Page 53 of Smokescreen (Knight & Daywalker)
CHAPTER 22
We met with yet more potential renters, but every time they started talking about the company they worked for, I thought of Amelia and Arthur Agincourt, and how it’d be nice to have neighbors who were good company, rather than a corporate shop that went through employees faster than some people went through underwear.
Maybe the tea shop twins wouldn’t be living in their part of the building, but I did.
I relied on the people around the shop as my only regular company. It was why I considered Grady perhaps my only human friend, and that was why I would never accept a renter who took issue with him being out there.
Why it was important that I found the right people to rent the place rather than just the people who offered me the most money.
Dammit.
But that didn’t help me or them if I failed to pay the taxes and the building got seized. The state did that kind of thing, right? Maybe not right away, but eventually, for sure.
Maybe someone else would come along who had both the money for rent and also personalities I wanted to get to know better.
I could dream, at least.
Davin walked down to the bodega again to get some groceries to stock the office fridge, so I offered to head in the opposite direction and get burgers. “The place has this jalapeño popper burger with creamy cheese and a sort of sweet and sour sauce. And jalapeños, obviously. You gotta try it. Oh, and the bacon chili cheese fries.”
He stared at me a moment, blinking. “Do they have anything that isn’t going to give you heartburn for the rest of your life?”
That only deserved a scoff, so I gave it to him. “What would be the point of that?”
He swiped a hand down his face and sighed at me, but oddly enough, he still didn’t seem frustrated. “Fine. Bacon chili cheese fries. But I’m Irish. We don’t eat everything coated with chilis. Past that, something less likely to make me cry than jalapeños, please.”
He turned and headed out, but I couldn’t resist calling after him, “But you like curry.”
I couldn’t really blame him for not acknowledging me. Meg’s curried crab soup wasn’t even the hot kind of spicy, and it was too delicious for anyone to say no to.
So I grabbed us burgers and fries and some sodas while he got the groceries, making sure to get something less sublime than my favorite for Davin, but which came recommended by the owner of the burger place.
We met back at the shop in in time to catch the last meat delivery of the day, three full chickens. The delivery guy raised a brow when he met us at the door with both our arms full of food. “You guys must be hungry.”
I shrugged and pointed to Twist. “Most of it’s for her.”
He laughed, because of course it had been a joke, and left the chicken on the desk next to her before heading back out to his truck.
Twist perked right up and started sniffing at them the moment he left, so I nodded to her. “Those are yours, Twist. Just don’t eat the plastic bags they’re in.”
She’d figured out the bag almost before I said it, and ripped the first one open, tearing off a chunk of lovely roasted chicken and chewing away.
Davin conceded that the food was indeed amazing, even if it was also greasy and unhealthy. I scoffed at that. “You’re dead, what do you care about healthy food?”
The expression on his face made me want to snatch the words back. He looked pained. Truly pained, like he didn’t want to be a vampire at all. Like the idea of being dead was terrible.
Given the sketchy information I had on him: vampire who tried to kill him, other vamps who bullied the shit out of him for defending himself...well, it was hard to blame him for not caring to be one of their number.
That also fit the way he called himself Daywalker.
Shit.
Why was I such a thoughtless asshole sometimes?
Desperately, I tried to think of a way to make it less dickish. “Do you, um, do you even get indigestion anymore?”
He rolled his eyes at me. “About as often as you do, I expect.”
Which was...not very often. One time I’d done one of those “Eat the extra giant pizza in half an hour and get it free” challenges, and I’d suffered for days.
