Page 70 of Inhuman Nature

“This is—was—Shaun’s room.”

Rake’s head swivelled as he looked around. “Not much to it.”

“I grabbed some of his clothes. See if you can fit the rest in your bag.”

As Rake did just that, DJ padded out to the hallway once more. The next door led to a closet that was full of towels, linens, and blankets, and the one after that was a bathroom. The final two doors lay opposite one another at the end of the hall. Rake came out of Shaun’s room and joined him.

“Which one are you taking?” DJ asked, wanting Rake to be the one to make the final decision.

“You take left. I’ll go right.”

“I bet I’ll be the one to walk in on him.” DJ shuddered. “Bloody hope he doesn’t sleep naked.”

“I can go left if you’d rather?”

“Nah. I’ve got this. Naked sleeping vamp, here I come.” DJ walked up to the door and, before he could talk himself out of it, turned the handle. There was no ominous creak this time, just the silent slide of the door opening.

And as DJ predicted, he was the one to come across Lawrence. Luckily, his other prediction wasn’t so accurate.Or at least, it wasn’t as far as he could see.

DJ raised his phone to shine a light through the room. There was no stereotypical coffin, only a grand four-poster bed containing the sleeping vampire. DJ stood still as he waited to see if Lawrence would stir, but he looked like he could be truly dead.

DJ inched closer to get a better look, his sense of self-preservation apparently having left him. Even though he’d seen Lawrence a few times before, it was different to seeing him like this.

The vampire looked vulnerable. It was a shame DJ couldn’t take advantage of it.

DJ clocked Lawrence’s laptop lying on the desk. An older model, its thick silver surface reflecting the light from DJ’s phone.

He tiptoed over with an eye on Lawrence all the while. Channelling his inner Indiana Jones, he picked the laptop up in one hand. Only, he had forgotten how heavy old laptops were, almost dropping it in surprise.

Even through the noise of DJ fumbling with the laptop, Lawrence remained unmoving on the bed.

After letting out a breath, DJ hurried back over to the door, laptop in hand, and made his way back out into the hallway. He almost screamed when he caught sight of Rake standing right outside.

Rake eyed the room behind DJ. “Are you okay? Is Lawrence in there?”

“I’m fine.” Other than the mild heart attack Rake had just given him, he didn’t add. “Any sign of Shaun?” he asked.

Rake’s jaw tensed. “No.”

DJ hadn’t expected it to be as easy as walking into the first room in the house and finding Shaun, but part of him was also relieved he wasn’t there. The prospect of Shaun ending up back in Lawrence’s clutches was worse than most other fates DJ could imagine for him.

He and Rake stayed so quiet that Van and Sophie didn’t realise they’d come back downstairs until they entered the kitchen. The women, heads close together, jumped apart as they walked in.

DJ waggled his eyebrows suggestively, and Van scoffed. But Sophie’s pale skin had flushed with embarrassment, so DJ stopped making fun of them, no matter how much he wanted to.

“Find anything?” Rake asked.

“Nada,” Van said. “Dude does not keep anything important in the kitchen. And you know what else he doesn’t keep? Groceries. Ofanykind.” She threw open the fridge doors. “Not even condiments! What kind of monster doesn’t own a slightly expired and half-used bottle of ketchup?”

DJ snorted. Van might just end up figuring out what Lawrence was by exploring his house. “The kind of monster who deserves us stealing this from him?” he said, holding up the laptop.

“Gimme!” Van made grabby hands, so DJ handed it over.

“Your guy’s ex is seriously weird,” Sophie said. “He has a drawer just for knives.” She pulled it open to demonstrate. Sure enough, knives of all sizes lay in meticulously ordered rows, each of them gleaming in the light.

“Yeah, I don’t even wanna think about what those might be used for,” Van said.

“Time to go?” Sophie asked.