Page 60

S antiago stood alone in the middle of a large forest. Not exactly where he’d expected to find himself after hopping off a plane, but he wasn’t complaining.

With his eyes closed, while feeling the loving beckoning of the moon clearly, even though it wasn’t full, he listened. Santiago could hear the vampire and dhampir approaching. He knew it was them, even if both heartbeats were reading as vampire to him at the moment.

Santiago frowned, head tilting as Harlow’s heartbeat dropped out completely, before one that was entirely human entered the range of his hearing. The human was coming closer at a fast pace, Foxx not far behind.

Santiago spun around when he caught the individual’s scent, eyeing Harlow as the man walked calmly into the clearing. The dhampir’s glowing blue eyes told Santiago what his senses were not…that Harlow wasn’t human. But he wouldn’t have known that if his eyes had been closed, and if he hadn’t recognized the man’s scent from when he’d been ‘human’.

With a laugh, he clapped. “Well done, it would be enough to even fool me if I didn’t know you. Minus the eyes, that is.”

“Fun time!” Foxx chimed, while leaping out of the forest at Harlow. The dhampir caught the man, but without hesitation, swung and tossed him. Instead of dangerously flying off, the vampire landed lightly on his feet a short distance away .

Santiago smiled. “And you’ve learned control, even in such a volatile state as blood burn.”

“Yes, he has!” the vampire said proudly with his hands on his hips. “No more dislocated shoulders during sex!”

Harlow sighed as Santiago choked and started to cough. He was never going to live that down.

“Oh, and no more thrown out backs, but that was more Harlow’s issue than mine,” Foxx cheekily added.

“Foxx,” he growled, glaring at the vampire. But it was hard to maintain it.

In this state, everything was so heightened, including his attraction to Foxx. The vampire, in fact, set his every nerve on edge, the man’s presence oddly glowing to him. He just wanted to fuck him so badly.

But it was like the world was buzzing, every bit of it at different frequencies, and he heard and felt every single signal it released. It was both overwhelming yet, somehow, highly satisfying to his paranoia that he knew where way too much shit was, even many miles from where he stood, which was so much further than what he could ever sense normally.

Harlow eyed the werewolf when he chuckled. The buzzing around the man, the frequencies, were sharp and jarring, so much more violent than anyone or anything else within range.

Santiago was dangerous. The waves that came off the man set his nerves off in a very different way than Foxx’s did. Nothing compared to when he’d been near Daydric, but definitely not something that would be smart to ignore. In fact, he was pretty sure the werewolf could easily kill him if he really tried to, which…was a thrilling thought that he had no earthly interest in examining.

“Want to spar?” Harlow asked.

Santiago’s brow rose in question .

“I can’t go full out against Foxx in this state, but he thinks you are likely strong enough to handle it.”

The werewolf tilted his head, before he said, “Why not?” Removing his zip-up hoodie, the man tossed it aside and cracked his knuckles.

“Not going to change?”

“It's safer if I don’t.”

Harlow chuckled darkly, and hesitated for only a moment before pulling his jacket off and neatly folding it, followed by removing his gun holster and all of his blades. It definitely wouldn’t be good if he accidentally stabbed or shot instinctively. Harlow would like to think he was well trained enough not to, but he didn’t fully trust himself in blood burn quite yet.

Santiago smirked. “I always find it interesting when those who don’t need them carry around an arsenal of weapons.”

“Habit.” He shrugged, and then he met the smirk with one of his own. “Though, silver bullets do tend to make your kind less of a pain in the ass to deal with.”

The wolf snorted. “No doubt about that.”

They stared at each other silently for a moment, before both instantly closing the distance. Harlow swung, the man avoided him by doing the same as Santiago hit back. The hits kept coming.

He grunted in pain as Santiago connected with his stomach. Harlow laughed through it as his fist connected with the wolf’s face. They jumped back from each other for a moment, before they were once again back at it.

For the first time since the change, aside from when he’d been dealing with the poisoned paranormals, he felt the familiar rush of adrenaline that had always come with fighting an opponent that could kill him. The feeling tingled across his skin, like a full constant caress in this state. His satisfaction grew, even as they both drew blood from each other.

What would it be like…to fight Santiago in one of his other forms? This wasn’t even his full strength. Werewolves were much stronger when changed.

