Even a week after Colette was officially moved from her old home in the East End to her new place in Midtown, I am still looking over my shoulder for Fintan or her father to gun me down in broad daylight. But as that hasn’t happened yet, I can only guess that Declan has done his part in keeping our relationship secret.
Declan’s not half bad, actually. The medical profession gets zero training in treating vampires. While there are similarities, there are stark differences that could stand to be addressed. Whenever one of my men are badly injured, I either have Declan meet us in Midtown with his paramedic bag, so I can educate him on how to treat our kind, or I do a video chat with him, so he can learn remotely.
I’ve picked up a few things too, like how to get the stitching tighter when suturing a long tear from a knife fight. Orlando sits in on the calls, too. It’s an alliance I did not expect, but I am no less grateful for it.
Nico is less than thrilled about the prospect of making nice with the enemy, as he calls them. My brother doesn’t know of my infatuation with my sweet Coletta.
Orlando put his foot down that I must tell my baby brother tonight. I haven’t stopped sweating all day.
I could tell him now, while Orlando drives us through West End with Nico in the backseat of my black sedan.
I could, but I’m not ready.
It’s not going to go well, to say the least. Nico was enraged when I told him I was teaching Declan how to give medical attention to vampires. “They’re not our kind, Rome. They’re going to use that information against us. The humans are always looking for a way to get rid of vampires. You’re playing into their hands!”
As much as I understand Nico’s fears, which are not entirely unfounded, I trust my gut, which trusts Declan completely. I have known the guy since we were kids. He’s not one to look for reasons to tear other people down.
Plus, Coletta adores him. I have to make nice with at least one member of her family. Declan is the easiest one to deal with.
Plus, it’s no small boon to have a paramedic who is capable of treating us. We’ve never had proper medical care before. This could be the start of things actually changing for the better for my people. I know the world has a long way to go before vampires are considered more than a dangerous nuisance, but it’s a start.
Declan seems to understand this, as well, so he’s done his best to remain amiable, even though it is pretty clear I can’t stop lusting after his kid sister.
That’s another thing that is going to be a problem tonight when I tell Nico about my new girlfriend. Aside from us being different races, and her family spending years doing nothing to keep our territory safe when that was the sheriff’s job, Coletta is Nico’s age, which is a decade younger than me. She was just getting out of diapers when I hit my teen years.
I grimace at how cringeworthy that sounds, even in my own head. I will have to word it better than that.
“You’re doing it again,” Orlando scolds me. “Staring off into space, worrying without talking. What are we walking into that I don’t know about?”
Oh, nothing more than Nico’s flaring temper and smart mouth.
But I know that’s not what Orlando is concerned about.
I tear my thoughts from the inevitable and refocus in on the matter at hand. “Martin’s Dry Cleaning was only laundering the drug money on behalf of Frank’s Grill. We need to figure out if the grill is where the sloppy drugs are originating from. If it’s not Frank’s Grill, then we need to dig beyond them.”
The useful and often necessary drug called halluci-mend is what I cook up for my people, so we have some form of medicine that helps us. But that isn’t the problem. Aside from cutting into our profit margins from creating and selling halluci-mend, the bastardized halluci-blend is far more addictive and can turn deadly if overused. Of course, the drug has been largely supplied in the West End, turning what could have been a thriving community into a depressing place to live.
If they cannot exterminate us, I guess their plan is to make us so miserable that we can’t lift our heads to demand better from the world at large.
I have to figure out where the halluci-blend is coming from, so I can stop this drug from tearing down my people.
The stuff being sold in the East End isn’t near as dangerous. Don’t think that hasn’t kept me up at night. It’s a targeted aim at us.
“Awesome,” Nico deadpans from the backseat. “Honestly, sometimes I’m on the sheriff’s side. Might as well just let the idiots kill themselves. No one’s forcing the B-level drugs on the populace. They’re taking it of their own free will.”
Nico only talks this disrespectfully to me when we’re away from public view, as we are now while Orlando drives us through the West End.
I pause before I reach for the old response that I am sure my little brother has memorized by now. “Our halluci-mend is clean, but the halluci-blend is not. Our stuff is nothing like this garbage. Anything that makes a vampire’s fangs fall out isn’t something I want in my territory. Whoever is distributing this is playing on our misery, giving our people an escape that takes them further down the rabbit hole. There’s no recovery for these people, Nico. They won’t be able to kick their addiction; not that I’ve seen, at least.”
Orlando’s jaw tightens. “The West End can be better than this. I don’t want vampires known for our unsafe streets and debilitating drug addictions. Do you?”
“No,” Nico drones sulkily, sounding every bit like the child he is. “I’m just tired of this being our problem to handle. We’re not the ones dealing this garbage.”
“No arguments here,” Orlando mumbles as he pulls into the parking lot of Frank’s Grill. “Not too busy inside. Clear out the patrons before you get started, eh, Nico?”
My kid brother grunts, his fists moving in slow, clumsy swoops. “Caveman, smash! Nico no good for thinking jobs, only destroying things.”
I roll my eyes at his sass. I wonder if I ever had the gall to talk back to Dad like that. “You want to do more of the talking and less of the smashing? Then go where I put you without a fuss. I had to do the same thing when Dad was grooming me. If you don’t learn this skill, your first negotiation won’t go anywhere, and you’ll have to fight your way out anyway.”
“Nico go where Rome says,” my little brother replies, still using the caveman cadence simply because he knows it annoys me.
“Take pride in your place in the family business, Nico. If you can’t appreciate your role now, then you won’t appreciate the people who you depend on when you’re in charge someday.”
Nico responds with an exasperated sigh. “Fine, fine. I’ll be the most cheerful enforcer you’ve ever seen. Might even whistle a little tune while I demolish the valuables.”
I am never more grateful for Orlando than when subjected to Nico’s insufferable attitude. I swear, though Nico and Coletta are the same age, she is far more mature and capable than he is. She owns her own franchise, despite having dealt with a debilitating brain injury and a blood condition that puts a mark on her back. Nico wants everything handed to him, demanding the perks of our family name but not the grunt work it takes to maintain such a legacy.
He will learn.
But what a pain it is to teach him.
Orlando fists his door’s handle. “I’ll watch him, Rome.”
That makes me feel a little better. The whole point of bringing along an enforcer is for me not to worry about anything except talking with the target.