Page 1 of Finding Our Home

Chapter One

Neo

The first time I saw him, he took my breath away. He’d looked across the courtyard and made eye contact with me—his brown eyes that were bright and shining with silver around the irises—and I hadn’t been able to look away. I didn’t even know his name. All I knew was that I wanted to find him again and talk to him.

That was what made me seek out Dorothy, the head bestower on the island. I wanted to offer myself up.

Dorothy stared at me for a long moment before asking, “Do you even understand what becoming a bestower entails?”

“Um… I let the vampires drink from me when they need to?” It sounded like a question, and my voice was small.Shit.

Shesodidn’t look impressed. “There’s more to it than that, and to be frank, I don’t think you have it in you.”

“Dorothy, stop being so cruel,” another bestower said. I was pretty sure his name was Remi.

She rolled her eyes. “He looks terrified and unsure. You and I both know that won’t fly.”

“Well, you’re pretty terrifying looking, so I don’t blame him.” Remi laughed when she smacked his arm, but then he looked at me with a smile. “Why do you want to become a bestower?”

“I want to help out.”No, I want to meet that vampire and get him to drink from me.I almost groaned out loud at the thought, but somehow managed to keep it in.

He eyed me with a tilted head. “You know we’re not looking, right? We need help in the gardens and fields more than anything.”

“I know, it’s just… I-I feel like this is where I’m supposed to be.”

Remi and Dorothy exchanged a look before she sighed. “If you’re this scared of me, your blood is going to taste sour, so I suggest you get yourself under control before we send you back.”

A small smile formed on my lips. “You’ll let me?”

“We always take donations, so I’ll get you set up,” Remi said, and I frowned.

“Donations?”Crap. That’s not what I want.“So I won’t get fed from?”

“Great, a blood junkie. We don’t want your kind here.” Dorothy was more terrifying than a damn vampire.

“Chill out, Dorothy. If you’re just looking for a high, you won’t find one here.”

“Wh-what are you talking about? What high? I thought I could help. I can’t do much on the fields because I have an old hip injury, so I thought I could be useful here. I assumed the vampires needed people to feed from, so here I am.”

“Oh, sweetie.” She was so condescending. Damn. “It doesn’t really work that way unless you’re friends with a vampire and they ask you. Most of our den have a bestower they’re faithful to.”

Remi looked at her. “Most, but not all.” He looked at me. “Let me see if anyone’s looking, and I’ll be right back.” He grinned before walking out of the courtyard.

“If you’re solely here to take advantage of any of my people, and that meansanyvampire, shifter, or human in my den, I’ll chop your balls off and feed them to you before I remove your head from your neck.”

“Wow, babe, when did you become so violent?” A large man walked over and put his arm over Dorothy’s shoulders, then looked at me with silver-rimmed eyes and grinned, shooting me some fang. He was a vampire, but not the one I was looking for.He leaned into her hair, and I heard him say, “It’s kinda hot when you get all protective of me.”

“Not just you, ass, everyone. Get off me before I stake you.” She shoved him off.

I thought he would get mad and hurt her, being a vamp and all, but all he did was laugh and lean back in to smack a big kiss on her cheek. Apparently, vampires weren’t the scary creatures I always thought they were. Well, not all of them. Some of them looked mean as hell.

Remi came back out, and when he saw the vampire standing with us, he made a face I couldn’t interpret. But then I saw the vampire’s face and my eyebrows lifted. He looked so happy, his pale face lit up and a huge smile spread over his face, and then he was suddenly standing in front of Remi—must’ve used his vamp speed.

Remi met the vampire’s gaze as the vamp leaned in, and when he spoke, his voice was deeper than it had been a moment ago, “I believe you owe me a round two, Remi. I’ve been looking forward to it all week.”

Remi sighed. “Why don’t you find your own bestower, Jorin?”

“You are who I want.” Jorin’s voice was dripping with so much lust and want and need, I was blushing from where I stood.

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