Page 23 of Bound in Blood (Vampires of Boston #1)

Chapter

Fifteen

MATEO

Where the fuck was Logan?

He knew the bar closed at two, and Logan had promised “closing stuff” only took half an hour.

So, he should have been home at least an hour ago.

The only thing keeping Mateo from jumping out of his skin with worry was the fact that Alexei hadn’t texted, and no serious signs of distress had washed over their bond.

Marco, sitting on the other end of the couch, was doing no better than Mateo. His posture was rigid, a book open in his hands that he hadn’t turned the page on in forty-five minutes at least. His brows were drawn tight, fingers tapping nervously on the naked hardback cover.

Neither of them said a word, but the silence was anything but comfortable.

Mateo hated it.

Marco, it seemed, hated it even more.

This was crazy. A week ago, nothing like this mattered. They’d hit the town a couple of times a week, find an attractive man to get off with and drink from, then come home and relax. Worrying wasn’t a part of their schedule.

Until Logan.

Logan, who had turned them from valued members of Boston nightlife to worried ‘husbands’ in a matter of days. Logan, who kind of made Mateo feel like a parent waiting on their rebellious teenager to sneak back into the house. Logan, who Mateo would burn the city to the ground to protect.

Mateo exhaled sharply, running a hand through his hair. This is ridiculous.

But here they were.

And Logan was late.

3:58 AM

Mateo lifted his head and glanced at his brother. He wasn’t entirely sure which one of them was going to snap first, only that it was going to be very soon.

A car pulled up outside, its engine cutting off just as Mateo recognized it.

Alexei.

The front door opened before either of them could move. Logan stepped inside, smelling like cheap tequila and something sharper—like sweat, nerves, something Mateo couldn’t quite place. His hair was a mess, and his jacket was unzipped, hanging loose off his shoulders.

He startled when he saw them, green eyes flicking between them in genuine surprise.

“Jesus,” he breathed. “Were y’all just standing here waiting on me?”

Mateo and Marco both crossed their arms, jaws tight.

“You’re late,” Marco pointed out.

Mateo nodded his agreement.

Logan blinked, like he hadn’t expected an interrogation. “Yeah, uh… Alexei dropped me off,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s a long story.”

Marco’s expression darkened. “Then you better start explaining now.”

Logan stiffened, and Mateo could feel the flicker of guilt through the bond before Logan even responded.

“We felt a spike of fear around closing time,” Mateo explained, trying to keep his voice even, “And then we got radio silence from you for hours. Logan, I know you’re not used to depending on anyone, but you can’t leave us in the dark like that.”

Logan hesitated. “I—” He sighed, running a hand nervously through his curls, “It wasn’t that big of a deal.”

Mateo raised a brow. “See, your mouth is saying one thing, but your emotions are telling a whole different story.”

Logan exhaled sharply, “Okay, fine. Y’know that rogue vampire Alexei told us about?”

“The one we spent hours looking for and couldn’t find?” Marco crossed his arms.

Logan stared down at his shoes nervously, “Yeah, well, he kind of… uh… found me?”

Mateo and Marco both went still. Found him?

Marco spoke first, voice sharp. “What do you mean, he found you?”

“Was he looking for you?” Mateo added, “Jesus, tesoro , I was joking when you said you attract the paranormal, but?—”

“He wasn’t looking for me!” Logan replied, way too quickly. “He was feral. I was leaving the bar, and he was snacking on a homeless guy outside.” His fingers twitched at his sides, betraying his nerves, “It wasn’t like… he didn’t attack me, or anything.”

Mateo wasn’t entirely convinced. He stepped forward, eyes narrowing as he studied Logan’s face, like all the secrets would be revealed if he just looked a bit closer. “Then why are you panicking?”

Logan hesitated. Too long.

“Because I let him go. And I don’t want you to be mad at me.” He mumbled finally, refusing to look either of them in the eyes.

Mateo shared a look with his brother. He let him go?

