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Elijah expected to see cages, but he didn’t. Would he and his brother be sent to another room to sleep? His heart sank into his knees, and he dared to ask, “Where will Ezra and I sleep? Is there a slave quarters?”

“There is, but you’ll sleep with me tonight.” Dev had shrugged out of his red dress shirt, and he stopped undressing to tell them, “It’s a trial run, tonight. Just the three of us in bed. If you try to kill me in my sleep, it won’t go well for you. Others have tried, no one’s succeeded.”

“I wouldn’t!”

Ezra had said it at the same time, and Elijah nodded at his brother and then looked back to Dev. “Thank you for trusting us. We won’t let you down.”

“It’s been a big night for all of us.” He motioned towards the little dining area to the side of his sitting room, and Elijah saw their Santa hats. “I asked Julien to bring ours here, and to snaga fourth. The hats add to the festivities, so we’ll wear them again when we celebrate Christmas with Genie in a few days.”

“I miss her,” Ezra said.

“Me too,” Elijah agreed.

“We all do.” Dev’s face was serious, solemn. “Being free doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want, whenever you want. It still means you have to consider your obligations as sacred. Genie would rather be here with us, but she’d already promised the hospital she’d work these four days.”

“We get it,” Ezra said, and Elijah nodded and added, “I understand why she’s working, but I still miss her.”

“I have a task for you. We’re short on staff because nearly all the freepersons were relieved of duty for the Christmas celebration. The kitchen staff prepared two platters for us. One is in the main kitchen refrigerator with my name on it, and another on the largest island in the kitchen prep area. You’ve both been cleared for the elevators — your palm prints will operate them. Go straight there and back. It’s fine to stop and say hello to people. Be polite and friendly, but don’t dawdle. If you’re waylaid for more than a few moments, telepath me to let me know where and why.”

A quick hug and a kiss, and they were gone.

The main control room would watch them and alert Dev if there was an issue, but he didn’t expect there to be. Also, for now, they were only cleared for a trip to the kitchen level and then back to this one. An alarm would sound if they tried to go anywhere else.

This level of trust would’ve already happened if they hadn’t accosted Genie their first day, and Dev still blamed himself for that, but he’d taken his punishment for it and he needed to put it behind him. He’d brought wine, and he uncorked the bottle and was putting it in ice when the speaker in his bedroom came to life.

“Problem, Sir. They were almost to the kitchen. Please hurry.”

Chapter Thirty-Six

Ezra wanted to hug Dev in thanks, but their trainer, their handler, their Dom — fuck, he didn’t know what label fit, but it didn’t feel as if any of them did all the time because sometimes he was one thing more than the others. Whatever he was to them, Dev seemed to want this to be normal and low-key, so after a quick three-way hug, he walked his brother out to the hallway and around the corner to the elevator, gave his palm-print to call the elevator car, and used a super-quiet voice to tell Elijah, “Donotfuck this up for us.”

“I know, Eazie. It’s a big deal. It’s important.”

They’d almost made it to the kitchen when they came upon one of the vampires who’d handed the gifts out holding a human girl by the throat, pressing her against the wall. Ezra had felt this vampire’s power in the main room and he knew he was relatively young, probably not even past his first century.

The girl was terrified, and her face was turning blue. She still kicked and tried to hit, but she wouldn’t last much longer.

Without thinking of protocol or consequences, Ezra ran at the vampire and tackled him, trusting Elijah to take care of the girl.

All shapeshifters who sometimes fed new vampires in the Concilio were taught how to subdue and restrain them, which was mainly about staying out of the way of their teeth and claws. They were preternaturally strong, but so were mountain lions, and Ezra had more control than this vampire.

Ezra could hold him for several minutes, but he wasn’t certain about after. He shouted. “Help! We need help! The girlneeds medical attention, and we need restraints for an out-of-control vampire!”

Help arrived within about a minute, and Ezra found himself on the ground, face down, with his hands in cuffs. The two people who were trying to get the cuffs on the vampire almost lost him, and Ezra shouted to the leopard shifter holding him down, “I’m not resisting. I will stay exactly where you put me — they need help!”

The shifter ran his finger under the cuffs on Ezra’s wrists to test them, and then jumped into the fray to help get the restraints on the vampire. It was frustrating, because Ezra could’ve helped them, but he understood they saw him as an unknown at this point, and someone would have to look at the video to see what happened before he was released.

It was standard procedure when dealing with the slave class. He was used to it.

But then Dev arrived on the scene, shouted for someone to release him, and then kneeled on the floor with Elijah, who was also in cuffs, and he was crying. Sobbing.

“We were trying to help her,” Elijah shouted at Dev, who sat on the floor and held Elijah in his arms. As soon as Ezra was free, he ran to them and held his brother, too.

“I know, Elijah,” Dev said, his voice gentle. “I know you were helping. They took her to the infirmary. She’s breathing. You saved the human’s life. Both of you. The control room has the video cued. Let’s walk to the dining area. They’ll show it there.”

Dev stood with Elijah in his arms and motioned for Ezra to follow. Twenty feet, and they were in the dining area, and the screen was paused, showing the vampire ten feet from the girl.

“Someone hit play,” Dev said, and they watched the vampire slam the girl against the wall. She was human, and there was a good chance she’d have a nasty concussion from that.