“Let’s go,” I said.
One more furious glance at Sonny and Dean ended our embrace. “Follow me.”
The drawing room was now full of vampires of the non-broken kind. Suited and booted and scarlet-eyed, surrounding the lord of the house.
Brem stood at the heart of his people, smirking, looking so full of himself.
I kept my mouth firmly closed this time. Anywhere could be a trapdoor, and I didn’t fancy another round of broken vampire slaying. We’d had to put an end to three more on the way out.
“Dusty,” Brem said. “Did you all have fun down there?”
“The stone?” Dean said through clenched teeth.
“What’s the matter, Mr. Tseng? I mean, I had so much fun watching.”
I kept my tone cool. “You have cameras down there?”
“Yes. Why wouldn’t I?”
I shrugged.
“Mr. Winter. I hope you’ve learned a valuable lesson on how to conduct yourself respectfully.”
Keep it shut! I didn’t answer.
The wanker chuckled. “Humbled.”
Dean stepped forward. “The stone.” He held out his hand.
“Yes, indeed. I’ve had my fun. A deal is a deal.” He clicked his fingers, and one of his vampire males handed him a purple velvet pouch. “Here.”
Dean took it, popping it into his coat pocket. “Thank you, Brem.”
“Mr. Meijer.”
I watched Dean’s hands clench into fists. “Of course, Mr. Meijer.”
“Now, please take your weapons and leave.”
Without a word, we took our stuff from the butler who offered them to us and turned to get the hell out.
“Sonny?” Brem said.
I paused, turning my head to see Sonny do the same.
“I’m willing to let this one go. Only once. If you come crawling to my house with stolen artifacts again, I’ll eat your heart.”
“But—”
“You’d argue with me?”
Sonny’s tail was firmly between his legs. “No, sir.”
“I do not require the services of some common, mutant street thief. Now go.”
Outside, the cold seemed so much sharper after being in warmer digs. The three of us headed a few streets away from Brem’s house before taking a pause.
Sonny became animated outside a closed café, pacing. Any minute now, he’d run off. “Fine. You got me. Whatever. Get the police down here. What do I care? Let them lock me away. Not like I’ve never been in a cell before.”
“I was thinking of leaving you at the mercy of Mila for twenty-four hours,” Dean said.
His skin went ashen. “What?”
“What do you think, Jake?”
“We could do that. Be a good punishment for him. We missed movie night after all.”
“Please—”
“Please, what?” Dean cut him off. “Please, don’t give you such hard payback for all the trouble you’ve caused tonight? This isn’t fun and games, Sonny. That was serious business back there. Any one of us could’ve been killed.”
“But we’re all good, right?” Ah, he was gearing up to take off.
“Far from good.”
“Wait,” I stepped in.
Sonny’s eyes were wide, his tongue poking in and out at the pace of an erratic heartbeat.
I stood up straight, sticking out my chest. “Go home, Sonny.”
“What?” Dean and the snake responded in sync.
“You saved my life.”
“He did?” Dean asked.
“Yep. Well, he at least saved me from a hospital trip.”
Dean nodded, contemplating. “You’ve just got yourself a free pass. A one-off.”
“Seriously?” Sonny’s body relaxed slightly. “What’s the catch?”
“There won’t be a free pass next time.”
“Oh.”
“Not that this is gonna be the last time we come after you,” I added. “Is it?”
He scratched his beard. “I’m sorry I put you in danger.”
“Damn right, you’d better be sorry. Leave Mila’s shit alone. Keep away from Brem. Stop ruining movie night.”
He sighed. “Can I go now?”
“Yeah, go.”
With that, he took off at a brisk pace. I watched his snake tail disappear into the night.
“He could’ve run,” I said. “He didn’t have to intervene at all.”
“The man has a conscience. Sort of.”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll tell Mila he got away.”
Mila would be cross, but she’d get over it eventually as she’d have her stone back. Sonny would need to stay out of her way for a long time, though. She really would fry his bollocks up for stealing from her.
He put a hand on my shoulder. “Look at the state of us.”
“What a dusty duo we are,” I added. “I’m trying not to think about being covered in dead vampire.”
Jake & Dean Investigations was Dean’s way of putting things right. We’d applied to the supernatural council for a license together, getting a yes super-quick because of our history. It was his redemption quest. Even though he’d had no control over the terrible things he’d done in his past, the guilt had been raw for a long time. In many ways, it still was.
“I have to get my soul clean,” he’d said to me a few times.
I couldn’t stand those moments, the times when he would cry in my arms. Dean wasn’t synonymous with teary times, but he bloody well had them. He had to ride the wave, let me hold him until he could finally get on his feet until the next crumble. Sometimes, it would take him a few hours to be done with his pain.
So, we’d started the agency and built up a solid reputation over the years.
There hadn’t been as many tears for nearly two years now. His focus was more finely tuned. Not perfect but, better.
Dean was an awesome investigator, much better than I was. Sometimes, he would spend hours and hours on the Dossier of Supernatural Crimes (DSC)—a restricted website we were authorized to use in our line of work. It was a global database of solved and cold cases involving the paranormal.
We had other research materials too, both books and online stuff—the Paranormal Eyes VPN was an awesome tool.
I turned to Dean. “Can I just say, I’d never really withhold sex. Not for six months. Maybe a day.”
“Horny bastard.”
“Yep. There’s no way I could go all that time without the good stuff.”
Man, I was so in love with him. If I were me watching myself, I’d probably make myself sick with all the gooey goings-on. But I loved him so hard, and I couldn’t
