Page 12 of High Stakes and Soulmates (Fanged Mistakes #3)

CYRUS

Present

Joaquin scrutinizes me for a long moment. “Let me get this straight… you think there’s absolutely no reason to fret about what’s going on?”

“I didn’t say no reason,” I say.

“There is a literal vampire running around and staking people to walls, and you’re the detective who is working hard to figure out who is doing it, but you’re not worried for yourself?”

“Are you going to let anyone stake me to a wall?”

“I mean, obviously I don’t plan to, but I’m like a fucking baby vampire over here!

I threw some trash the other day and missed the trash can!

My skills as a vampire are pretty shit. Watch!

Watch!” And then he proceeds to throw wadded-up paper at the trash can.

It doesn’t even come close and he’s over there waving his arms wildly, like this proves his worth as a vampire.

“What were you going to do? Have a basketball shoot-off or whatever the hell it’s called? I don’t think your ball-throwing skills matter much if a murdering vampire comes to attack me. You couldn’t throw worth a damn when you were a human, either.”

“Why do you only ever remember the embarrassing stuff?”

I snort. “You’re ridiculous. I’m heading out. Meeting with the pack and vampires, and then I’ll probably go to Casimir’s for a bit. You okay here?”

“You’re asking if I’m okay playing video games with this hot chick I met on the internet?”

“Who is probably a sixty-year-old man.”

“You’re just jealous. RealLifeSexyBabe6969 is definitely a woman and we’re in love. I’ve heard her talk.”

“Oh damn… I really might be jealous about the man who is catfishing vulnerable gamers like you by using a voice-altering system—or maybe he’s just really good at voices.”

“Right? Right? Everyone would be jealous. I’m all for the ladies. And the ladies are all for me.”

“Uh… huh.”

“Don’t ‘uh-huh’ me. You need to respect your elders.”

I can’t help but crack a grin. “I’m good. Thanks.”

“I got your groceries and even put them away! You should respect me and your soon-to-be sister-in-law.”

“Thank you for the groceries but I’m still skeptical about the rest.”

“And I noticed that when dinner came around, you just grabbed a breakfast bar, like any part of that was a well-balanced meal.”

“Yeah… you know… it’s hard to eat when you’re feeding only yourself.”

“I can sit at the table and stare at you if that makes you feel better.”

“It doesn’t,” I say. “Have fun with your gamer girl.”

“I will.” He slides into the gaming chair and starts the game. As I’m grabbing my stuff, I hear him go, “My brother thinks you’re like a sixty-year-old man. Hilarious, right? You’re not… right? Ha… that’s what I told him.”

Joaquin swings in his swivel chair and flips me off with a grin.

I flip him off because he’s a dork and head out to the meeting. I don’t even get parked before Ezio zips in front of my car and opens the door for me.

“Let me get that, let me get that,” he says as he reaches for my seat belt. I try not to notice the way his fingers skim across my hip before he unfastens the seat belt.

“Ah, thank you. I forgot how to unbuckle it, so I’m really glad you showed up just in time. I was prepared to slither out from it. I was afraid my car had turned into Stephen King’s Christine and was going to consume me. So caring of you.”

“Don’t use that sarcastic tone on me if you don’t want to turn me on,” Ezio warns me.

“You just gonna pop a stiffy out here because I’m tossing sarcasm your way?”

“I am in a fragile state. You’re off being wooed by Zach. Julian is trying to set me up on a dating app, but they’re all so gross.”

I hesitate as that sinks in before questioning why I would hesitate. Why not just tell him Zach likes him and move on? Zach’s a really good guy, and I actually think he’d match Ezio quite well.

“Like look at this guy,” he says as he flashes me a picture of a very handsome man.

“Damn, he’s?—”

“Hideous, right?” he asks and then swipes left on him.

“Was he?” I ask, very skeptical. “He was literally one of the sexiest guys I think I’ve seen.”

“Absolutely not. Did you look at him?”

“Sure did,” I say. “But evidently not close enough.”

He’s already on to the next guy. “Look at this man’s profile. ‘Looking for Mr. Right’? Dressing that way? As if. He’s clearly the kind of guy who has bodies in his basement.”

“He’s dressed very nicely! Could someone even dress nicer than that?”

“It’s too nice. He’s trying too hard to lull you into a sense of security before murdering you.”

“Good thing you’re a vampire, then, so if he does turn out to be a murderer, you could just smack him to the ground.”

Another swipe to the left a moment before I see that he’s got a message.

