Page 4 of The Vampire's Werewolf Bodyguard

Cody

Sometimes, Cody hates being right. Five seconds in and this job is already a disaster. Judging by his glare, the anemic twink in the doorway agrees.

“You must be Simon.” Cody holds out a hand, clinging to professional niceties. Exhaustion grates behind his eyes, and he wants to just grab his bags and turn around. But he has a fucking job to do. “Is my species going to be a problem?”

Simon ignores the hand. His stillness is at odds with the softness of his pale complexion, the light brown hair brushing his throat. He doesn’t look a day over twenty. The chandelier above frames him like a halo—but the cold scent of death is anything but angelic.

Nothing about Simon looks like someone who needs a bodyguard .

His blatant distaste for the situation is almost funny. Almost. Guarding a vampire is already a disaster. A defiant vampire will be impossible.

“Not a problem at all.” Simon’s tone turns polite. Almost friendly. “Because you’re not staying. There seems to have been a mistake.”

“Simon,” a voice calls from another room.

That must be the sire. Simon’s hand whitens on the doorknob, so tight Cody’s surprised the metal doesn’t bend. Defiance still sharpens his glare, but he acquiesces like a wolf obeying his alpha’s growl.

“Fine,” Simon says coolly. “Wipe your shoes.”

Cody takes a deep breath to settle himself, bristling with awareness of Simon’s gaze. He doesn’t have much patience for asshole vampires at his best, and this definitely isn’t his best. The full moon is barely past. Cody spent the past few days on mission prep with Tobias before flying over. Private flight, of course. His bags would never get through security. Still more people than Cody wants to interact after the full moon.

But Cody has to prove his self-control to Tobias—and to himself. He wipes his shoes on the mat without complaint, hefts his bags, and enters the vampire’s lair. Instinct snarls silently as Simon locks the door behind him.

“This way,” Simon says. He doesn’t move as quickly as Cody expects from a vampire. Maybe he’s slowing down on purpose.

Their destination is down the hall, past the spacious foyer. Cody pays close attention, comparing everything to the blueprint he studied with Tobias. The few windows are boarded up, which is good from a security standpoint. New Atwood cameras and alarms glitter in various corners, and there should be more out of sight.

When the cab had pulled up to the front gate, Cody’s first glimpse of the property confirmed many of his fears. Some vampires are tolerable. The ones that get over themselves and adapt to modern life. Simon, however, lives forty-five minutes outside the suburbs. The mansion backs onto deep private woods, and the nearest neighbor is out of sight.

Cody isn’t sure whether the lack of neighbors is a good or bad sign.

The parlor is brightly lit and eclectic. Still lifes and empty frames decorate the walls, and modern lamps clash with the old velvet furniture. Cody’s attention zeroes in on the second vampire, unfolding from the low couch.

This one makes Simon look practically cuddly. Dima rises with dangerous grace, every element of his body in effortless alignment. He smells more of dust than death. Cody’s wolf stirs at the dry scent, and he has to bite back a defensive growl. Fuck. Hopefully his face doesn’t show the strain of forcing himself down.

Simon glares poisonously between them, then takes the vacated couch.

“Hello, sir.” Cody shifts his bags to one hand, then decides against attempting a handshake this time.

Dima’s face comes alive with his smile. “Thank you for coming. I knew Tobias would deliver. Please, set those down.”

If Cody didn’t know better, he would think this was Dima’s house, not Simon’s. He sets the heavy duffels down. One holds mostly clothes, the other mostly weaponry. He has a license for almost all of it. The rest, they don’t make licenses for. Paranormal jobs call for paranormal measures.

“You know Tobias?” Cody asks.

“By reputation,” Dima says. “I don’t know yours, though, beyond your… lupine nature. For obvious reasons, I need a fellow nonhuman to guard my fledgling.”

Fledgling. Vampires are fucking weird. Simon drapes one arm over the back of the couch. He looks poised to stab someone at any moment. Zero resemblance to a baby bird.

