Page 76 of Ever Dark Academy: Vol. 1

Grayson pulled out a dusty bottle of red wine from a wine rack that ran for seven-feet underneath the counter. He blew off the dust and ran his fingers over the fine embossed label. He showed it to Ryder.

“I have no idea if it is any good,” Grayson said.

“Ghost Horse Vineyard Spectre Cabernet Sauvignon, 2008 vintage. It’s about $3500 a bottle,” Ryder answered. “The 2013 vintage is better, but this will do.”

He took the bottle from Grayson’s suddenly slightly trembling hand. “W-what? Three-thousand--”

“Five-hundred, yes. I’ve seen it go for more, but not much less.”

Ryder uncorked the bottle with the wine key that had been left on the counter. He gestured for Grayson to get two of the delicate Reidel crystal balloon glasses that were hanging from the ceiling rack to Grayson’s left.

“Uhm, should we be opening that? I mean is it for some special occasion? Or maybe it just accidentally got placed here.” Grayson’s expression was a little tight as he did get the two glasses.

A brief look at the other bottles already confirmed what Ryder knew. “All of these bottles are in this price range or more. I’m not surprised that Balthazar or Caemorn or both of them are wine snobs.”

Grayson set the glasses down on the bar and Ryder poured into each a generous serving of the dark red wine. The scent of it reminded him for a moment of the old taverns along London’s wharf. He’d long ago lost his accent and adopted that of his new country. But he remembered the scurry of rats and the flicker of candles and the reek of red wine. It startled him to recall it so vividly. This wine was so much finer than any of the thin, vinegary stuff they drank because the water was vile and dangerous.

“But the money…” Grayson said and shook his head, breaking Ryder out of the memory. “That would be my rent for five months, but it’s not here. It’s just one bottle of wine that’s for anytime drinking.”

“Money is not a problem for Vampires.” Ryder pursed his lips as raucous tavern laughter flitted through his mind. That and the gaunt faces of young men with huge eyes but not enough food in their bellies and only themselves to sell to get those a few pence, if that. He swallowed and shook that memory away too. Why was he thinking of this now? “Even if you took away that we are immortal and have the time to earn money, an Eyros can read your mind and--”

“Know your pin number?” Grayson’s eyebrows rose and his lips twitched.

“Among other things.”

Ryder pushed the one glass of wine to Grayson while he swirled his own to let more air enter the liquid, allowing it to breathe. A wine like this should really be decanted after having sat upright for a few days, but a sniff of the rich aroma told him that it was wonderful just like it was. He took a sip and swished the wine in his mouth much like he had in the glass before swallowing. It tasted of the earth the vines were planted in and the sunshine that had caused the grapes to grow. The wine in the taverns had always tasted of mud and never the sun as if they had grown in shadow.

That is not now...

“And I’m betting if you’re a Mirryr then stealing someone’s identity really takes on a whole new meaning?” Grayson asked as he, too, sipped the wine. His eyes widened and he took a larger sip. “Okay, I thought the it-costs-more-so-it’s-better was bullshit, but this… God, this!” He held up the wine and took another big sip.

“Only sometimes is that true. But not all of the time. Not this time,” Ryder told him.

He savored the wine and tried to wash away the faint acrid taste in his mouth from the memories. Grayson was not like those boys. He wiped the floor with Lawson. He had wounded eyes, but he was not a victim.

“The Helm could get into any museum or vault or private collection,” Grayson guessed as he listed off some of the Vampires’ abilities, but really they didn’t need to use them to get money.

Ryder chuckled softly. “Yes, exactly. But humans aren’t exactly… Well, they don’t resist us very hard. If we want something, a human will give it or we just take it.”

“Take what you want? Or we just give it to you, huh?” Grayson tapped the top of the glass against his chin.

“So money is no problem.” Ryder shrugged.

The Vampires would never be the boys with hungry eyes. Well, hunger would be there. But they’d only appear innocent and needy. Until they dragged the unwary into a dark alleyway and drained them dry.

“Or anything else you want?” Grayson lifted an eyebrow. There was faint color in his cheeks and the scent of arousal flooded the air.

Ryder put his glass down. “Yes, Grayson. We are what you think we are.”

“Predators.” A statement, not a question.

“Predators. You saw some of that tonight up close and personal.” Ryder pursed his lips and stared down at the wine with distaste.

What had he come up here for exactly? To keep Grayson safe? To simply be near him? To assure himself that Lawson couldn’t creep in here and hurt this young man who he couldn’t stop thinking about?

And why is Lawson interested in him at all? Because I am. That’s the only reason. By staying here aren’t I putting Grayson in greater danger?

He thought of the looks from the other Weryn. They were not blind nor deaf nor dumb. They had all recognized that he was drawn to Grayson. They didn’t know that Grayson wasn’t a student. If that even mattered. It had caused him to come to near blows with Lawson. Demos would explain to them… what? What could Demos say? That while they weren’t going to take fledglings from this class that he was going to lead one of the students on? Was that honorable? The Weryn had to walk a very narrow line where they respected King Daemon’s activities at the school, but refused to participate. But being here with Grayson was making that much more difficult.

---