Page 4 of High Stakes and Soulmates (Fanged Mistakes #3)

EZIO

“So then this absolute trash of a human being sweeps in and is all,” I mimic the hair swipe I swear he did, “‘Hi, I’m Zach, and I wanna touch you all over’ to my Cyrus.”

“Oh wowie, he said that? With you standing right there?” Yorick asks, hanging on to my every word. Clearly, he understands me or he’s so attention starved he’s willing to pretend to.

“And then he was all, ‘After work, meet me around back in this dark and nasty corner where I’m gonna touch you with my fingers.’ With his fingers .”

“Oh noooooo,” Julian says with much sarcasm. “So… even though this story is the most riveting story I’ve ever heard in my life, can we go back to the body staked to the wall? I know it’s like… so boring compared to some guy asking Cyrus out, but you know…”

“It was like woman, stake, bam. And then this Zach tossed his smoldering look right at Cyrus! At Cyrus !”

“I just… I feel like one of those things was significantly more interesting than the other,” Julian comments. “Like… significantly . I’m struggling to put my finger on which one.”

“I mean… it’s obviously the dead body, but I really don’t think we’re going to hear any more about that,” Yorick says.

The door opens and Casimir walks in before taking a look at Yorick. “Why is that pest inside my house?”

“You really shouldn’t call your lover a pest!

If you’re going to treat him that way, then I’ll simply take him home with me,” Yorick retorts as he wraps Julian up in his arms. It’s easy to do from where we’re sitting at the table, but what looks easier than that is Casimir punching Yorick back to England, which is what Casimir seems ready to do.

Yorick, realizing this as well, quickly retrieves his arms. “I kid, I kid. Puppers, please save me.”

“Casimir, thankfully you’re here. I need to start my story over,” I say.

He grimaces. “Please don’t.”

I decide to tell him anyway. “We need to call a meeting with the vampires because there was this woman staked to a wall and a man drained dry, but more horrifying than that was this detective flirting with Cyrus. With Cyrus .”

“Oh? Cyrus has a date. That sounds lovely,” Casimir says.

I gasp, and when I don’t get the reaction I want, I gasp louder. Evidently, his superior sense of hearing is on hiatus. “Casimir, you don’t get it.”

“Tell me about the bodies,” he says, so I grudgingly fill him in.

Julian shakes his head in disbelief. “I’ve been trying to hear about the bodies for fifteen minutes, and instead, I got charades, miming, detailed descriptions, and scenes acted out, all over some guy asking Cyrus out on a date.

We don’t even know if he accepted! But Casimir walks in and bam, he spills it all. ”

Casimir gives his shoulder a squeeze. “You need to show more fang, dear. Try it. Bully him.”

“I’m not going to bully him now that he spilled it!” Julian protests.

“Well, that’s boring,” Casimir says. “Fine, we’ll call a meeting. I also want to see the bodies. Let Cyrus know, and then, instead of fawning all over him, simply ask him on a freaking date. Have you ever even tried that?”

I open my mouth and then hesitate. “I’m sure I have.”

“I should have eaten you when I met you,” Casimir growls.

“No! You love me!”

“And I should eat you just for fun,” he says as he points at Yorick who was quite pleased that Casimir was bullying someone else.

“Ha… ha ha. I really was invited here. Tell him, puppers. Tell him how you begged me to come over.”

Julian nods eagerly. “I did. I called him up and was like, ‘Yorick, please, nothing would pleasure me more than having you come over.’”

Casimir points to a delivery box sitting in the corner; I think Gustov’s royal kibble came in it. “If you’re going to be here, you must be in the box.”

“Ha… ha ha. As you wish,” Yorick says before he goes over and sits in the box like a cat.

Why he’d agree to this, no one really knows.

Julian gives him a wave. “Yorick, please ignore him and stop sitting in the box. I’m positive he’s been leaving boxes lying around just so he can get a chuckle out of making you sit in them.

” He turns to Casimir. “So… do you think there’s a vampire who’s snuck into your territory? ”

“At what point will they understand that every vampire who trots into my territory ends up dead?” Casimir asks, extremely displeased.

“Right? But what if it’s one of our own?” I question.

“I possibly know someone I can ask about it,” Yorick says.

“But this cold cardboard box makes it hard to think.” He slowly runs his finger along the edge of it, looking quite dejected as his long hair that’s thrown up in a bun sticks up in the back.

“There is someone… we could possibly ask… then again, if I’m forced to ask him, I believe I would cut his head off. ”

“Atticus?” Julian suggests.

