Page 39 of Love Bites
And yet things had still gone sideways in a fashion that gave him a headache.
Now Collin was sleeping in his bed. He only hoped that no one aside from Aldrich had noticed him take the human back to his loft. Once you'd lived around a bunch of technically dead people for a while, you learned that 'quiet as the graves' was just a saying. The undead loved their gossip just as much as the living, maybe even more so, and many of them had very old-fashioned views, mostly by virtue of being very old.
In his fifty years of being a vampire, Talon had never once taken a human home. Some vampires did, but Talon had never been one for playing with his food. How could he share his bed with a human one night and kill more of their kind the next? It hadn't made sense to him. He shouldn't have slept with Collin either, but Collin had been different right from the start.
Talon hadn’t known why, at first, but now that he’d seen the mark on his arm, he was starting to get an inkling of understanding. At the very least, he understood why Collin’s parents had caught his sire’s attention all those years ago. Now he needed to keep that attention from turning to Collin again.
And he preferred not to think about the reasonswhythat was so important.
In falcon form, he circled the old manor where Collin's family lived. The first time he'd been here, the wards had kept him out, but then Collin had tampered with them to invite him in. Collin was strange in that way. Talon still wondered what had been going through his mind when he did that.
No more time to ponder that, though.
Talon landed on the porch of the house, glad that it was shaded. His first couple years of being a vampire he hadn't been able to step out into the sunlight at all, not even in this form. Now it merely made his feathers itch. It was uncomfortable, but bearable—as a falcon. As a human, the light regularly gave him sunburns and migraines that became crippling after about half an hour of exposure. He wasn't sure what would happen to him if he stayed in the sun for longer than he could bear without pain, but he'd heard enough stories to quench any desire for personal experimentation.
Back in his more human form, Talon knocked on the door to the manor.
After a few moments, a young man in light blue pajamas opened the door, hair still sleep-tousled. Collin's little brother. Talon had met him once before, but hadn't paid him much attention then. Now he couldn't help but wonder if the boy also bore an oddly shaped birthmark somewhere on his body. He'd have to ask Collin later. If this whole family was afflicted by that curse, the heavy warding made sense.
"You're here for Collin's things?" Luke asked.
"I am."
Luke opened the door a little wider and motioned for Talon to step in, which he swiftly did. "I remember where his room is," Talon said.
"All right." Luke yawned. "I'll be in the kitchen if you need help with anything." He pointed his thumb at a room to the left.
"Thank you. I'll keep it in mind."
Luke turned to go, then paused. "Are you and my brother...?" He eyed Talon critically.Socritically indeed that Talon almost laughed. Luke seemed like a very protective little brother. Good for Collin. He reminded Talon of Aldrich, the only one of his 'brothers' he held any love for.
"I promise you your brother is in good hands with me," Talon said to ease Luke's mind. There was no point in worrying him, after all.
Before Luke could ask any more questions, Talon made his way up the stairs. He did remember where Collin's room was, but he had to open two more doors before finding the one that lead to the office.
He knew it was the right door when the handle burned his fingers.
He cursed.
Of course the old man had taken extra steps to protect his office.
After a moment's contemplation, he took his phone out of his pocket and called Collin. "Your father's office is warded against vampires."
"Damn it. Wait. Is Luke there?"
"He's down in the kitchen."
"Did you see anyone else?"
"Not so far."
"Okay. Let me talk to Luke."
"Would you like me to bring him the phone?"
"Please."
Talon made his way back down the stairs and found Luke sitting at the kitchen island, eating a bowl of cereal for breakfast. He looked up when Talon entered the room and held the phone out to him.
