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Finn

“You have a wonderful night too, sir.”

Pressing the button to hang up on the being screeching abuse down the phone doesn’t exactly have the satisfying effect I’m after, but tearing my headset off and throwing it helps take the edge off.

Just a little.

Unfortunately, even without the earpiece in, I can still hear the little bell indicating a call dropping into my queue. That little bell haunts my dreams. Or it would, if I still had them. It’s one of the few perks of being a vampire. You literally sleep like the dead.

The ringing of the bell gets louder and more frequent, the bar on my screen going from green to orange to red, showing that my call response time is spiralling out of control. Fuck.

It wasn’t meant to be this way, I think bitterly to myself as I pick up the headset and clip the earpiece into my ear.

“Osneau Roadside Assistance, how can I help you?” I’ve crossed over into the slightly too cheerful customer service voice, earning me a peek from Bedeer in the cubicle beside me. His brightly coloured eyes squint in a frown around the edge of our grey partition .

I only manage to give him a tight frown and shake of the head before the being on the end of the line starts talking. It’s definitely a being, no human is capable of that kind of rough growly edge.

“On the I54. Car stopped. Smoking now. Need help.” The being grunts out. My fingers dash across the keyboard to bring up their account details, thank the Gods. I don’t really have it in me to explain the astronomical “emergency” fees again tonight.

“Sure thing, sir. One of our roadside patrols will be with you in an hour to get you going again.” The being grunts and I manage to get them off the line significantly happier than my last three callers.

Six more emergency call outs, a record breaking four perverts, and a confused but lovely old lady who was trying to order something off the TV but kept coming through to us instead, and my shift is finally— finally —drawing to a close.

Crossing my arms on my desk, I rest my forehead on top of them, letting the final minutes tick past in blissful darkness.

It’s only been a short shift—the type that’s long enough to truly suck the spirit out of you, but short enough they don’t have to pay you for a lunch break.

Even though it’s early, not even midnight, I’m feeling crispy-fried and ready to crawl home and curl up on my couch.

I might even splurge on a bottle of alcoholised blood on the way home and get really pathetic.

Fuck. It really, really wasn’t meant to be like this.

Before I came to Ulydessia, all the way from the beachside town of Twin Heads, just outside the Whisper Woods, I had it all planned out. I was going to move to Osneau—the capital city here in Ulydessia—and start my high flying new life.

I got myself a sweet job working in a swanky office as a personal assistant to an executive and a little place with fantastic views and a short walk to an amazing little coffee shop. For six glorious months everything was going… fine.

Okay, maybe working as a personal assistant hadn’t cracked up to be everything I thought it would.

Maybe, even after all this time, I’m still not one-hundred percent certain what they did there or what my executive’s job was. And maybe the pay had been terrible after accounting for the long hours, unpaid overtime and shitty attitude of the bosses.

But it was a start.

My start.

The job had been my chance for something different, a way to start fresh, away from my dull little world in Twin Heads. But now it’s gone. All of it. Along with all my dreams and everything that went with them.

All because I thought it would be hot to get dicked down by a vampire. What an idiot.

“Someone will be with you within the hour. Have a wonderful night, ma’am. Happy to be of assistance.” Bedeer’s treacly voice washes over me along with the clacking of furious typing. There is a low, impressed whistle and then, “Would you look at that? It’s a thing of beauty!”

I lift my head just in time to see it—a completely empty call queue. And wouldn’t you know it? It's time to clock out.

If I still breathed, this would be the time I’d be sighing with relief. Instead, I race to sign out before a call drops in.

“You’re coming out with us tonight, Finny. I told the boys I was bringing you along. They’re excited to meet you. Bedeer smacks the felt covered wall between us with his usual exuberance .

By “us” he means his friends Jax, Lusce, Willan and Bedeer's girlfriend Jesminda—the group of beings he’s been trying to get me to hang out with since I started here six weeks ago.

“Hmm,” I hum, packing up my desk, getting it ready for Dotty, the human waiting for me to get out of her way, to start her shift. “Can’t. Busy.”

Bedeer snorts. “Doing what? You come here, you go home. What else have you got to do? Come on. We’re going to a vampire bar someone at Lusce and Willan’s work told us about. It’s gonna be sweet.”

