Page 18 of The Vampire's Receptionist
Kian was beginning to think Dorian was some kind of masochist. It was the only thing that would explain the way he looked right now. The circles under his eyes would make pandas jealous, and he looked as pale as the vampires in those human stories he’d read about once. The ones who couldn’t walk in the sunlight. Which was just ridiculous and made him laugh out loud when he read about it. He made a bet with himself that some vampire told them that so they could walk among them without anyone getting suspicious.
It wasn’t how vampires normally looked, and it wasn’t how Dorian looked in any of the pictures he’d seen of the man online. His normal golden tint to his skin was gone and replaced witha sickly pallor. It was clear he needed to feed. So why the hell wasn’t he?
Kian could only watch him struggle for so long before he had to say something. It’d been a week since he started here, and it was only getting worse. He watched the vampire trudge back to his office with his sixth cup of coffee, despite the fact that it wasn’t even lunch yet and couldn’t take it anymore. Pushing to his feet, he followed Dorian into his office, closing the door behind him.
“Alright, I’ve watched you struggling long enough. Why the hell are you ignoring your feeding this time? You look ready to keel over.”
Dorian didn’t even look up. He sat blankly behind his desk, staring at his coffee cup like it had all the answers to the universe under its dark depths.
Kian sighed heavily.“What’s your feeder’s phone number? I’ll bring him here to you instead.”
No answer. It started to worry him that Dorian wouldn’t even look up.
“Dorian?”
He came around the desk, calling the vampire’s name, but he got no response. When he took Dorian’s chin in his hand, Dorian’s skin was clammy, and he didn’t put in any effort to fight the hold as Kian tipped his head so he could look at him. His eyes were glazed over, and with a whispered spell, Kian sucked in a sharp breath. The vampire was not just unwell, he was starving.
“Dorian. You need to see your feeder. Do you still have one? Is that why you haven’t been feeding?” That was the most common reason that he needed to do an emergency blood donation when he was a paramedic. The vampire’s feeder was either unavailable or quit, and they hadn’t found a replacement. Given Dorian’s position in the company, he didn't think it wouldbe that hard to find someone new, though. He had the money to afford it.
Dorian barely blinked and never responded to Kian’s words. When Kian released him, his gaze dropped back to his coffee cup. He didn't move to touch it or drink it. He just stared at it.
Kian was figuring out how to call the CEO, since he figured the man knew Dorian well enough to know who his feeder was, when the cell phone on his desk rang. Dorian didn’t even look at it. Edging around his chair, Kian took up the phone, answering it with a swipe of his thumb.
“Hello?”
“... Hello? Who is this? Why are you answering Dorian’s phone?”
He didn’t recognize the voice, but he didn’t expect to. He only hoped whoever was calling knew Dorian personally and could help him.
“I’m his receptionist. Are you friends with him? I need to figure out who his feeder is.”
“I’m his feeder,” the voice answered with a worried tone. “I haven’t seen him in a few days, and I was calling to see what was happening. What’s going on? Is he okay?”
So he was skipping meals then. In which case, he was an idiot, and Kian didn’t feel the least bit guilty for undermining him. “No, not really. He’s basically a zombie. Where are you? I can portal you here, and you can feed him. He can’t keep ignoring it.”
“No, he really can’t,” the voice agreed, exasperated. “Uh, how does portaling work, exactly? Should I go somewhere you recognize?”
That was a demon thing, needing to know where they were going first before teleporting. Fae weren’t restricted like that.
“An address works. How fast can I come get you?”
“Right away. I’m actually not that far; at a coffee shop a few blocks away. I was meeting someone– You know what, nevermind. Not important. I’ll text an address to Dorian’s phone once I figure it out and wait for you outside. Sounds good?”
He agreed and hung up, waiting impatiently for the text that came a minute later. With a quick look at a map, he summoned a portal in the alley next to the shop, just so he didn’t accidentally end up portaling several people into Dorian’s office who were too busy looking at their phones to look up in time to avoid it. He stepped through and saw a kitsune standing nearby, staring worriedly at his phone.
“Are you Dorian’s feeder?” he asked.
The kitsune spun around, green eyes wide. “Uh, yes. That’s me. I’m Harlem.”
Kian waved him closer and gestured to the portal behind him. “This will bring us back to his office. You might need to force feed him. He seems out of it.”
Thankfully, Harlem didn’t hesitate before stepping through, a look of determination on his face. Kian followed him, closing the portal behind him. Dorian hadn’t moved since he left, still staring at his coffee with that glazed expression. Harlem made a noise of distress, hurrying to Dorian’s side.
Knowing how private Dorian was about his feedings, Kian gestured halfheartedly toward the door. “I’ll be in the hallway in case you need me.”
The thought of walking away while Dorian was struggling was abhorrent, but he did it anyway, because it was what he assumed the vampire would want. Even though his paramedic instincts told him to stay and fix the problem. He fixed it by getting Dorian’s feeder. There wasn’t anything else he could do.
CHAPTER TWELVE
