Penny jammed the toner cartridge into the heavy duty copier with a little more force than she needed to. She reset the machine and the test pages printed out fine, so she swapped them out with a picture of a naked butt she found online. It was definitely a man’s ass as he sat on the copier glass, a smattering of dark hairs on his cheeks giving his gender away. At least she hoped that was a man. She left it in the printer tray for whoever would pick up the next set of copies.
There was fine black dust all over her hands and arms now, and a peek at her thighs showed she somehow had black smudges on her pants, too. Ugh. She hated changing toner cartridges out.
And how did she not see that Vince didn’t really care about her? His act was so convincing! That asshole. He just wanted some no strings attached sex. That was it. He was new to their world and she was the first shifter woman he’d happened upon. She felt like an idiot. She was just the woman he was going to dip his toes into this world with. The woman he could play around with until he decided what he really wanted.
The back burner girl that would always be around for when he felt like using her…
She wouldn’t be that person anymore. He could just figure out his life issues with someone that really mattered to him. He could talk to some other woman about meeting his dad for the first time, and about why he couldn’t shift, and, and…
She shakily wiped at the tears leaking down her cheeks, then hustled into the bathroom to see that she had swipes of black toner dust on her face. Awesome. She cleaned herself up feeling completely numb inside.
**
Vince turned the TV off when his mom and Ed sat down in the living room with him. They’d been acting funny today, so he wasn’t surprised when they said they wanted to talk to him.
“Honey, Ed and I, well, I love you very much.”
He stifled a smile. “Mom, it’s ok. Just spit it out.”
She briefly looked up at Ed, his giant arms holding her close. He had an anxious energy about him, and seemed a little worried.
Vince almost laughed. “Jeez you guys. Obviously something’s up. Are you engaged or something?”
Heavy silence made him finally start to worry.
“Honey, I’m pregnant. Ed and I are going to have a baby.”
His gut dropped, though he wasn’t sure why he felt so shell shocked. “A baby. Wow. Congratulations.” He managed a forced smile.
Ed piped up, “We talked about getting married, but we wanted to have this discussion together. As a family.”
That’s what was wrong. Vince wanted the life they were now making for themselves… a life he could never have. He looked away when he felt his face flush hot with emotion.
“Honey…” His mom’s hand on his shoulder made him feel selfish for stressing her out.
“You guys should do it. Get married.” He shrugged half-heartedly and said, “You’re a cute couple. And mom, you deserve to be happy. Really.” He gave her a big hug as Ed caught his eye.
He released his mom and said, “You should go celebrate.”
She got the cutest smile and a blush crept into her cheeks.
Ed said, “So we have your blessing?”
“Of course.” They shook hands and he felt like at least one goal was accomplished by coming to Brookhaven. His mom now had a life that made her happy.
**
Vince felt dead inside as he decided it was time to become invisible again and move out of Brookhaven. This place was for shifters and vampires, not for the physically challenged. He was sick of being sick, and nothing the doctor suggested was making him any better. In fact, he felt worse after eating more, drinking shifter blood, the vitamins… everything made him want to crawl away into a dark corner and die, now more than ever before.
And meeting his dad for the first time had been an angry, confusing mess. Min-chul was just a stranger that happened to have fathered him. Trying to get back in the picture now wasn’t something Vince even cared about anymore, and he certainly didn’t want his help with his life. Years ago he might have thought differently, but now it was way too late.
After his mom and Ed left to go to a Thai restaurant they’d never been to before, Vince looked around himself. His life needed to change again. He couldn’t stay living in this apartment while Ed and his mom created their new family here. She’d either move in with him or he’d move here, so Vince needed to leave. And if he was moving out, it might as well be right back into the human world. He belonged there way more than he belonged here.
He didn’t feel like looking for a place tonight, though, so he went down to the club for a drink while he mulled over how he was going to do this. He sat at the bar in the same spot he had the first night he’d come here, but this time he was the only one on a stool. He sipped his beer as he browsed through the roommate wanted ads online on his phone until movement to his left caught his attention.
Anthony and Kaia emerged from what he’d heard people call the vampire hall. It was the hall next to the bar that all the vampires went down to get to the sub-basement where they slept each day. Anthony’s expression was emotionless and stiff as usual, but when he noticed Vince, he looked more relaxed. Vince gave him a two fingered salute of a greeting and Anthony bobbed his head back at him.
When Kaia looked his way, he realized he’d forgotten about his promise to be there for her after she turned vampire. Oh hell. When was she turning again? Now that he’d made his decision to go back to the less painful way of life he used to have, he wanted to get out of this place as soon as possible.
