to shut his brain off, but the memories wouldn’t go away. “There was a man. He always recovered faster than the rest of us, but I assumed it was because Leonardo gave him blood.”

Hanna nodded. “Leonardo being Ezekiel Wright?”

“Ah, yeah.”

“And you assumed that because?”

Devin winced. “He gave to me when I was too badly off.”

Her lips thinned. “How often would you say that was?”

Shaking his head, Devin stared at the wall behind her. “I…eh…I don’t know. Three or four times, perhaps.”

“But you believed this man—Do you know his name?”

Devin shook his head again.

“You believed he was fed blood more often?”

“I don’t know.” Frowning, he looked at her. “He was always in better shape than the rest of us, but maybe he wasn’t…used as badly?”

He might have imagined it, but he believed some color drained from her face.

“Right. Did you see how he was…used?” She twisted her mouth as if the word had a bad taste to it.

“I was most often brought to the private rooms. Treasured blood.” He fought a wave of nausea.

“And he was in the…erm…group events?”

Devin bit the inside of his cheek. “I don’t know. I was often picked first or gifted to a special guest.” As he’d been with Mars. Leonardo might have made it look to Mars as if he chose him, but he often bit Devin and allowed the most important guest to have a taste. Once they’d tasted his blood, they always picked him. “I don’t know who went where.”

She reached out to touch him, but he stepped back. It looked like it hurt her, but he couldn’t take anyone’s hands on him right now. Maybe never.

“We have a missing woman who’s a crossbreed. She can’t fully shift, but she heals faster than a human, and she went missing two weeks ago. Her family is from Terrena. Hopefully, it has nothing at all to do with what you went through, but we want to make sure.”

Devin nodded. He didn’t know if it was Leonardo or Ezekiel or whatever his name was who had taken him, but he was the first who had spoken to him after he’d been taken.

Both Mars and Kenia spilled in through the door behind Hanna. Devin backed up another step, bumped into a desk, and to avoid falling, sat on it.

Kenia was breathing hard, her eyes shooting daggers as she looked around the room. Devin made himself smaller and avoided looking at Mars.