Page 35 of Moonlight Hearts

Thaeros nodded.“The Black Shuck mentioned that.He said he was going to walk me through that himself.Said security was a priority.”

“That makes sense.”Soyer had been very insistent that the system was necessary, that it have a double lock, and that only he, Dwayne, Ben, and I should have keys.It was over-the-top, but very much typical Soyer behavior.“I’ll show you where to put the napkins.”

Thaeros nodded and followed me back out to the front of the diner where none other than “my vampire” had just walked in, a big, tall guy with a stony face following him.

“Amory!Amoryyyy!”Instead of finding himself a seat, Elias jogged around the counter to meet me, falling around my neck in a display of affection.The tall guy behind him narrowed his eyes and tensed his jaw muscles, but kept trailing Elias.

I patted his shoulder.“Hey, easy there.”

He sniffled.“Yes, I’m easy, so easy.Too easy.Amory, I was hurt.”

I tipped my head back, unable to break Elias’s hold.I nodded at Thaeros to let him know it was okay to let me handle this, and he headed back behind the counter to restock.

I did my best to whisper into Elias’s ear.“Are you okay?The guy with you—”

Elias turned.“Oh, Ambrose?Ambrose didn’t hurt me.Ambrose is a darling.Think of him as a big fluffy bunny, one of those ones with the cute long ears and the adorably fluffy tails.”

Ambrose, very much not a bunny, fluffy or otherwise, had closed the distance between us.Ben was at this end of the counter and had turned when Elias had come running.I saw him and Ambrose exchange a nod.It was all very macho, but it connected the dots for me.Ambrose was Elias’s Ben.

“How about I find you a seat?”I patted Elias on the shoulder again.

He sniffled some more.“Oh, would you?I’d be ever so grateful.Amory, I don’t know that I have the energy to do even that anymore.Do you think… If it’s not too much of a bother, maybe we could find a seat for Ambrose too?In fact, Ambrose, wouldn’t you be very comfortable sitting with Ben, rubbing shoulders and such?”

Ambrose crossed his arms.“I’ll take the table by the door.”

Elias finally released me from his hug.“Of course.I only meant to make you feel comfortable, Ambrose.Please don’t hold it against me.I do care about you so very much.”

Elias was wringing his hands.Ambrose kept his arms crossed.“I’ll be at the table.Behave.”He looked at me.“Mr.Saintclair, thank you for having us.”

Elias clicked his tongue.“Why, of course Amory would have me.We are the bestest of friends, Ambrose, please understand.”

“Yeah, right.”He walked off, leaving me to handle Elias.

I pointed at a chair at the counter.“Come on, sit over there.”

I managed to get Elias a few seats away from Ben, mostly to make sure Ben wasn’t pulled into whatever Elias had planned for this visit.Which, knowing him, probably involved a chocolate milkshake he wasn’t going to get.

More sniffling.“Yes, I should sit.I’m not feeling very well.It’s been such a trying day, and it started so well, so promising.Fernando is out sick, and Simeon forced me to temp for him on account of that, you see, only he said it wasn’t temping but actual work, which was less fun, but how hard could that be, a little clicking with the mouse, a little filing of the files?Oh, I had no idea of the terrible turn the day would take!”

He was gearing up for more.I could feel it like a brewing storm behind cloud cover.The last time I’d seen anything like it was when our go-to juice place had changed their menu and slimmed it down by a few items.

I put a hand on his shoulder.“How about I make you a milkshake?”

As if on cue, he gave me the biggest puppy eyes ever.“Could I please get a chocolate one?”

“Just vanilla.You know that.”

Elias would’ve been great on stage.Or in movies, except that was probably a no-no for vampires.He made his bottom lip quiver before saying, “Amory,please.”

I nearly broke then.He was convincing in a visceral way.But intellectually, I knew I was being played.

“I’ll dust it with cocoa powder, how about that?”

“And you’ll put chocolate sprinkles on too?And I get extra cream on the side?You know how much I like my cream.I kept telling Simeon when he let me have a break how much I like to take cream, but he just wouldn’t hear of it.Downright ignored me.”

“Uh-huh.Let me get you that milkshake.”

Big eyes again.“That chocolate milkshake?”