Page 8 of Surging Reef
Kazimir’s heart was beating hard as he dressed in his ninja clothes—the same black cargo pants as yesterday, but a clean and dry black long-sleeved T-shirt. He grabbed his break-and-enter backpack, walked down the stairs and into the kitchen where Ashby and Pharos were waiting.
It was good to have a second person in the house when you had an injured dog. Then he could stay on the bottom floor, and Kazimir didn’t have to carry him up the stairs all the time.
Ashby whistled. “You’re looking handsome.”
A blush threatened to paint his cheeks. “Eh…”
His flustered reaction made Ashby laugh, and Kazimir gave him the finger. He was surprised when Ashby walked closer and took him in his arms. They might have escaped vampires and planned a break-in, but were they at a hugging stage?
“I don’t like this.” Ashby was serious all of a sudden. He didn’t like hugging?
“Well, I didn’t ask you to…” He shrugged a little to be let out of Ashby’s hold, but he only tightened it.
“Vampires are dangerous, Kaz. You met me at my weakest, but vampires are strong, and they are fast. You won’t see one coming if you’re fumbling around in the dark. I think it’s better if I go.”
“Hell no. She wants you.” He knew nothing about this Queen Anne person, but he couldn’t let Ashby walk into a trap.
Ashby didn’t reply for several seconds. “Maybe this is a bad idea. I can call my bank and block my card and get a new one. I know where to get a driver’s license, and who needs clothes?
You’ll keep me warm, right?” He ran his hands up Kazimir’s arms in a way he didn’t think could be interpreted as platonic.
It most likely was a bad idea to go to the apartment, but he wanted Ashby to have his things.
“We’ll go.”
“Both of us.” Ashby nodded.
“No, Pharos and me.”
Ashby’s eyebrows were climbing his forehead. “You’re taking a limping dog, but not me?”
“You can drive, but you need to not be seen.”
Ashby huffed and took a step back. “I’m a vampire.” He knocked his knuckles on his chest. “I know you saw me as a broken skeleton, but I’m several times stronger than you are, faster, I see in the dark—”
“The queen’s most wanted and allergic to silver.” Kazimir raised his chin. He wasn’t stupid. He was aware Ashby was most likely much more suited for nightly break-ins, but if he got caught, he’d be killed, whereas Kazimir most likely wouldn’t. He hoped.
“She won’t kill me.”
“You’ve never met her.”
“I’ll go there, unlock the door, and walk in. If someone sees me, I say you picked me up at a bar and brought me home but kicked me out before I could grab my wallet.” Then he frowned. “You like men, right?”
Ashby gave him a lazy grin. “Yeah, I like men. They’ll assume I fed from you, though, so they might not feel the need to conceal their vampiric nature.”
“They’d feed from me?” Shit, maybe this was a bad idea. A shiver went through him. He hadn’t enjoyed being Ashby’s meal.
“Most likely not, but they might not hesitate to use their strength or speed.”
Kazimir nodded. He had a pocketknife somewhere. He should bring it. Would it help to stab a vampire?
“Right.” He nodded, dropped his backpack on the counter, and jogged up the stairs to his bedroom. He pulled out the dresser drawers until he found where he kept the knife and pocketed it. Then he jogged down to the bottom floor again.
“I’m ready.” He walked into the kitchen and grabbed the backpack. “Come on, Pharos. Time to go.”
“You’re taking him?” Ashby moved toward the front door behind Kazimir and Pharos.
“Of course. He’s not used to being home alone, and he guards me.”
Ashby said nothing but shrugged into his filthy shirt and accepted the car key.
* * * *
Ashby didn’t like this. He didn’t like it at all. Why the fuck had he said he wanted his things? It was only material things. He could make do without.
He parked a few blocks away from his apartment and tried to come up with a good argument for coming along.
“I’m coming—”
“See you in a bit.” Kazimir leaned over the center console and kissed him on the cheek. “Don’t let anyone see you.”
Ashby was stunned for a second, then he pulled Kazimir closer again and kissed him properly.
His lips were soft against Ashby’s, and when Ashby begged for entrance with his tongue, Kazimir opened for him.
He allowed a low moan to escape. It had been a long time since he’d kissed someone simply to kiss him.
Kazimir broke away. “Be careful.” Then he opened the door and slipped out. Be careful? It was Kazimir who needed to be careful.
The door to the backseat opened, then Kazimir was unhooking Pharos and grabbing the backpack from the floor. “We’ll be back in a minute, don’t move.”
“Kaz…”
“Bye.”
The door closed, and Ashby cursed. Fucking hell. He couldn’t sit here and wait while Kazimir risked his life. He blew out a long breath and watched as Kazimir walked away from him, Pharos by his side, but the street was deserted otherwise.
He waited. Waited for a minute. Two. Five. Then he growled at himself and got out. He locked the car and slowly stalked down the sidewalk.
His gaze jumped around. People were asleep. It was in the middle of the night, so it made sense, but he scanned every shadow anyway.
Every sound made him freeze. This was so stupid.