He gestured to her. “Hey. Are you on your way somewhere?”
“No. I think we’re just hanging out here tonight.”
He flicked a look at Anthony, then back to Kaia.
She frowned. “What’s up?”
Anthony quickly said, “I need to do some work in the office upstairs for a while. Vince, could I get you to guard Kaia while I’m busy? Feel free to take my office if you like.”
Kaia gave them both a suspicious look, but said to Vince, “Ok. Let’s take a walk, then. I want some fresh air.”
“Sure. Sounds good to me.” He finished off his drink while he waited for her to grab a jacket. When she re-appeared, Anthony walked them out the front door upstairs before leaving them to go do whatever he was pretending to do.
They took their time walking slowly along the path that wrapped around the buildings. “So how are things going with him?”
It was a little chilly tonight and Kaia’s hands were stuffed deep in her jacket pockets. Her shoulders rose up as if she were trying to stay warm, and she didn’t look at him as she carefully said, “Anthony’s a good guy.”
“But…”
Her shoulders dropped and she finally turned and stared at him. “Did you know he’s going to turn me vampire?”
He nodded. “You don’t want him to?”
“I do, but I’m scared.”
“Of what?”
She shrugged and was quiet as she looked around into the dark night. He gave her time, figuring she had something big on her mind. Not that being turned vampire wasn’t big. He looked around himself, too. It was nice and peaceful out here. They were in the middle of a busy suburb, but far enough away that the sounds of nature were all that he mostly heard. If he moved back to Atlanta he’d have to look for a place in a quiet neighborhood like this.
She broke the silence when she said, “I could die.”
“We all die someday.”
Her eyes narrowed at him. “I could die instead of turn vampire.”
He winced at her tone and felt bad for his flippant response. He had his own issues that felt bigger than he could handle, but she had an equally big issue in her life, so he more gently asked, “You think Anthony will kill you? You don’t trust him?”
She frowned. “That’s not what I’m saying. It’s not about trust, it’s about the fact that this isn’t an everyday thing. I might not be strong enough to survive turning vampire. And if I don’t turn, then I’ve only had Anthony in my life for such a short time before he’s just… gone. Before I’m gone.” She shook her head in worry. “Who knows where I’ll go when I die, but he won’t be there.”
He put his arm around her shoulder and gave her a squeeze. “You’re not going to die.”
She quietly huffed. “You don’t know that.”
“No, but I believe him that he needs you. He said you keep him human. If you don’t make it through your turning, well, he really doesn’t want that to happen.”
“He told you that?”
He nodded.
She got a little twinkle in her wary eyes. “Are you guys friends or something now?”
Calling Anthony his friend sounded too much like a girl thing to say, and it made him laugh. “I suppose so. He’s not a bad guy, even though he does some scary stuff sometimes.”
She had a faraway look when she said, “Yeah, it’s some scary stuff.” She focused sharply on him, then, and forced a smile. “So how are you doing? How are things going with your girlfriend?”
His mood instantly soured. “Bad.”
“What happened?”
He started to tell her just little bits about his problems, but soon found himself spilling everything to her, including the fact that he couldn’t shift and that the doctor and everyone else was trying to help him. She was in such a unique position herself, and they were friends before he even knew she was in their world, so he supposed he felt safe, and even good to finally have someone he could tell all this to. Plus she didn’t have a hidden agenda or otherworldly ideas on what they could do to fix him. Kaia was one person in all this mess of his life that was almost in the same, vulnerable position as him.
“I’m sick of being sick, but I’m also sick of everyone seeing me as someone they need to help. And absolutely everyone is trying to help me.”
She was quiet as he let that hang in the air. It sounded childish to be mad that people were trying to help him, he knew that, but he felt it all the same.
She finally said, “It could be worse. They could all be ignoring you. Or refusing to help you.”
He stared her down as she gave him a challenging look, though her humble half smile kept his temper in check. He reluctantly chuckled and bumped her with his elbow as way of thanks for listening to him rant.
“How long have you been getting help? Just since you’ve been here?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s not very long for a lifelong illness. Don’t you think you need to give it some more time?”
His temper immediately let loose. “Have you ever been forced to drink blood? I have. Multiple times. And then I threw it all up.”
Her cheeks flushed and he felt like a jerk. “I’ll be drinking Anthony’s blood after he drains me. And then afterwards, assuming I survive the night, I’ll need help getting used to being a vampire. It sucks, but we all need help sometimes Vince. It’s just the way it is. Anthony says it’s why this family was formed.”
He scoffed. “You turning vampire is different.”