Ezio growls as he clicks it before looking at the message which reads: Hi, I’m John. It looks like we have a lot in common. What are some hobbies you enjoy?

“What the fuck’s he want? An autobiography? I bet he’s a bot.” And with that, he deletes it.

I stare at him while I try to understand what just happened here.

Slowly, I reach out for the phone. I just need to find him a nice guy, right? And then he’ll move on. Or I could tell him about Zach.

“You’re not going to be able to find someone good enough,” he says. “They’re all atrocious.”

“Are they? I oddly am struggling to comprehend this.”

“This one guy didn’t want kids. Can you believe that?”

“Do you want kids?” I ask.

“Fuck if I know!”

He lets me take the phone from him, and I press my finger over the app and delete it.

“What’d you do that for?”

“You obviously didn’t like anyone on it, and it’s causing you stress,” I say before pushing him back so I can get out of the car.

That is definitely why I deleted it. No other reason than that.

“Zach likes you. Not me. He pulled me aside to ask if you dated men. He’s been trying to flirt with you, but you’ve been so stuck on this idea that he wants me that you’ve been ignoring it. Go on a date with him.”

Ezio hesitates and I slip by him, but before I can get far, he grabs my wrist and pushes me against the car, blocking me so I can’t continue on.

“You’ve known about this for days.”

“Yeah?”

His eyes are tearing me apart, trying to figure out what he’s missing. “So why did you keep it a secret from me?”

“Why’s it my right to tell you his feelings?” I ask.

“It’s not even his feelings. You let me believe that you two were a thing. You knew that’s what I was thinking. So if you really wanted me to date him, why didn’t you clear that up?” he asks, as though he thinks there’s a reason I didn’t tell him.

“I don’t know. I just didn’t want to mess up whatever Zach was doing.”

He doesn’t look convinced. “Were you really? Look me in the eyes and tell me that’s all this was.”

“Did you have something to do with the deaths of Isabella and Pedro Torres?” I ask.

Ezio hesitates. “What? How did we get here?”

“Did you?”

He opens his mouth but before he can say anything, Julian shouts to us. “Hey, guys. We’re waiting on you two to start. If we don’t start soon, I’m confident Casimir and Steve are going to brawl. And while… I would kind of like to see that, I feel like I shouldn’t see that at all.”

“I’m sorry,” I say as I move toward him, leaving Ezio behind.

“What’s going on now?” Julian whispers as he looks back at Ezio.

“Nothing. He was just showing me his new dating app.”

“Oh? And what did you think of that?” he asks with a look in his eyes like he knows he did it to try to push me toward Ezio.

“I think it’s a great idea,” I say, refusing to tell him that I’ve deleted it. Why did I delete it? Why am I an awful person who is over here stringing Ezio along while refusing every advance? But more importantly… why did he hesitate when I asked about my parents?

I feel like something is squeezing my stomach and find it hard to comprehend.

I want to go back out there and force him to tell me what he knows, but I’m also too afraid to do so.

Instead, I find myself trailing after Julian as he walks into the council hall, with Ezio not far behind us.

As soon as we’re inside, my eyes get drawn to a vampire I don’t know.

His physical appearance is young, maybe eighteen at the oldest, and he’s standing near Yorick, who is busy chatting with him.

When I walk in, he glances at me and Ezio before looking back to Yorick, and I find myself questioning why there’s a new vampire among us.

“That’s Phil Witt. None of us knew he was showing up, but he arrived here about an hour ago,” Julian explains.

“Witt as in the son of the elderly couple we found dead last night?” I ask.

“Exactly.”

“I didn’t realize he was a vampire. Was this not on a report? Especially one that young.” I look at Ezio, who isn’t saying anything. Is it because of our talk right outside? “Ezio?”

He startles before looking up at me. “I never saw anything about him being a vampire,” Ezio says quietly.

“Casimir spoke to him about this and he said he’s been living in a city that doesn’t require registration,” Julian informs us.

I watch as the newcomer follows Yorick over to a seat, and I find myself sitting away from them.

Yorick looks over at me like I’ve committed some grave sin of avoiding him while he waves wildly to the two chairs he clearly saved for Ezio and me, but I just…

I don’t like being around vampires I don’t know.

Somehow, I’ve become used to most of the others here.

And while I don’t trust any of them, I would prefer to sit next to them instead of some random man I’ve never met.

Ezio sits next to me, and as he does so, he reaches over and squeezes my hand that’s sitting on my leg. It’s such an odd gesture that I can’t look away from it. I feel like I’m waiting for someone to tell me something horrible. And I’m prepared for whatever Ezio is going to say.