From the many stories Bedeer has told me about his friends, I know that Lusce and Willan work together at a magic supply shop that Willan’s uncle owns.

Apparently Willan—and his uncle—are mages, while Lusce is a first-life witch.

Bedeer’s girlfriend, Jesminda, is a witch on her second life.

Bedeer and Jesminda have been together for five years, having gotten together in their last year of high school.

But it’s getting dicey because his family is pushing for them to settle down, but as a witch, human marriage or being mate-ship isn’t really on the cards for Jesminda.

She can’t ever truly put anything above her dedication to her magic.

It’s causing all kinds of headaches between her and her own parents, let alone Bedeer’s family.

How do I know all this? Bedeer likes to share, which means I’ve heard all about it. At length, in great detail.

He manages to time it so we leave our cubicles at the same time, his basket of personal belongings overflowing with photo frames and fidget toys. It makes my empty basket with just my headset and notebook look more than a little depressing.

“I have plenty going on. So many things. Completely overloaded actually. ”

Bedeer snorts, elbowing me playfully as we shove through the door to the breakroom. “Like what?”

Good question, because I’m totally lying out of my ass here. I’ve got nothing going on. Less than nothing if I’m being entirely honest.

I mean, apart from scrolling through the drama posts on Crumbles —a true timesuck of an app where people can share and discuss just about anything—from the news and current events, to their hobbies, to the intimate, personal details about their lives and relationships.

At least ninety percent of the drama has to be faked, but I got a notification that BrokenWife4873 has updated with the latest about her husband banging her sister and I need to know what’s happened.

The drama, it’s a drug.

I don’t think that will actually count as a plan for Bedeer—or anyone with an actual life.

With our belongings secured away in our lockers, Bedeer leans against his, arms crossed over his chest in a no nonsense kinda stance, staring me down. His eyes have no discernable white to them. They are the same vibrant teal of his skin, with only a sliver of black for his pupil.

It’s intense. Bedeer is a fae with the particular gift of feeling others’ emotions, like a mood ring, only more intrusive.

He says it’s dimmer with vampires, which is a relief.

You’d think he’d be the one running in the opposite direction of a crowded place like a nightclub, but I think he gets off on the drunken horniness.

Based on his consistent oversharing about him and Jesminda, it’s a pretty solid assumption.

The seconds tick by with our staring contest, until the extreme hunger eating away at my belly makes me cave. I run a hand through my blonde hair, making it flop back down over my face right away again, and narrow my eyes .

“Fine. I’ll come.”

Who’s more shocked, me or Bedeer? I don’t know. But I can’t ignore the little voice in the back of my head reminding me that I didn’t come all this way to be my boring-ass self in a different country.

“Fuck yeah! I knew I’d wear you down eventually. It’s gonna be sweet.” Bedeer perks up instantly, grinning and pumping his fist. Pushing off the lockers, he unfolds his long body and leads the way out of the building to the parking garage underneath.

“I just need to head home and change.” I wave a hand at my baggy jeans and oversized sweater that’s become my standard uniform since starting at ORA. It’s a far cry from the fancy-ass suits I splurged on for my last job. They are currently languishing away in the back of my wardrobe.

Bedeer waves me off, still typing away on his phone with one hand. “Yeah, same. Don’t even worry about it. What’s your address?”

I rattle off the address for my new apartment. It’s a dump, but it’s only a five minute walk from work, the price was right, and most importantly, they didn’t mind renting to vampires.

“Done. Me, Jezzi and the boys will be there in half an hour to pick you up. Unless,” he looks around at the handful of cars. “Are you walking? It’s freezing out. I’ll give you a lift home if you want?”

Having already caught me agreeing once, Bedeer wasn’t about to let me say no to him again. In no time at all he’s pulling up out the front of my apartment, having kept up a steady stream of chatter about his friends on the way.

“Half an hour. We’ll be here. Yeah?” Bedeer says again as I unbuckle and open the car door.

“Half an hour. Got it. Can do.” My stomach growls loudly, making my grimace worse and Bedeer snicker .

“Don’t look like that. It’s gonna be fun!” He honks as he drives off—because of course he’s a honker—and I find myself laughing on my way up to my apartment, not entirely sure how I ended up roped up in his plans for the night. But also, not entirely unhappy about it.