Page 61 of Broken Bonds

I don’t even care what time it is. “Thanks.” I twist the cap off the bottle and settle into the chair next to his.

“This sounded like something needing alcohol as a discussion aid.”

I snort. “You ain’t fucking kidding.”

“Is this about Mal?” There’s…something in his tone.

“Yes. I need Todd my friend for a while, and your secrecy.”

He nods and I give him a rundown of the day’s events so far. When I finish, he stares across the yard.

I don’t interrupt.

“Vampires, huh?” he finally asks. “They aren’t my favorite, but I’ve never personally had a bad experience with one. Crossed paths with them a few times outside of business dealings, but we just gave each other room and went on our respective ways. I know they get a bad rap. The ones I deal with don’t even feed from humans; they keep cattle.”

“Ahh. Sold them breeder stock?”

“Yeah.” He chuffs. “I was initially pissed off when the first one approached me, because yeah, I get it, we eat cows, too. But he invited me out, showed me their operation. They manually bleed them, painlessly. Milk them too, and keep that within their”—he waves a hand around—“circles. Anyway. Their cattle are treated even better than mine. Super-clean barns, good pasture, numbers kept low to prevent stress on them. They get an average of eight to ten years out of one of their stock, and then they humanely slaughter and process them once they reach the end. They give the meat to the people in their nests who eat meat, and any leftovers are donated to food banks.”

“No shit?” I had not heard any of that.

Then again, I’ve never stuck my snout into vampire business before.

“Yeah. There are three of those farms around the United States. They don’t supply all the nests, obviously. They’re connected to specific nests. While I felt like I might crawl out of my skin when I was around them that first time, they were respectful, easy to do business with, and their money spends as well as anyone else’s. I got used to being around them.”

“How’d they first get in touch with you?” I ask.

He smiled. “Mike referred them to me. Marchman made first contact with me via phone. I first met with them in neutral territory, went to visit one of their operations, and then made the deal. I trailer stock to a farm in north Florida, where they pick it up from me. They never come onto our land; not them, or familiars, or others.”

Holy shit. “How long’s this been going on?” I ask.

“Eight years, give or take.”

Well, look at that. This day does have more surprises for me.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Todd

What if?

I’ve never seen Jax’s jaw drop in shock before.

Until today.

“What?”

“Yeah. You’re not mad, are you? I mean, it’s just business, and it’s legal. It doesn’t involve any of them or theirs entering our territory.”

He’s still staring at me. “Pops said he talked to Marchman about me like only two years ago. When did this other stuff happen?”

“Marchman contacted Mike and asked if he knew of any shifters willing to sell cattle to them and put him in touch with me.”

“Uh, why didn’t Pops tell me that?”

“You’d have to ask him, Jax. He never swore me to secrecy or told me not to tell you. It was a given I wouldn’t have them come to our territory without talking to you first to get your approval. I mean, I ship cattle to humans all the time.”

“I’m still trying to figure out why I’m just now finding out about all this contact Pop’s had with vampires.”