He shuddered at the thought. Fuck, he wanted to find out one day at least .

Blood spurted from their mouths as they both landed a blow at the same time. When their gazes met, Santiago raised a brow in challenge, even as blood trailed down his lips.

Chuckling, Harlow moved without hesitation. Grabbing onto the man, he kicked out at the wolf’s legs at the same time, toppling him and taking him down to the ground.

Santiago let out a low growl as Harlow pinned him. He barely had a chance to be pleased with his actions before he found his back being slammed to the ground, the wolf now on top with his sharp teeth clashing in warning inches from his face.

“Not gonna lie, this is kind of hot.” Foxx giggled.

The werewolf’s snarl cut off, the man’s face twisting in bafflement. “Really…?”

Harlow sighed. “He’s a fucking menace, what can I say?”

Santiago snorted. “I have a feeling that is an understatement.”

“Your feeling is correct,” he said, right before he bucked and wedged his feet under the man. Kicking up with all of his strength, Harlow sent the werewolf flying off him.

Foxx pushed up from the ground as Harlow and Santiago took a stumbled step back from each other, and promptly both fell flat on their backs.

Both of their chests rising and falling heavily, the two men started to chuckle, seconds before they broke into full blown laughter.

Men, Foxx thought with a snort while he approached and eyed them. With bloody claw marks left behind on their skin, both were bruised and bleeding, and each sported a black eye and bloody lip. Miraculously, their clothes looked fine though, and from what Foxx could tell, everything was just minor injuries…some had already healed, or were on their way to being.

“Well matched,” Santiago rasped when both of their laughs subsided .

Harlow grunted. “You are strong as fuck.” Between one blink and the next, the man’s glowing blue eyes returned to brown.

The werewolf only chuckled somewhat tiredly in response.

“Are you up for this again sometime in the future?” the dhampir asked.

The other man hummed. “I’d be open to it. It’s been a long time since I’ve actually exerted myself.”

Harlow snorted. “I can imagine.”

“Aww, my old man had fun.” Giggling, Foxx sat down beside Harlow. “Look at you, making friends and having play dates!”

“Foxx,” Harlow growled in clear warning. A warning that he ignored.

“So proud of my old man.” Foxx not so gently placed his hands on both sides of the dhampir’s face, and squished before letting go.

“Foxx, stop,” the man ground out.

“Becoming a big boy!” he gushed in a babyish tone.

“Stop fucking with me! Fucking hell, you’re such a brat.” Harlow let out a groan.

Foxx just giggled again, before his gaze flicked to Santiago, who had been watching them silently with amusement.

He smiled sweetly at the giant werewolf. “Now that you two are CLEARLY friends, I have a request for you, Santiago.”

The wolf’s brow rose. “Oh?”

Foxx nodded. “Uppies, I want to go uppies.”

Santiago blinked for a moment before bursting into laughter once again.

“Foxx!” Harlow snapped.

“What?!” he huffed. “You are friends now! It’s a reasonable request!”

“REASONABLE?!” the dhampir bellowed. “In what fucking world?!”

His eyes narrowed on his boyfriend. “Isn’t it obvious?”

“NO!?”

“Foxx’s world, of course.” Pretty bloody obvious to him. And like, if Santiago didn’t mind, why not ask?! It wasn’t even a big ask, in his opinion. Like, he was fun sized, and he wanted to know what it felt like to be that tall, if just for a moment. Which was all he was asking for.

Harlow groaned. “And I’m the unhinged one?!”

“Yes, of course.”

When Santiago started to laugh harder, Foxx pointed at the wolf. “See, you are getting all bent out of shape about it, and he obviously doesn’t even mind!”

“You are such a fucking brat!”

“That sounds like a you problem.”

The dhampir let out another groan. “Ughhhh, I could have just killed you!?”

Foxx scoffed. “As if you could have back when we first met.”

“Maybe not, but either way, my headache would have been taken care of!”

Snickering, he patted Harlow’s chest. “Never forget that it still can be, Old Man.”

“Brat,” Harlow growled while grabbing his hand.

Leaning over the man, he pressed a soft kiss to his lips. “Always.”

The dhampir smirked. “My brat.”

“Mm, that too.”