Yorick growls merely hearing the name. “What are your thoughts on hiring a hunter?”

“To find the person who killed these two?” Julian asks.

“What? Oh… shit, sorry. I forgot about them… yes, for… that vampire… and not another… ooh, I bet it’s Atticus. We could simply murder him, and if no one else dies, then we found our man! How delightful!”

The look on Julian’s face tells all of us that this is not the normal reaction to have toward someone we dislike.

“You and Casimir really should be friends. Both of you are delighted by the idea of murder. Casimir, let’s call that meeting soon.

Someone might have seen a vampire or know something.

It’s too late tonight, so let’s do it tomorrow.

You guys really should be heading home; it’s already getting close to sunrise. ”

Yorick listlessly runs his finger along the lip of the box before trying to sink down into it. Since the box had held dog food, it’s quite big, but not big enough to close himself inside. “So… it’s just such a far drive, and if I have to be back here when it’s dark for a meeting…”

“Isn’t it like fifteen minutes?” Julian asks.

“I’m too depressed to move,” I declare.

“You’re all just going to sleep here because… why? You’re hundreds of years old and have never had a slumber party?” Julian teases.

“Ooh! How fun! I’m so excited you’ve asked us to a slumber party!” Yorick announces. “Where should I sleep?”

“Right there,” Casimir says.

“Ha ha, you’re such a kidder. There’s a whole huge house just filled to the brim with rooms that surely have beds in them.”

Julian waves him off. “I’ll get you guys set up somewhere.”

“I will lie in misery right here,” I state before oozing out of my chair and laying my head on Gustov. The dog’s tail immediately starts going as I sink into the bliss of the fluff.

“You should make a pillow out of his fur the next time he’s groomed,” I decide.

“Please don’t give Casimir more ideas. Our house has enough Gustov in it at this point. Can you imagine him making Gustov fur pillows?” Julian says with a grimace. “You guys want to watch TV or something until bed? I have some tests to grade, but I’ll join you once I’m done.”

“I’ll help you grade them,” I offer as I grab one of the tests. “Will they notice if I leave tears on it?”

“I… I would prefer no tears on it,” Julian says, sliding the paper back to himself. “How about you do the multiple choice? Do you think you could do that? And I’ll work on the short and long answers?”

He slides the answer sheet over to me, and I set to work, thrilled to have something to occupy my mind.

“I wonder if I should give up my life of luxury, become a hermit, and teach wolf children in some village in the forest,” I muse.

“Let me know how that goes,” Casimir says as he stops to look at what Julian is grading. “Isn’t it the third week of college and you’re already making these children do long tests like this?”

“It’s a level three class. I’ve already had most of them for years,” Julian explains. “That means I can torture them even more. Trust me, they deserve to be tortured.”

“You’re very sweet,” Casimir says.

“Thank you, dearie.”

“You two disgust me,” I whisper.

Julian sets his hand on mine, stilling the pen I’m using to mark incorrect answers. “I’m being serious. What about going out and trying to date someone?”

“I don’t… I just…”

“Why? You might be surprised who you find out there.”

I don’t even know what to say to him because the idea of dating someone… the idea of losing someone again… “I just… I’ll think about it,” I settle on.

Julian gives me a look, but sighs and returns to his grading.

When the following night rolls around, I find myself arriving at the council hall a bit early.

No one’s even here yet, so I sit on a stump and watch the night sky until Julian and Casimir roll up.

I used to hate the night sky so much because that’s when the monsters are free to roam… and then I became a monster.

“Hey, you beat us here.”

“I was on this side of town and had nothing else to do,” I admit.

Julian’s attention is immediately sidetracked when he sees his father pull in.

“Do you want me to do the threats?” Casimir asks, like this is a normal question to ask someone. “I do love threatening Terrance. I don’t know if you know this about me, but it’s one of my favorite pastimes.”

“I will handle it,” Julian says as Terrance gets out of the car and immediately opens his mouth, but before he gets a word out, Julian shakes his head. “You will not start claiming that the vampires are monsters because we suspect that the couple was killed by a vampire, do you hear me?”

Terrance closes his mouth and stares at his son. “I would never.”

“Never, my ass!” Julian says.

Terrance walks over, gaze locked on Casimir. “I see you’re here.”

“I see you’re here too,” Casimir chokes out.

“I saw your threat for today.”

Casimir looks as proud as a peacock. “Yeah? And did you like it?”

“I thought it needed a little work. Felt like a playground threat,” Terrance says.