But Dima is the one paying Atwood, so Cody shouldn’t mention how fucking weird vampires are. “I’m Cody Weston, and I’ve been with Atwood for four years. Did Tobias forward my credentials?”

Dima waves a hand. “Yes, yes. Tell me more about the important things, though, before I leave my fledgling in your care. Do you have a pack?”

Cody can’t help tensing. His answer is a hell of a red flag. “No, sir.”

“That’s good,” Dima says to Cody’s surprise. “No conflict of loyalty.”

Ha. No, obeying his pack has never been Cody’s problem.

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to survey the house and confirm protocols with Simon,” Cody says. Changing the subject might be rude, but he isn’t here for small talk, and definitely not small talk about himself.

His terseness prompts a wide smile from Dima. The pointed canines wouldn’t draw a second glance if someone didn’t know the signs. “Straight to business. I respect that. My own business requires attention, too, so I’ll leave you to get started. Simon.”

Simon glances up, expressionless .

The air blurs, and Cody instinctively braces to move. But there’s no attack, just Dima suddenly standing in front of Simon. Bone-white fingers trail down Simon’s cheek.

“Do as the nice wolf says,” Dima orders. His voice, still warm, has an edge. “Don’t let your pride lead you into peril.”

“You’re one to speak of pride,” Simon answers softly.

Centuries of emotion echo behind the touch. Like he’s intruding, Cody looks away. He doesn’t like someone touching his new principal without warning, but this is none of his fucking business.

The air blurs again, and Dima is gone. The front door clicks shut, and Cody’s keen ears pick up the security system humming into place.

Simon looks over. The movement shifts honey-brown hair across his temple. Despite his apparent youth, his gaze is cold, ancient, a predator assessing a rival beast. “Let’s get things straight, wolf.” Simon swings to his feet. “I neither want nor need a babysitter.”

Five foot eight tops, he has to lift his chin to glare at Cody.

For the first time since arriving, Cody finds himself on even footing. The job makes sense. Simon isn’t a baby bird—he’s a spoiled brat. The centuries don’t matter. Cody’s familiar with the stubborn lips, the eyebrows knit into a dare. He’s worked with recalcitrant charges before. Simon is testing him, and Cody isn’t going to break.

Cody hooks his thumbs into his pockets, body language open and relaxed. Unthreatening but unshakeable. “I believe you. Looks like you have one anyway.”

“And if I’m not wrong,” Simon continues, in the voice of one who knows he isn’t wrong, “you don’t want to be here either.”

“I want to do my job,” Cody says. “The more you cooperate, the less I’ll bother you. The more you get in my way, the more I’ll be in your way. Understood?”

Simon’s hard to read, what with the barely breathing thing. Enough air to talk, and not a breath more. “Staying out of my way sounds perfect.”

Grudging agreement is a start. “Great. Now, can you walk me through the attack?”

He’d gotten barebone details from Tobias. The client hadn’t provided much. An attack by a human, suspected to be a hunter, who didn’t survive. Which frankly sounds suspicious as fuck—but if a vampire murders a human, there are better cover-ups than hiring a werewolf bodyguard.

Simon points at a chair. Cody sits, trying not to feel like a dog doing tricks. Simon returns to the couch, but perches on the rolled arm instead of the seat.

“I was at a friend’s club, looking for someone to drink from,” Simon starts. His pale fingers are stark against the velvet. “I found a man named Lawrence Baird—or he found me. My friend says he was staring at me all night before I beckoned him over.”

That’s alarming. Interest lifts Cody’s exhaustion. “You think this was premeditated.”

Simon pauses before answering. “Premeditated, but not personal. Lawrence wanted to kill a vampire, and I was unlucky. I opened a private room, then began to drink from him. But the blood was… wrong.”

“What do you mean?” Cody asks. The briefing hadn’t mentioned this .

“He’d drugged himself with something that poisoned me, leaving me weakened,” Simon says, then hastily adds, “Temporarily weakened. I’ve since recovered. Lawrence had a hunting knife, but I shot him in the head before he could saw off mine.”