“Why?”
He knew in his gut this wasn’t going to go over well, but he said it anyway. “Because you’re a woman.”
She laughed out loud. “Screw you.”
He frowned, though he felt his mood lightening. He had a hard time being mad at Kaia, for lots of reasons. She was human, she felt like a longtime, trusted friend, and she was just as scared and confused about this crazy life as he was.
He looked away and said, “You sound like Penny.”
“Then she’s a smart girl.”
“Yeah. Or blind.”
“To what?”
He pinned her with a challenging stare. “To what things would be like if she had me around all the time.”
Kaia rolled her eyes. “Having a guy around that she connects with? Someone she feels good around? Why is that being blind?”
He inwardly grimaced because he hadn’t thought about Penny’s emotional needs like that before.
Kaia quietly said, “Girls have feelings too, Vince.”
He stared at her until she said, “Give this healing thing more time. Besides, you never know what might be the final trick to let your cat loose.”
He stopped and stared up at the stars. “The final trick.” He knew what the trick wasn’t, and that was blood. Or food. Or vitamins. Whatever it was, if there was a trick, it’d better be good.
Kaia started shivering, so they turned back towards home. On the way, they found a basketball on the lawn. “Play a game of horse?”
She chuckled. “Ok, but I’m not that great.”
They stopped at the basketball court and he bounced the ball to her to let her go first. She missed catching it and had to run after it. “Hey! Easy! I’m not a shifter you know!”
He laughed at that until what she’d said really sank in. If he moved out of Brookhaven he’d be going back to a world where he had to be careful of everyone he was around, all the time. He’d be going back to being careful with his emotions and hiding his eyes when he was mad or excited… and he’d still be sick and weak, only now he wouldn’t have his mom to help him with his bad days.
He took a hard look at the building in front of him. It was filled with people more like him than anyone out in the human world, yet no one was really like him.
The distinct sound of the basketball bouncing on the blacktop caught his attention and he turned to see it behind the hoop.
“You make it?”
She made a face and he laughed as he chased it down. He then promptly beat her at the game before taking her back inside.
**
They must have changed the guards inside over the last hour or so because now asshole Quinn was back, and he gave Vince the same shit eating grin as always. This time, though, his rude gestures and creepy looks were all because of Kaia.
Vince hustled her back down to the club, suddenly worried about her among all these shifters. Anthony was thankfully in his office and looked up as Vince shuffled Kaia inside and shut the door behind them. “Can you do that privacy thing you do?”
Anthony frowned, but Vince could feel magic building in the air.
“No one can hear us. What’s on your mind?”
He put his hand out for Kaia, and she slipped comfortably onto his lap as he sat in his rolling desk chair.
“Dude, you’ve got to keep that wolf guard upstairs away from the women. He’s a creep. He’s not one of Kaia’s guards, is he?”
“Who are you talking about?”
“Quinn, the werewolf.”
Anthony frowned. “Are there any guards you do trust?”
“I don’t know everyone yet, man, but definitely not that guy.” He rubbed the back of his neck and dropped onto the lone couch in the room. “This probably sounds weird, but some of those guards just don’t feel right. They’re too… angry. They feel malicious, like they’re just waiting to strike.” He shook his head in confusion.
Kaia frowned in worry, and he felt bad for talking about this in front of her.
Anthony said, “That doesn’t sound strange at all coming from a jaguar. Your race has a keen sense of others’ moods, as well as subtle changes in your environment. The other animals, as well as vampires, aren’t as naturally attune to those energies. You should never dismiss your natural talents.”
“Really?” When he put it like that, it made Vince sound like he actually had some skills. Maybe he wasn’t a complete waste of a shifter after all.
Anthony gave Kaia a good long look, then said to Vince, “If you don’t mind, I’d like your impressions of all of my guards, vampire and shifter.”
**
The apartment was empty by the time he made it home, his mom probably staying over at Ed’s again. Vince looked around at all their new stuff, still feeling like he was a guest in someone else’s place, and didn’t want it to be that way.
His head was a mess by the time he went to bed. It’d been weird to have Anthony asking for his opinion on family matters, mostly because he acted like he trusted Vince when Vince wasn’t even sure he even trusted himself. And Vince still wanted too many things that he didn’t know how to get. He wanted to stay in the supernatural world, he wanted to become a full shifter, and he wanted to be seen as a fully capable man in his father’s eyes, no matter how stupid that sounded.
Most of all, though, he wanted Penny back. He wanted to make a life with her. Kids, a place of their own… everything. He wanted it all, but not like this. Not while he still could barely take care of himself.