Page 27 of Thirst Quenched (The Unwilling Adventures of Harlow & Foxx #4)
H arlow gripped Alastair’s wrists, holding the man’s clawed hands away from himself with ease. The vampire was actually trying to get to him…he could tell…he was just…failing horribly.
Harlow supposed he shouldn’t be shocked at how weak the man was, considering Alastair hadn’t been able to get past Foxx. And while he had to put in some real effort to overpower his brat, the fact was, he could overpower Foxx now. Actually…Harlow had a feeling he wouldn’t have had any trouble dealing with Alastair when he’d still been ‘human’.
“Alastair, stop. I don’t want to kill you,” he said blankly. “No…actually, I don’t care if you live or die. But for one, you dying would make Foxx sad. And two, he’d probably dump me, even if he understood that you attacked first. Neither of those things happening works for me.”
“You are such a selfish ASSHOLE!” Alastair hissed.
Harlow leaned his face away when the man lunged in his hold, the vampire’s face getting a bit too close to his.
“I am…but that’s not new.”
Alastair stood there for a brief second, his body tense with anger, before he sagged, tears cascading down his cheeks as the man, to Harlow’s ever-growing horror, began to sob.
“Why?! Why did it have to be you? !” the vampire cried. “You are going to get him killed! Don’t you get that!? DON’T YOU CARE?!” Alastair bellowed.
“I do care!” Harlow snapped. “I made it clear that him dying for me is not an option. I’m not worth it. He promised me he would be fine.”
“HE LIED!”
Harlow had a feeling that rather than outright lying, Foxx just wasn’t sure if the words he’d said were the truth. “Was he lying when he told me that after I've registered on PEAR, Daydric would keep him safe from the council?”
Alastair hissed. “The fool! The bloody fool!”
He eyed the vampire, who while still tense, wasn’t struggling anymore. “If I let you go, will you attack me again? Because I honestly don’t like…touching you.” Harlow grimaced at his own words.
Yeah, he probably could have worded that better…or have just left that last bit off… Oh well… It was the truth.
Alastair’s face pinched, the man staring in bafflement for a moment before huffing, “I won’t…but let me just say, I'm feeling more than a little offended.”
Snorting, he let him go. The vampire stepped back and straightened the sleeves of his turtleneck, but not before Harlow caught a glimpse of his wrists. He had felt the texture, but seeing the jagged scars painted a different picture than what he’d imagined. Mostly as the scars were so familiar to him that he knew instantly what had put them there—a vampire.
It wasn’t a normal bite either. A vampire had viciously bit through flesh and tissue, tearing away as they chomped down. But the scar tissue looked old…and a mess, as if it had been given time to heal before the injury had been repeated…making him think that…maybe it had happened before Alastair had been changed. When he’d been human.
When the man covered where he’d been staring, his gaze flicked up to the vampire’s face. Alastair was glaring still, but he was also biting his bottom lip nervously now.
“Not my business,” he drawled. “Now…will Daydric protect him or not? Is Foxx wrong in assuming he will?”
The vampire took a deep breath in and out. “He will…but that’s not really the problem. The real question is: will he be able to do it fast enough. It’s not as if the council knows who the originals are currently favoring. They mostly try to stay away from them, to avoid pissing them off.”
Harlow’s face pinched as he tried to work out the logic in that. “How…in the fucking hell does that even make sense? Wouldn’t they want to know who was in with the originals, to avoid pissing them off by not accidentally killing someone that’s theirs?”
Alastair snorted. “You’d think that. But the council is full of people drowning in their own arrogance. In their mind, as long as they didn’t know, they could be forgiven.”
More stupidity than arrogance , he thought with an eye roll.
“How would I get ahold of Daydric if Foxx went missing?”
The man slowly smiled, the upturn of his mouth taking on a slightly sinister twist. “Are you sure you want to know? Daydric may kill you for being the one who put him in danger in the first place.”
“If I die, I die. As long as he saves Foxx once he’s done with me, I don’t really care.”
The vampire frowned. “You…really mean that, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Does nothing scare you?”
“Foxx dying does.”
Alastair’s eyes widened.
“It’s a new development for me. Him almost dying and getting kidnapped fucked with my brain in some bullshit way that all came down to him being mine.” Harlow shrugged. “I’m not normal, Alastair. Never have been. And I frankly don’t give a rat’s ass if you hate me or not. All that matters to me is Foxx. The vampire no doubt doesn’t plan on leaving my side for too long anytime in the near future, due to my current issues. He is only out now because of some stupid shit. I will do everything I can to keep him safe, but if something does happen, if they do take him and I can’t get him back, how would I contact Daydric?”
The man took a deep breath. “Just call his name with purpose.”
Harlow stared. “What…? Is he a fucking genie or something?”
“No.” Alastair snorted. “Just call his name, and say something that will get his attention. And…” the man paused before adding, “Talk fast, in case he tries to kill you before asking any questions, for having the audacity to summon him like a dog.”
“Noted.” He sighed. “I suppose…this does help me settle on keeping the cameras up.”
“Cameras?” the vampire squawked.
“Why do both of you say ‘cameras’ like that?”
“Oh…my…Goddess.” Alastair glanced around narrowly, eyes widening when he must have noticed one. “WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?! You said cameras?! How many did you put up?!”
“So I maybe installed thirty-eight cameras after Foxx was kidnapped, for safety. A perfectly reasonable amount,” he said in all seriousness.
Alastair groaned and rubbed at his temples. “You two give me such a headache.” The man shook his head and started to walk away. “I’m out of here. Bye, you absolute psycho.” The man gave a sarcastic wave as he disappeared into the hall.
“Hope Daydric kills you!” the vampire yelled out.
“Alastair,” he growled as a thought occurred to him. The sound of footsteps stopped. “Try to stay inside and avoid crowds for now.”
“What…?” he heard the vampire rasp.
“I can’t tell you why. But it’s related to what just went down in Iowa.”
Foxx had no way to actually share things with Alastair right now, besides the phone, since they weren’t seeing each other. Harlow figured, if Foxx lost his best friend due to Maverick’s shit, the vampire would be…devastated? Was that the right word? Maybe… Either way, his brat would probably blame himself for not warning him.
“Okay…” The hesitant word was followed by the sound of the door opening and closing.
He sat back down in the gray plush chair with a sigh.
Just…call his name, huh?
Foxx walked into the apartment, the door closing and locking behind him. He was adding the extra safety locks when a scent caught his attention. Frowning, he flipped the last manual lock and sped down the hallway.
“Harlow… Was…Alastair here?” he asked, on finding the dhampir relaxing in the first half of the living room, in one of the chairs.
“He was. Don’t worry about it. We talked. Everything is fine.”
Foxx stared at the man’s blank expression, and…felt no comfort from it whatsoever. “Why don’t I believe you?”
Harlow raised a single brow. “Naturally suspicious?”
“No… I'm pretty sure it’s just that you are usually full of shit,” Foxx said with a fake smile.
The man shrugged. “No bullshit this time. Things are fine. I did warn him to stay inside though… Anyway, you should call Tony…now that you are back and all.”
He narrowed his eyes on the man, searching for some sort of clue that he maybe had Alastair’s body stuffed somewhere. Though…Foxx supposed he’d have noticed if someone had been offed in here.
Wait… Harlow had warned Alastair? Foxx…hadn’t even thought about warning the vampire. Some best friend he was!
Though, to be fair, it wasn’t like he’d had much time to think over this shit. Grimacing, and still eyeing the man suspiciously, he pulled out his phone.