Page 59 of Inhuman Nature

“What did he say to you?” Rake asked.

“Nothing that needs repeating.”

“We can wait him out, can’t we?” DJ said, looking between Shaun and Rake for an answer.

“And then what?” Shaun said, stepping back from DJ and leaning against the front door. “I stay here forever and you two never venture out in the darkness again? I need to face him.”

“You’re sure he won’t just leave you alone if it’s going to be too much effort?” Rake questioned.

Shaun got a faraway look in his eyes. “If he moves on, it’s because he’ll have taken another boy. I can’t let him recreate another vampire to keep as a slave. I won’t let him do that to anyone else.”

DJ’s chest swelled with pride at Shaun’s conviction. “We’ll stop him together, any way we can.”

Instead of agreeing like DJ had imagined Shaun would, he stilled. DJ only understood why when Shaun spoke.

“He’s in the stairwell.”

DJ couldn’t stop the mortifyingly high-pitched squeak that escaped his lips. As much as he promised Shaun to be behind him all the way, facing the wrath of a vampire hell-bent on hurting them wasn’t something he was adept at dealing with. DJ was the sort of person who watched horror movies through his fingers on the rare occasions that Sophie convinced him to watch one together.

But, until that moment, DJ didn’t think he’d ever known true terror.

“Lawrence can’t get in,” Rake repeated, as if to reassure himself.

Shaun moved in front of DJ and Rake in a millisecond, back to them both, facing the door. Despite his smaller stature, he seemed larger in the defensive stance he took up. The tips of his fingers were now talons, and DJ knew if Shaun turned to face them, they’d see his fangs and flashing eyes.

Their very own creature, ready to fight for them against the monster at the door.

DJ strained to hear Lawrence’s footsteps. It was only Shaun’s flinch that alerted him to the fact that Lawrence was right outside before his voice sounded through the door.

“Pet, it’s time to come out.” Lawrence’s voice was deceptively calm.

DJ shuddered. He grabbed Rake’s hand, wanting to reach out to Shaun as well, but afraid any sudden movement would scare him further.

“You’re not welcome here,” Rake called.

There was the sound of muffled laughter. When Lawrence spoke again, his words dripped with condescension. “You have no right to get in between a Master and his pet, Rakesh. Tell Shaun to get out here, or I’ll be taking it out on your boy.”

DJ’s stomach roiled at the threat. He gripped Rake’s hand tighter.

“This is between you and me. Leave them out of it,” Shaun said. He sounded so,soyoung—like the teenager he’d been when Lawrence recreated him.

“Ah, you’ve found your voice after all, pet. Open the door for me.” There was something odd in the way Lawrence said the last part, the command seeming to echo through the flat.DJ whipped his hand out, grasping Shaun’s shoulder to stop his movement when he twitched forward.

“I can smell what you’ve been getting up to in there,” Lawrence said. “You little slut. Bending over for the first humans who show you a lick of affection. It’s desperate and tragic.”

“Ignore him,” DJ said to Shaun.

“Come out here, Shaun!” The hissed request was even eerier this time around. DJ swore he could feel the words wrapping around his insides, trying to get him to comply, even though they weren’t for him.

Shaun stumbled back into Rake, who wrapped his arms around him and pulled him close. “Donotlisten to him, sweetheart,” Rake said close to Shaun’s ear. “Focus on my voice. I’m telling you to stay here, with us.”

A shiver-inducing scratch sounded from outside the door, like nails on a chalkboard. The image of the prim vampire attacking an inanimate object as if it had personally wronged him might have been funny if DJ wasn’t so terrified.

Shaun let out a wounded little sound, and DJ moved to stand at his other side. Shaun looked up at DJ, eyes spilling over with red. If Rake hadn’t warned DJ of how Shaun cried, he’d probably have fainted at the sight.

One bloody teardrop escaped and ran down Shaun’s cheek. DJ brushed it away, heedless of the stain it left on his hand.

The noise outside the door stopped. They all stood still, waiting.