Cody’s gaze drops, but there’s no sign of a holster on Simon now. “Do you always carry a gun?”

“Often. Is that a problem?”

“No, just tell me when you’re carrying, if it’s not obvious,” Cody says. “I need to know how many weapons are involved in the situation.”

Simon laughs with mocking warmth. “You’ve been fraternizing with humans too much, wolf. We are the weapons.”

Cody bristles at the word ‘fraternizing’ but forces down his anger. Not very well—Simon’s smile stiffens, as if noticing Cody’s tension. The bloodless brat is observant.

“Dima is handling the investigation into Lawrence,” Simon continues. “You’re just here to annoy me, apparently.”

“I’m here to protect you,” Cody says firmly. “Whether you want me to or not. Dima hired me, and I’m not cheap. That means he has reason to believe this isn’t random, and any information you have will help me do my job.” When Simon remains quiet, Cody continues. “But I’ll be honest—I’m not a detective. I’m trained to prevent known threats and react to surprises. That’s it. I’m keeping you safe, not solving the case.”

Simon shrugs. “Like I said, Dima is handling the investigation.”

Maybe Cody’s imagining Simon’s air of resentment. Probably not. He doesn’t like the way Dima surprised Simon with a werewolf at his door. Dick move.

Then again, Dima may have a lot on his plate. A hunter planning to kill a vampire, staking out a blood club? That’s dangerous treaty-related shit, well above Cody’s paygrade.

“Normally in an active threat situation, we would have an entire team out here,” Cody says. “Not just one guy.”

“Don’t think you can handle it?” Simon asks, fake sweet.

Cody leans back in his chair. “Werewolves sleep too. But Atwood Security was short on paranormals, so I’m the team this time. Luckily, your new security system is higher tech than we’re supposed to be capable of. You’re safe here, even when I’m sleeping, and I’ll accompany you any time you leave the house.”

Simon is silent for so long, Cody braces himself for an argument. But Simon’s eventual question is simple. “Is that all?”

“We should review some other protocols,” Cody says. “I won’t tell you to do much. But if I say something, then do it. No questions asked, even if it doesn’t make sense right then. You can always yell at me later.”

“I look forward to that.”

Cody bets he does. “I also want to review your daily routine. And do you have a phone? I want to add a panic button.”

“Sure,” Simon says brightly. “Tomorrow night. I’m busy now, but you can play with my phone and review protocols to your heart’s content tomorrow night.”

“Now would be better,” Cody tries.

“Either I’m safe here with your fancy security system, or I’m not.” Simon waves his hand, an echo of his sire’s dismissal. “Tomorrow night.”

Fine. Cody knows how to pick his battles. This isn’t one he wants to fight with the full moon hangover pounding his bones. There are other settling-in procedures he can handle tonight. “ That’s fine. I should inspect the system. Do you want to show me around, or should I explore on my own?”

Searching would be more efficient without the vampire lurking nearby. But principals sometimes get jumpy about Cody poking around unsupervised, at least for the first few days. By the time Cody settles in, he’s invisible unless he’s needed.

As expected, Simon straightens up. “I’ll give you a tour,” he says, and hops from the couch.

But once standing, his face whitens even further. His blue-green eyes go blank—before rolling back.

Lunging forward, Cody catches Simon as he falls. His charge’s body is cold and light, featherweight bones in his arms. Cody lays Simon out on the ground, careful to stabilize his neck.

Training and instinct drive each thought at breakneck speed. Cody puts two fingers to Simon’s wrist, and his heart sinks when he doesn’t feel a pulse. Simon is cold, not breathing—

Right.

Rationality kicks in. Simon is a vampire. He’s supposed to be cold. His pulse is supposed to be slow.

And he’s a sneaky little liar. Looks like that poison wasn’t so temporary after all.

“Hey, Simon,” Cody says soothingly, pressing two fingers beneath Simon’s jaw. Maybe he can catch a pulse there. “Can you hear me?”

One faint beat against his fingertips. A moment of relief.

Then Simon’s eyes fly open, and he claws at Cody’s face.