Page 76 of Missing Piece
They reached the porch and Vincent gestured for him to sit down on the top step while he took a seat beside him. Adam glanced back at the bench they sat on their first time outside the house. When he desperately tried to convince himself that he was just in survival mode and not some horny mess of confusion.
It all seemed so clear now. He had been attracted to the vampire beside him since the first moment they met, like a moth fatally drawn to a flame. And yet, for some reason, it didn’t feel near as destructive as his past urges and callings. Being around Vincent wasn’t helping him bury things—no, it was the opposite. It was cutting him open and exposing everything that he had tried to hide from himself for years. It was as if the constant poking and prodding, while initially unpleasant, was making him feel. Really feel. In a way thatsucked and was liberating at the same time.
Vincent’s hand found Adam’s, their fingers intertwining. It was ridiculous how much he craved this simple touch from Vincent, but he couldn’t help it. He squeezed Vincent’s hand and leaned against him as they both stared out at the silhouette of the tree in the field. “I told you the other night that I was once a trial,” Vincent began softly. “He always reminded me what a pain in the ass I was for never breaking, so he brought someone else in after eight months of me spitting in his face.”
Adam just nodded a little, squeezing Vincent’s hand. He didn’t want to think about the things human-Vincent had gone through at the hands of a 300-year-old former Puritan turned vampire.
“We were somewhere in the South, Louisiana, I think, when he found some very drunk professor getting kicked out of a speakeasy. Do you know how drunk you had to be in the ‘20s to get kicked out of a bar? By the time he was done with his fits and seizing, he was in a cage next to me, confused and scared. He prayed a lot,” Vincent said. “I didn’t talk to him much. I just told him not to give in to whatever Solomon offered him, but all it took was three days of torture and a pint of bathtub whiskey to make him agree to whatever the old bastard wanted.”
It was as if he was reliving the memories again, digging them up from wherever he had hidden them. “But you didn’t,” Adam interjected, hoping to provide some comfort. “You didn’t break.”
“No, but that just made me more interesting to Solomon. And that sad, broken professor wasn’t good enough to be his creation…” Vincent paused, glancing at Adam as shame flashed across his face again. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be dumping this baggage into your lap.”
Adam shook his head, squeezing Vincent’s hand again. “I want to know what happened.”
Vincent let out another sigh and looked away. “I think he planned to kill us both.”
Adam listened intently as Vincent recounted the past. Apparently terrible parental figures came in many forms: male, female, and undead. “Did it hurt?” he asked, finally mustering the courage to say something.
Vincent shrugged. “That part I don’t really remember. It’s probably some defense mechanism after the change. I just remember being unbearably hungry with an angry beast in my head when I woke up. And Solomon had locked me in the cage with the professor, and he just waited to see what I would do.” He stayed silent for a long time, so still, he resembled a statue in the orange moonlight. “It felt like I was fighting the beast and hunger for days, but it was probably just a few hours. I snapped. And that sad, sobbing broken man—Richard—became my first meal.”
“Solomon had me carve into his chest as he was dying some nonsense symbol he found in a book and insisted we leave immediately. Apparently Richard had family that was searching for him, and it was time to get out of town. I didn’t want to leave him like that, so when the old man was getting his things together, I gave Richard a few drops of my blood.” He shook his head. “I didn’t think it would work. He was barely alive, and so weak. I didn’t think he’d survive, but I was still at war with the presence of the beast and my human emotions hadn’t gone away, so it made me feel like I was giving him afighting chance.”
Vincent glanced at him and shook his head with a slight smile. “It turns out that was a big mistake, huh? I should have just let him die.”
All the air left Adam’s lungs, and his heart felt like it had been dropped from the top of a county fair Ferris wheel. “You tried to help someone. That has to count for something,” he managed.
“It’s biting me in the ass now. He was left all alone to figure things out for himself. No maker, no community. That he didn’t immediately fuck it up and get killed by hunters in his first year is the worst sort of miracle,” Vincent sighed. “And now it’s affecting my friends. My family. You. Especially you.”
Adam tried to think of something he could say to alleviate some of Vincent’s regret, but nothing that came to mind felt appropriate. Not for someone with that kind of past. And honestly, whatever he would say wouldn’t matter, because he knew if their roles were reversed, there would be nothing anyone could say to him that would make him not regret his actions or inactions.
But he could hold him.
Adam wrapped his arms around Vincent, resting his head on his shoulder. “Even when this is all over, I want to stay here,” Adam said.
“Is that something you would actually want? You don’t owe me anything.” Vincent’s fingers threaded through Adam’s hair, alternating between playing with the strands and the pads of his fingers massaging Adam’s scalp.
Adam could have melted right then and there. “I already told you, there is nothing back in town for me. Out here, I have you,” he said quietly.
Too sappy! Pull back!“Well, and, um, I imagine if I go back, it’d be hard to visit you when I get arrested for fucking up my plea deal.”
Vincent’s mouth quirked up. “That’s right, I never got the chance to tell you about your surprise. You don’t have to worry about that anymore, we took care of it. No more court stuff or warrant.”
Adam straightened up, his eyes wide as he tried to process what Vincent was saying. The magnitude of it hit him all at once. No more check-ins, no more constant fear of violating his probation, no more looking over his shoulder. It was almost too much to believe. “What do you mean you ‘took care of it’?”
“Don’t worry, no one got hurt. Our friend in the sheriff’s office made a few house calls for me and convinced a few people involved in your case that it no longer exists.” Vincent grinned at him. “You don’t have any of that hanging over your head anymore. You’re free.”
Adam stared at Vincent in disbelief. The weight that had been on his shoulders for months lifted. Vincent had taken care of it, just like that. It was both terrifying and exhilarating to have someone with that much power and influence on his side.Free. Actually free. I can stay here without worrying about the outside world dragging me back.
“Thank you,” he said. “I don’t know what to say.”
Vincent leaned in and kissed him softly on the lips. “You don’t have to say anything,” he whispered. “I just want you to be safe.”
Adam deepened the kiss, letting the relief and gratitude he felt flood his veins. Vincent’s lips were a balm to his soul, and he couldn’t help but get lost in the sensation. The heaviness oftheir earlier conversation seemed to lift slightly as they kissed, replaced by something warmer and more hopeful. As the kiss ended, Adam found himself wanting more. He wanted to feel Vincent’s skin against his, to lose himself in Vincent’s touch and let the vampire consume his body and mind like he had before the shitstorm at the nightclub happened.
Adam pulled back, a nervous smile tugging at his lips. “You know,” he said, his voice taking on a slightly teasing tone to test the waters, “I’m feeling pretty grateful right about now.”
Vincent raised an eyebrow, catching the shift in Adam’s mood with an amused look. “Are you now?”
