Page 42 of Missing Piece (Neon Scars #2)

“He’s not a pet,” Vincent mumbled, wringing his hands as his gaze kept drifting toward the bathroom. “What’s with Marcus?”

“Subtle way to change the subject, but whatever. He’s…

not doing well. He’s stressed, not sleeping, not eating ‘cause he’s trying to make sure everyone has enough.

In another two weeks, he’ll probably start getting real snippy.

He’s been on the blood bags for over a year, and now he’s getting nothing,” Ophelia said.

“I give it a month tops before he pulls a Matteo and starts biting people in the club.”

Vincent sighed. Of course Marcus would starve himself to make sure the others had enough.

He was always trying to set an example for Ophelia on what the right thing to do was, even to his own detriment.

Fatherhood certainly had a way of neutering a man.

“He has no interest in a warm meal these days?” Vincent asked, running his finger over the lip of the bar.

Vincent caught the distant sound of retching, the awful noise of someone being violently sick.

Adam was vomiting.

He pushed away the desire to run into the bathroom to check on him. He’s just a human throwing up. He’ll be fine, Vincent told himself.

Unless he’s sick. Is he sick? Jae’s a nurse, he could take a look at him. Well, no, I pissed Jae off already today. Shit.

Ophelia waved her hand in front of his face. “Follow me,” she said, not waiting for his response before she turned on her heel and headed for the swinging double doors behind her bar that led to the employee access hallways.

He didn’t want to follow her. He wanted to go wait outside the bathroom for Adam to finish so he could walk him back to the table, or take him back upstairs so he could rest. He was still recovering, and if he was being honest with himself, he shouldn’t have dragged Adam into their meeting anyway.

But he was feeling oddly territorial, and his beast fed into it, urging him to parade Adam about in a way that let the others know that this grumpy, scowly, beautiful human was his and his alone.

But he resisted the urge and followed his niece instead.

She was elbow deep in the ice machine, digging around with her tongue peeking out of her mouth.

“We have this new barback named Andrew that cannot put the ice scooper back in the fucking holder for the life of him, and I’m going to wring his neck when he comes in tonight,” she declared as she pulled the large scoop out.

She put it back in the holder on the side of the machine and wiped her arm on her oversized hoodie before she turned to face him, her eyes narrowed.

“I know Marcus is being a bit of a fuckhead, but what about you? What’s going on with you and your pet—er, Adam? ”

“That’s a bit invasive,” Vincent said, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

He didn’t want to have this conversation with himself, let alone a nosy sixteen-year-old who would probably never experience emotions the same way their kind did.

She couldn’t even process emotions the same way humans did, how would she understand the intensity that vampires felt?

Ophelia raised an eyebrow. “I’m not asking for all the gory details, Uncle Vinny.

I need to know if what we’re doing in town is going to be affected by the out-of-town stuff,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. “As far as Marcus knows, you’re still working on dealing with the cult, and superglue can only cover these fucking bite wounds in my side for so long before he starts to wonder why I smell like glue all the time.

I’m not going to pretend I’m super into huffing to cover your ass. ”

“I’m not the one who told your dad you wanted to spend the night at the farm just to ‘hang out’,” Vincent pointed out.

She shrugged. “Yeah, but you also let me borrow Petrov’s truck to go check it out with a human you were keeping chained up in your house, so I’m sure the only ass getting kicked if it comes out is yours,” she said.

“I just want to make sure you’re good. Because at this rate, the next human we hire here is going to be the least smelly homeless person with a resume on a napkin so Dad can feed, so I can’t be worrying about whether or not you and your human are too distracted playing grabass to deal with the Cajun Cunts or whatever they’re called. ”

He knew she had a point, but he also couldn’t deny that he was distracted by Adam.

Adam was unlike anyone he had ever met before, and the emotions he stirred in Vincent were…

something he thought he had buried years ago.

They were painful, even the pleasant ones.

The little part of his barely beating heart that knotted up when he heard Adam’s real laugh or saw a genuine smile.

He had promised himself he would never let another human get close enough to harm him.

And then he did something no vampire his age ever did…he invited his own destruction into his home.

“I’ll take care of it,” he assured Ophelia, not sure if he even believed himself.

She would probably see right through his words, but in that moment he didn’t care.

Marcus was finishing up his usual “responsible vampirism” speech and then the others would start to clear out for the night covered head to toe or hide in the sectioned-off Members-Only area of the club until the sun set.

Then he could go check on Adam without too many eyes on him.

It was already excruciating enough on his psyche to have those closest to him know he was struggling with what was happening to him, he didn’t need the rest of them finding out. Any semblance of the respect they had for him would vanish overnight if they did.

“If you don’t, you know my dad will get involved.” Ophelia walked over to the double doors, peeking back out into the club. “They’re done out there, if you want to go check on Adam. Or you know, you can stay back here and try to pull your head out of your ass.”

“Very funny,” Vincent rolled his eyes. He followed her back out to the bar, frowning when he didn’t see Adam back at the table with the twins yet.

Matoskah stood at the bar, his pale eyes meeting Vincent’s for a moment before turning his attention to Marcus, who was standing near the front of the room, staring out at someone who was reading the Help Wanted poster again. Interesting.

Ophelia followed their gaze and squinted as she pulled out her phone. “That kid looks familiar,” she said, her tone flirting with amusement. “Dad, what are you looking at?”

Marcus spun around, his mouth opening and closing without a word. He ran his fingers through his hair and his pallid cheeks flushed as much as they could given his state of starvation. “Nothing,” he said as he walked back towards the stairs.

“I’m gonna see if that guy wants to apply!” she announced, rushing to the front door. “Everyone get the fuck out before I open this door.”

“Ophelia, don’t—” Marcus began .

“I’m doing it!”

“Meet me in the back,” Matoskah said flatly, motioning for Vincent to follow him.

As Vincent followed Matoskah through the curtain to the Members-Only area, he looked between a very nervous Marcus, wringing his hands as he stared out the front windows, and a wildly grinning Ophelia as she slowly opened the door.

The young man outside moved back from the window, his scarred face a mask of concern and anxiety.

Vincent kept his amusement to himself as he entered the backroom hallway, the thick black curtain shutting out the rest of the club and the overhead black lights making it feel as though they had moved into a completely different world.

If she hires him to be Marcus’s next meal, that will be a mercy.

He looks like he will get eaten alive in our world.