Mateo took a slow breath, forcing his voice to stay even, “You said he had just killed someone. You saw the corpse. Why did you let him go?”

Logan looked up, eyes shiny with unshed tears of frustration.

“Because he looked scared, Mateo! I don’t know.

I looked at him, and I didn’t see some mean, ugly killer.

I saw a terrified kid my age. ” He sniffled.

“And I thought, what if that were me? What if you two had abandoned me after turning me and I was all alone and scared and wandering the streets?”

Mateo’s stomach twisted.

Of course, Logan was feeling sympathetic toward the thing. He was a compassionate, bleeding-heart human at his core. Mateo didn’t remember that feeling, but Marco did. He could see the way his brother’s expression softened at Logan’s need to protect the feral, even when he probably shouldn’t.

“You said Alexei gave you a ride home. What did he have to say about it?” Marco pushed, gently trying to guide the conversation back to the crux of the problem: there was still a feral vampire on the loose.

“He didn’t make it in time. Vik threw a knife at the guy, and he bolted right before Alexei showed up,” Logan mumbled.

Vik?

Logan’s human boss, Vik?

“Why was Vik there?” Mateo asked slowly. Carefully. God, this story kept getting worse.

Logan hesitated, his mouth opening like he wanted to say something, then immediately snapping shut.

Mateo felt his patience fray. Marco went still beside him, his fingers flexing like he was resisting the urge to shake an answer out of Logan.

“Logan,” Marco warned, low and sharp. Marco wasn’t the type to lose his temper, but Logan was treading a dangerous line.

Logan groaned, running both hands through his curls, shoulders hunched like he was bracing for impact.

“Okay. Before I tell you this, I just want to say, in my defense, I had no idea before, like… an hour ago.”

Porco Dio. ? *

This was about to be bad.

“When we first met, Vik told me his parents disowned him, and that’s why he originally moved to Boston,” Logan started, still looking terrified of what he was about to say, “I always thought it was because he was queer, like me. I mean, he is, but that’s not why he was disowned.”

“Logan, please…” Marco groaned. “I’m trying very hard not to be upset, but?—”

“I’m getting there!” Logan promised. “So, it turns out, Vik wasn’t disowned because he’s bi. He was disowned because his family is a bunch of vampire hunters, and he didn’t want to kill vampires anymore.”

Mateo stared at Logan, hoping, praying , that he’d somehow misheard.

Because there was no way that in six months, Logan had managed to befriend three vampires and a fucking hunter.

His brain refused to process it.

“You’re joking,” Mateo said flatly.

“I’m not,” Logan replied, hands still tangled in his curls like he was physically trying to hold himself together. “He told me tonight. After the, uh, situation in the alley.”

Mateo blinked. “So just to recap,” he said. “You got attacked by a feral vampire. You let him go. Your human boss threw a knife at him, and then casually confessed to being a vampire hunter ?”

“ Former vampire hunter. Yes.” Logan frowned. “Are you mad? Because I promise I didn’t know.”

“Not mad,” Marco chimed in, though Mateo could tell by his tone that he was definitely stressed , “Just trying to figure out the next best course of action here.”

“Vik said he would help find the feral!” Logan offered. “So that’s something, right?”

Mateo didn’t answer right away. He was fighting a losing battle with his old ways, his rage all but ready to show Logan why only Marco could put up with him for more than an hour or two.

But then he saw it: the way Logan’s shoulders hunched, the way his voice pitched up like he was begging them to be okay with it, begging them to still want him despite the chaos he’d brought with him.

That stupid, sweet, soft look in his eyes.

“It is something,” he agreed, tension bleeding out of him like air from a balloon. He wasn’t thrilled about the situation, but the sun was going to come up within a couple of hours, and nothing could be done until tomorrow night, anyway.

Logan blinked, like he didn’t expect Mateo to agree with him, “Wait… really?”

