Page 56 of Missing Piece
“Ow ow ow,” Adam wheezed as pain shot through his ribs. At least his back was still mostly numb from another round of lidocaine injections courtesy of Luka, but there was a slight sting there letting him know the feeling would return soon.
“He’s injured,” Vincent chided as Tariq released them.
“Shit, I’m sorry, I got too excited.” Tariq flashed another brilliant smile in Adam’s direction, his thick black eyebrows upturned in apology. “It’s been forever since you’ve been in here. You know we still keep your room in back free just in case you do drop in? You never come in anymore. Is it because Adam keeps you busy? I have so many questions.”
“No shit,” Vincent responded with a lightchuckle. “Where’s Graves?”
“He’s on bar duty tonight because Ophelia had a thing. I’m gonna get you guys settled upstairs, okay?” Tariq winked in Adam’s direction before he strode over to the elevator. “Where are the twins and Petrov?”
“Petrov is at the diner. The twins went to do something, and don’t ask me, because I don’t know what, but they’ll be here on time tomorrow,” Vincent replied.
“A Matteo thing?”
Vincent nodded, his mouth a thin line as though he didn’t want to speculate further.
The doors dinged open and Tariq gestured for them to step inside. Adam leaned closer to Vincent and whispered as quietly as he could, “How does he know my name?”
“Ophelia told me,” Tariq announced as he joined them in the elevator.
Adam’s stare widened. “Are you—?”
“Yup!”
He fell silent as he let the two vampires lead him out of the elevator when it reached the third floor to a door at the end of a short hallway. Tariq fumbled with a key chain that had enough keys on it to make a janitor jealous, muttering under his breath in a foreign language as he tried a few of them only to discover they didn’t turn.
He should be nervous, right? New vampire, new environment, more things to be wary of. But he was tired despite only being awake for a few hours and his mind kept wanting to fixate on the last human Vincent cared for. Was that why Vincent had been so weird towards him in those early days? Was he worried he and Adam would develop some sort of relationship?
“Got it!” Tariq cried as the next key turned in the lock. He pushed the door open for them. “Go on in, the boss said he’d be up at some point to meet you both.”
The bearded man was a whirlwind of chatter, talking constantly as he led them inside the open-spaced penthouse, flicking on lights and pointing out mundane things like ‘the boss’s’ book collection, his neatly organized movies, a new range hood over the stove. “Ophelia caught something on fire while trying to cook again, so Marcus decided a bigger one was warranted.”
“I don’t understand why he still lets her try to cook,” Vincent chuckled. He glanced at his watch as he led Adam over to a recliner in the living room. “I’m going to move my car before the parking police get it towed. Will you be okay here with Tariq for a few minutes? He’s an old friend and I trust him.”
Adam slumped down into the recliner with a sigh of relief, sinking deep into the soft cushions. “I’ll be okay,” he managed, the corners of his mouth twitching as he forced himself to smile reassuringly. Discomfort radiated through his torso, but he tried his best to ignore it. He didn’t want to be seen as weak or vulnerable in front of a new vampire.
“Are you sure?”
Adam sat up a little straighter. “I’m fine.”
Vincent’s lips slightly parted as though he wanted to ask again, before he gave Adam’s fingers a gentle squeeze and made his way towards the door.
Despite what he said, Adam couldn’t help but feel a sense of unease as Vincent disappeared from view. What if he didn’t come back?
I don’t want to be alone again.
He was broken from his thoughts by Tariq. “I spent today digging through some of the lost and found after ‘Phelia told me your ankle was injured,” he called as he disappeared down the hallway. When he returned, he held a single crutch under one arm and some sort of black cloth with straps on it. He set the crutch against the wall and kneeled down in front of Adam, pointing at his unlaced sneaker. “Can I take your shoe off? I’ll see if this brace fits. If not, duct tape is always a decent alternative to stabilize the joint.”
Adam nodded as Tariq continued to talk about the things in the lost and found, gripping the arms of the recliner as he tried not to show how much it hurt to have his shoe removed and his ankle maneuvered into the brace.
Breathe. Just breathe.
Once Tariq finished with his makeshift medical care, he stood up and dusted imaginary dust off his palms. “There, that should help you walk a bit better.”
Adam looked down at his ankle and wiggled it experimentally.This whole thing is fucking crazy.“Thank you.”
Tariq studied him for a moment. “No problem, has Luka been helping you with the pain? You look like you’re hurting. Well, and your heart rate is really high too, which means you’re either in pain or nervous. Are you nervous? You don’t have to be nervous around me, I won’t fuck with you, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“He has been giving me numbing shots if that’s what you mean,” Adam responded, unsure of how to respond to Tariq’s stream-of-consciousness comments.
