Page 24

Chapter

Twenty

OWEN

I walk down the path to the river with a throng of fellow students.

Monsters and humans of all kinds amble away from campus as the sun sets.

It feels like I’m in a parade with various spider shifters, werebears, mummies, and so many other species, along with my fellow humans.

I smile, content to know that this is my community now.

Nine months ago, we were all at an off-campus riverbank bonfire to start the year, and now we’re here, two weeks before the end of the semester.

With the glow of the firelight and crowd of happy students, this is the perfect environment to bookend my first full academic year here at the infamous Creepin U.

After several minutes, we’re all drinking libations by the fire.

It’s a warm spring night and music and laughter fill the air.

Shonda regales me with hilarious stories of her study sessions with a cyclops and a gnome, and Rachel and I howl with laughter.

The smell of woodfire, carefully controlled by the phoenixes, fills my nostrils, and I couldn’t be more content.

Of course, so much of that is because of a certain special someone.

I peer in the distance at the monster jocks splashing around the river.

We college students will take any excuse to take off our clothes during a party, but they genuinely seem to be having fun.

I came with my boyfriend, but he was quickly whisked away by his team. Only now I don’t see him…

“Boo!” I turn and giggle at the voice next to me. A dripping wet, shirtless Clay is the best kind of Clay—tied with every other version of my man.

“Hey, you.” I beam at him and hand him my cup.

He grins and sips the beer. His long dark locks are soaking wet, evidence of his romp in the river, and he resembles a big, wet puppy.

“Wow, Owen. When you said back in January that you wanted a vampire boyfriend, I didn’t think you’d successfully manifest it,” Rachel remarks. Shonda chuckles, and I shrug. My friends have all since met Clay as my significant other, and I have no qualms touting him as my man across campus.

“Hey, I’ve seen the presentation,” Clay says. “More like, open invitation.”

Shonda and Rachel laugh, but I simply grin. “That was a general presentation, in reference to any queer vampire boy.” I take back the drink. “But you fit the bill adequately.”

“ Adequately ?” Clay makes a dramatic face, but my friends and I crack up. “I’ll have you know I am pretty fly.”

“For a vampire guy,” I add. I wink and begin to wrap my arm around him, then remember he’s dripping wet. “Do you need a towel, babe?”

“Nah.” He shakes his body and head aggressively, like a golden retriever. My friends and I get sprayed and shout, all while Clay laughs. “I can take care of it.”

“Aw, okay, with that, we’re leaving,” Shonda says through a giggle.

“Yeah. Come on, I think Kovi is letting people swing off his branches.” Rachel nudges Shonda then points away.

In the distance, I can make out Tanner standing next to his tall, tree- monster boyfriend.

His arm branches are spread as folks attempt to leap up to him.

I’m glad the two of them are still going strong despite their contentious love story.

And I’m even more happy I have a love of my own.

With the girls gone, I pull Clay closer, wetness be damned. “If I didn’t love you, these water antics would be ridiculous,” I say with a grin.

“Yeah, but you still think I’m fly.” His grin drops. “Do kids nowadays say fly?”

“No,” I murmur against his lips. We kiss and then break apart with a laugh. No one makes me smile as much as Clay Cannon.

After a moment, I gaze up to see several thunderbirds and vampires flipping around in the sky. Their aerial acrobatics are impressive, and students are cheering and howling at them. I recognize some of them as Clay’s friends from the Vampire Gliding Enthusiasts, so I look down at my boyfriend.

“You wanna go join them?”

“Should I?”

I shrug. “The semester’s essentially over. It’s a party. And it looks fun.”

He seems to mull it over, then grins with his fangs out.

“Be right back.” He pecks me on the cheek, and, with supernatural speed, dashes up a tree.

Less than a minute later, he’s gliding over the bonfire, laughing with his fellow vampires.

He does multiple spins and somersaults as he and the other vampires land on opposite trees.

They launch themselves off, ping-ponging back and forth through the skies.

Seeing him fly is a sight to behold, and knowing how far he’s come warms my soul.

To think I tried to resist falling for this bloodsucker.

I shake my head and grin, then take a sip. After a minute, I notice one person in the crowd walking up to me with purpose. He’s holding a bundle of cloth in his arms. Between his serious face and his brisk walking, my anxiety rises.

“Yuki?”

“You. Owen Bhat. Where is Clay?”

The dude’s voice sounds sterner and louder than I’ve ever heard him. The last I heard, he outright refused to join the end-of-year student bonfire, opting to stay in the dorm.