“ Mine .”

“You two are rather odd when you flirt,” Santiago mused as he sat up.

“Who’s flirting? I’m plotting his death,” Foxx said with a pouty huff, while he straightened away from his boyfriend.

Shaking his head, the werewolf pushed up from the ground with a groan, and what sounded like a few of the man’s joints cracking.

Foxx eyed Harlow for a moment before asking, “Ice cream?”

Harlow’s smirk widened. “Why the fuck not?”

“YAY, ice cream!”

“You ever think he’s a brat because you reward his bad behavior?” Santiago mused.

Harlow sighed as he sat up with a slight wince, and Foxx heard even more joints popping away but in the dhampir this time. “Nope, I found him like this.”

“Yep!” He giggled while jumping to his feet. “I was like this when he found me, and now he’s stuck with me. Don’t you feel so lucky, Harlow?”

The dhampir stood and tugged him against his chest, pressing a brief kiss to his lips before saying, “Between the moments of me wanting to murder you, Brat, yes.”

“Feeling’s mutual, Old Man,” Foxx chimed happily.

Harlow sighed as he pulled the hotel keycard out. “Foxx, you did not need three scoops.”

“I could have eaten it!” the vampire said stubbornly.

He scoffed. “You barely ate the two you had.”

“Dessert stomach is different than normal stomach.”

Harlow shook his head while he opened the door, his brow raising slightly when he spotted Gavin packing. “Going somewhere?”

The dragon smiled, not even looking over at them. “I found him.”

“You did?!” Foxx squealed. “Where?!”

“Is he close?” Santiago asked when they moved out of the way, letting the man duck in through the door.

Gavin looked over then, his eyes widening as he caught sight of the werewolf. “Wow, you are tall!”

Harlow rolled his eyes and repeated the man’s question. “Is it close?”

“Close enough,” Gavin said while zipping up his bag, and wrapping the strap over the handle of his suitcase. “It’s a factory about forty minutes away. Two stories, layout unknown, as the place was gutted at one point, but there are no details on what was changed. There is security, but no cameras. Specific location-wise, it’s in Burmont, Oregon.

“To note, it does appear as if they bought up most of the surrounding buildings. There are people in them, so expect for backup to come rather quickly. As for the building itself, the spells in place pretty much prevent anyone from telling who, or how many, are inside. But I’m assuming, based on some of their purchases, there may be paranormals. That is all I’ve got.”

“Is it confirmed that he’s there?” Foxx pressed.

The dragon nodded, opening his laptop, which was sitting on the bed. On the screen was a picture of Maverick himself going into a warehouse. “Confirmed.” The dragon closed it and slipped it into the messenger bag that he grabbed. “Now, I need to go.”

Harlow smirked. “Not planning to stick around to the end, kid?”

“As much as it would be fun to help kill that asshole, I know damn well that you two will be doing it alone, and I have a feeling, I won’t want to see it, or hear it. Beyond that, I have to get back. I’ve been gone too long already. My plan was always to stay until I tracked the bastard down.

“I’ve already looped the street cameras nearby, and someone is watching for me, in case he tries to leave, or does leave. But from now on, I’ll be tracking from a distance. Same with the other compounds and labs. I’ll track them down for you, but I need to get back to my actual job.”

Foxx sighed. “If you must.” The vampire opened his arms.

Chuckling, Gavin gave the man a tight hug. “Don’t fret, I shall return to you all soon enough.”

“That sounds like a threat.” Harlow sighed before growling as the dragon dragged him into a hug. “Get off me!”

He hissed when Gavin rubbed his face into his shoulder, glaring at the man fiercely once he finally let the fuck go.

The dragon just smiled and waved, chiming “Byeeee!” before grabbing all of his stuff and leaving.

Harlow sighed and met Foxx’s gaze once the door had fully shut.

The vampire smiled. “Time to get that bastard and make him regret ever hearing my name.”

He chuckled. “I feel he already regrets hearing mine, but might as well add a few more names to that list.”

“I don’t care who kills him, as long as he suffers. Let’s go,” Santiago said thickly, no doubt thinking about his nephew.

Maverick would suffer all right. Harlow planned to make the man regret the fact that he’d shot him in the back instead of the head all of those years ago.