Page 9 of The Vampire's Receptionist
“Did you feed enough from the new guy, or do you need a supplement? You’re lucky I’m not vindictive, because a part of me wants to make you suffer for being such an idiot.”
With a sigh, he said, “I only took enough to clear my head. I’d like to see you tonight, if at all possible.”
“Of course it is, dummy,” Harlem growled. “Whose house are we meeting at?”
“I’ll pick you up around seven and take you to dinner as an apology. Sushi sound good to you?”
“You’re already prepared to grovel. Good. Our friendship depends on you making this up to me.”
CHAPTER SIX
Kian listened to the conversation with a strange amount of jealousy. He knew Dorian had a feeder. Not only had he mentioned it, it was only logical. But after that experience in the breakroom, he kind of hoped for a repeat. He probably shouldn’t have gotten his hopes up. A man as important as Dorian probably had a harem of feeders. Kian just happened to be in the right place at the right time. He pushed away from the wall, heading back to his desk.
After portaling home and getting himself off embarrassingly fast to deal with the issue that had popped up during the feeding, he’d intended to check in on Dorian and discuss him taking better care of himself. It seemed like the vampire was aware of his misstep and making strides to handle it. It was a good thing. Kian didn't have the time to babysit right now.
He sat at his desk, irritated for no good reason. Maybe he needed to start dating again. His last relationship ended in a spectacular explosion of drama, a lot of cruel things were said, and he’d sworn off dating ever since. Random hookups held no appeal, since more often than not, once they noticed his eyes, they changed their minds. That would only make his mood worse. At least on dating apps, he could be upfront and only thepeople who were interested would contact him. He never hid his eyes on his profiles.
He was considering the pros and cons of opening himself up to dating again when the phone rang. He answered it automatically, his customer service voice a little more sharp than usual.
“Spellbound Corps Medical Division, this is Kian speaking. How can I help you?”
“Kian? Is everything alright?” Morana asked, sounding concerned.
His brow furrowed. “Of course. Everything is fine. Why?”
“Morgan came to see me about you reassigning him. He made vague comments about being uncomfortable working around so many unstable supernaturals, and when I pressed him, he said he was almost attacked while having lunch with you. I thought you would have called right away. Who tried to attack Morgan? Do we need to make a report?”
The irritation swelled. He knew he should’ve taken the time to make Morgan swear a vow. He couldn’t even do anything about it now, since Morgan was probably going to be reassigned by Morana.
“There’s no problem. The vampire didn’t realize he was hungry until Morgan got a paper cut. He’s going to meet with his feeder now. It was a simple mistake, and no one was hurt. I didn't call because there was nothing to report.”
There was a weighty pause, and he knew Morana didn’t see it that way. It was true, if Morgan had been there without him, he might have gotten hurt, but after seeing how hard Dorian fought against his instincts, he doubted it. The vampire probably would’ve told Morgan to run, just like he did with Kian, and locked himself away until his feeder could arrive. Dorian struck him as the responsible type. He wouldn’t have let himself hurt someone else.
“If you think this is going to be a regular occurrence–”
Kian cut her off, firming his voice. “I don’t. It was an accident. Accidents happen. Humans are more sensitive to that kind of thing. I promise, no one was in any danger. You know I’m not the kind of person to let that kind of thing stand for no good reason, Morana. If I thought it was a problem, I’d say something.” Or do something reckless. But that was neither here nor there.
Morana sighed. “Yes, I’m aware of that. Alright, I’ll trust your judgment. I got your email about reassigning Morgan. Did you see the behavior firsthand from the werewolf?”
He went over what he heard while talking to Morgan on the phone. Innocent enough to get away with in an office, but just on the wrong side of uncomfortable for someone who wasn’t receptive to that kind of attention. Morana agreed that Morgan shouldn’t be forced to stay there and deal with that kind of behavior. Especially because he was human and had no way of defending himself. Kian shuddered at the thought. He couldn’t imagine being without his magic. He’d feel so exposed.
“Well, I contacted Poppy and explained the situation, and she’s agreed to switch out with Morgan. She did warn me that she wouldn’t be polite about turning him down. You might want to brace yourself to deal with that. I don’t want any problems with Spellbound, but I’m not going to let my people be harassed, either.”
“I’ll handle it,” Kian assured her. “Thanks, Morana.”
“Any time. Check in with everyone else for me and make sure they’re comfortable where they’re at, then send me a report. I’ll talk to you again soon.”
He agreed and said his goodbyes before hanging up. Leaning back in his chair, he sighed heavily.
“You didn’t need to defend my actions. If Morgan feared for his life, a report should be made,” Dorian’s smooth voice informed him.
Kian startled and nearly fell out of his chair, righting himself before he could completely eat it. He shot a dirty look at the vampire, pulling his chair closer to the desk again.
“We both know you wouldn’t have actually hurt him. It was an accident. But Morgan is human and prone to dramatics. He’s being reassigned anyway, so it doesn’t matter.” He was being dismissive, he knew that, but he was annoyed with the whole situation and didn’t want to talk to people about it. He had felt off since feeding Dorian and needed time to get his head on straight.
“He’s being reassigned? I was hoping to apologize to him,” Dorian said, frowning.
“He’s uncomfortable working around so many supernaturals. He’s better in more mixed companies. We’re switching him out with someone who can handle the environment. I can give you his email if you want to apologize, or I can ask him to meet you if you want to do it in person.”