Marco nodded. “I think you’re mistaking worry for anger, caro. ” He paused, stepping closer, softening his voice, “Honestly, all this mate stuff is very stressful. I think right now, I can only be happy if you never left our sight again.”

“And since that is clearly irrational, I guess we’ll just have to trust you.” Mateo forced a smile. “Even if you come home saying crazy things like ‘good evening, amore mio, I have made friends with a rabid coyote. Don’t worry! He will not bite.’”

Logan huffed out a quiet laugh, shaking his head. “I didn’t bring home a rabid coyote.”

“Not yet, ” Mateo teased. “But at this rate, I’m keeping my eye on you.”

Logan’s lips twitched, but the tension in his shoulders hadn’t entirely faded. Mateo could feel it, lingering just under the surface, the guilt, the uncertainty, the exhaustion weighing heavy on him.

Marco must have felt it too, because he sighed and reached for Logan’s hand, giving it a firm squeeze. “ Basta, caro. Enough stress for one night. It’s late, we’re all tired, and nothing can be done until tomorrow. Come to bed.”

Mateo sniffed the air dramatically, “Well, shower first, then bed. You smell like a bachelorette party.”

“I do not— ” Logan began to argue, but Mateo cut him off by pressing a finger to his lips.

“Shh. No backtalk.”

Logan looked between the two of them, still tense, but the corners of his mouth had twitched upward just a tad. “You’re sure you’re not mad?”

“Positive,” Marco said firmly.

Logan gave a tiny, grateful nod, then padded off up the stairs toward the bathroom. The sound of water running a few moments later was oddly soothing.

Mateo and Marco followed moments later, into Mateo’s bedroom, where Mateo wasted no time before collapsing onto his bed, staring up at the ceiling.

Marco shut the door behind them with a quiet click and leaned back against it for a moment, watching his brother with tired eyes. Mateo had flung his arm dramatically over his face like the weight of the night had physically knocked him out.

“Well,” Mateo muttered, voice muffled by his bicep. “that was a lot.”

Marco snorted and crossed the room to sit at the edge of the bed next to his brother. “You think?”

Mateo peeked at him through parted fingers. “You know, I think living in Wartime Paris was less stressful than whatever the hell we’ve been through in the last few days. I didn’t think it was possible to?—”

“Care so much.” Marco nodded in agreement. “I didn’t think so either.”

Mateo waved a hand at Marco dismissively. “Yeah, but haven’t you done all this before? With?—”

“Don’t,” Marco warned, “I don’t want to hear that name. And no, it wasn’t ever like this.”

Mateo watched him a beat before nodding. “All right. Fair.”

They fell into a comfortable silence after that, only the sound of running shower water from the next room over filling the quiet between them.

Marco leaned back on his hands and glanced toward the bathroom door down the hall, where steam was beginning to curl out into the air. “He really does smell like a bachelorette party.”

Mateo snorted. “I wasn’t exaggerating. I think I caught a whiff of bubblegum vodka.”

“ Dio aiutaci ? * … ” Marco sighed, but there was no heat behind it. “He’ll be the death of us.”

Mateo hummed. “Wouldn’t be a bad way to go.”

Marco didn’t answer. He just tilted his head back and closed his eyes, letting the exhaustion finally settle. Mateo turned on his side to face him, propping himself up on one elbow.

“You all right?” he asked, voice softer now.

Marco opened his eyes again, slow. “Just tired.”

“It’s been a long day,” Mateo agreed.

Marco snorted. “Tomorrow will be longer.”

Somewhere in the next room, the shower cut off. Bare feet hit tile floor, and Mateo relaxed just the tiniest bit.

“It’ll be worth it, though,” he said, looking back up at the ceiling.

He didn’t even have to glance over to know Marco agreed.

* ? Literally translates to ‘God is a pig/swine’ but used like how an English speaker might say ‘God damn’. Except much more vulgar. Don’t say this in mixed company, kids!

* ? God help us