He crossed through a few gardens and came up behind his building. Nothing moved in the shadows, and he stopped to smell Mrs. Nowak’s honeysuckle. He loved the scent of honeysuckle.
As quietly as he could, he climbed the fire escape. He stopped to listen and look around at regular intervals, but the night remained still. It didn’t mean there weren’t eyes watching.
When he reached the roof, he crawled to the edge and looked down the front of the building. Someone was sitting in a car. Fuck.
He didn’t know what all Anne’s guards looked like, but he’d bet it was one of them. Where was Kazimir?
Ashby scanned the street. It would surprise him greatly if there were only one guard.
He stayed where he was for an eternity. Nothing happened. Maybe Kazimir had seen the guard and turned around. Maybe he was waiting for Ashby by the car.
Right as he was about to turn around and climb back down, the car door opened, and the guard stepped out. Fuck.
He crawled backward and down to the fire escape. He believed he could get in through the bathroom window—he never closed it properly—if he could balance on the ledge long enough to get it open without falling down.
* * * *
Kazimir was about to insert the lockpick into the lock of Ashby’s door when it opened from within. He jumped to his feet and stared into the eyes of a short woman with long dark hair.
“Eh…” Kazimir blinked. “Who are you?” He was not only a master thief, but he was also a master at asking questions.
The woman tilted her head to the side, and Pharos growled. Shit, the only time he’d heard him growl before was when they’d found Ashby. Did it mean the woman was a vampire?
“Who are you?” Her voice was cold.
“Brian Birdwell.” Perhaps not the best name to go with, but he’d worked with a Brian Birdwell years ago, and he was a misogynist, racist, homophobic bastard. He most likely deserved to be hunted by vampires. “Now, who are you, and what are you doing here?”
She tilted her head in the other direction, a condescending move. “I live here.”
“No, you don’t.” Then he waved his hand as if annoyed. “It doesn’t matter, I’m only here to get my wallet.”
“In the middle of the night?”
“Asher isn’t answering my messages, the fucker, so I figured I’d break in and grab it while he slept or was out fucking someone else.”
Her eyes widened. “You’re his…boyfriend?”
Kazimir huffed. “No. We hooked up, then he threw me out before I could get dressed properly, and I forgot my wallet. I need my wallet.”
She smiled, but it was the kind of smile someone gave a newborn kitten when it tried to find its balance. Or maybe a bit more feral. “And when was this?”
Fuck, for how long had she had Ashby locked up? He’d been a skeleton, but when he talked, it didn’t sound as if he’d been held captive for months on end.
“A few weeks ago, and it’s getting fucking hard to get by without my credit card.” He hoped he managed to sound angry instead of scared.
“Come in, Brian.”
The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. He did not want to go inside when she was there. “It’s okay. I’ll come back another day.”
“But you were so eager to get your wallet back.” She smiled a mostly closed-lipped smile, but he could’ve sworn her teeth were sharper than could be considered normal. Hell.
“You’re making me uncomfortable.”
“Me?” She chortled. “Are you often afraid of petite women?”
“Pharos never growls.” He gestured at Pharos. “But he growled at you. I trust my dog. I think I’ll come back when Asher is here.”
“Ashby.”
“What? No, I’m here to see Asher.”
Her gaze flicked to something to the left of him, and Pharos’ growl grew in intensity. Ice spread in Kazimir’s veins. He didn’t need to turn to know someone was there.
He took a deep breath and looked. A large man with curly chestnut hair and startling blue eyes was glaring at him. “Oh, hi, are you here to see Asher too?”
The man smiled, with fangs. Then he grabbed Kazimir’s upper arm in a bruising grip and pushed him inside the apartment.
Pharos tried to bite the man, but he blocked every attack with a booted foot.
Kazimir had to give it to him—he didn’t kick Pharos; he simply pushed him away.
It didn’t mean he was a good man, but a better man than some.
“Pharos, stay!”
Pharos whined but stilled. Huh? Maybe he’d had proper training at some point.
The man, vampire, whatever, pushed him down on a chair, and Kazimir allowed it. He wasn’t sure what he could do. He had his pocketknife, but it was two against one.
“So, Brian…” The woman smiled at him again, with fangs this time, and Kazimir gasped. He’d known they were there, but he figured he wasn’t meant to know there were vampires in the world. “You’re here for your wallet?”
“Yes.”
“In the middle of the night.”
“Yes.”
“And you’re important to Ashby?”
Kazimir frowned. He didn’t think he was important to Ashby.
Sure, running for your life created a bond, but no, he didn’t think he mattered to Ashby.
“Asher. No, we hooked up once. He’s a dick.
Hot but mean. Maybe he’s in the closet, I don’t know.
Internal homophobia or something. The moment he shot his load, he told me to get the hell out of here. Some guys are like that.”
The woman laughed. “They are?”
Kazimir shrugged. “It’s better not to pick up guys in alleyways. I don’t know, maybe he’s a rent boy and…Fuck, did he steal my wallet?”
He looked between the two, allowing desperation to show on his face. How long would Ashby wait in the car?