“He’s um…up there.” We both look up at the aerial theatrics.

“Well then, you can take care of this.”

“What?” I ask.

He pushes the bundle toward me and I put down my drink to take it. I recognize it as one of Clay’s sleeping shirts. When I open it, a black furball launches out.

“Woah!” I stumble back, only to have it land on my shoulder. Then, the critter licks my neck.

I gasp. “Bat Nathanson!” I almost tear up in joy. I take my baby in my hand, and he smiles at me. “You’re back!”

“He is,” Yuki says, unimpressed. The two of us walk while I cradle my familiar in my arms. Not only do I recognize his cute little rodent face, but he’s still wearing the pink scarf Clay made for him. “He kept rapping at our window. I let him fly in because it was really annoying.”

“When?” I can’t stop smiling as we walk away from the crowd and bonfire and toward the riverbank.

“Maybe half an hour ago. It was very disturbing.” Yuki seems genuinely vexed as he shoves his hands into his hoodie pocket.

“But I know he’s your familiar. I could tell he was looking for you.

He landed on Clay’s shirt. If I hadn’t forcibly brought him here, he’d be squeaking and flapping at me all evening. I figured…”

I cuddle my fur baby closer. “Well, thank you, Yuki.”

When I look up, Clay descends from the sky. “Yuki?”

“Look who turned up at your dorm!” I exclaim .

Clay gasps and moves closer. “Our baby!”

“Yeah, you’re welcome,” Yuki says in a bored tone.

Clay snickers as he rubs BN’s belly. “Well thank you, man. I know how annoying you think parties are. You can go now. You’re officially relieved of your roommate-ly duties.”

“Yes, well parties don’t fit well with me, so I should…” His words trail off. While Clay cuddles BN, I notice Yuki staring out at the riverbank. When I track his gaze, I notice some water polo monsters are still bouncing around a beach ball and laughing.

Yuki clears his throat but doesn’t turn away from the riverbank. “I’m already here. I…I guess I could stick around.”

I bite back a laugh; I know all too well what it’s like to be enthralled by monster jocks despite myself. “Well, I hope you find this gathering of the student body to be…enlightening.”

He bristles and walks away. He’s a perceptive dude, that Yuki, but he’s not very good at hiding what he desires. He’s ambling toward the riverbank for crying out loud.

I turn back to Clay and BN. My boyfriend wipes his tears as our familiar licks his hand. I rub his bare shoulder and smile at him. “Wow,” he whispers.

“I know. We must have done something right, eh? Bat Nathanson is back, presumably forever.”

“He missed the blood bottle.” Clay won’t stop crying. “That’s probably all it is. He doesn’t actually care about us.”

I laugh as my eyes begin to burn. I move closer and gaze at our pet smiling up at us. “Well, I read that familiars have an emotional connection with their witches, and I suppose that’s us.” We both chuckle. “What do you think he’s thinking?”

Clay looks up at me, tears streaming down his gorgeous face.

“He’s thinking…he used to be so lonely. He didn’t think anyone would understand him, or support him, or give him space to learn how to fly.

” Clay sniffs, an d his words clench around my heart.

“And now he gets to feel love for the first time instead of vapid emptiness.”

Well damn . I lean forward and slowly kiss Clay, holding his face in place.

When I pull back, I wipe his cheek of another tear.

“I bet he’s thinking that he’s always wanted a jock that understands him for all his nerdy quirks.

And that you’ve shown him how amazing it is to love and be loved by a monster.

And he has no intention of looking for anyone else.

” I lean forward to kiss Clay again, when?—

“Squeak!” I look down at our familiar, cradled against Clay’s chest. We laugh, then he flies up and lands on my shoulder

“I can’t believe Bat Nathanson felt all that,” Clay says with a wry grin. He wipes his eyes and I snicker.

“Well, he’s so damn in love with you. And so am I.”

Clay touches my face. “I love you, too, Owen,” he whispers. I make a mental note to never let go of this vampire man. Come hell or high water, I want to ride with him and be the love of his life.

Instead of saying any of that, I reach up to my left shoulder and pick up BN. I hear a gasp, and then look up.

“Is that who I think it is?” Shonda nearly squeals as she approaches us. Rachel, Tanner, and Kovi—in human form now—all stride toward us.

“Have you guys met our familiar?” Clay asks. We take turns passing around our pet. Everyone coos and fawns over him, and our familiar basks in all the attention.

I gaze at my amazing boyfriend, and his face glows in the firelight. Here, in this moment, I have so much more than I could have dreamed of when I first arrived at Creelin nine months ago. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.