“You finished for the day?” Will asked, when she hadn’t moved after a few moments.
“No, we’ve still got Cryptobiology. Then I’ve a few hours before my next shift.”
“When was your last day off?” Will questioned, nudging his plate of chips closer towards her. She felt the unmistakable caress of Tess’s touch on her back, and lifted her head, glancing at her watch. With a weary smile, her fingers sneaked out, grabbing one of the hot sticks of temptation from almost beneath her nose.
“My birthday.” She flashed a quick smile at Will, helping herself to another chip. “You’re late today,” she began, only to be cut off by Tess’s concern.
“That was eight months ago, you can’t keep this up, not with your—”
“Anyway, we should probably head over,” Ashley interrupted, before words were spoken that could not be unheard. She loved her friends. She had known Ashley and Jack almost all of her adopted life. At some point during their senior year in high school, Will had inserted himself into their small group, but there were still things about her he did not know. Things the rest of them had sworn never to reveal.
Will watched Ashley stand, his lips lifting as she threw him a wink and pinched another chip from his plate before walking away. He watched the subtle sway of her hips, noticing the way the small heels of her shoes scuffed the floor, suggesting she was more exhausted than she let on. He knew her tells, he had been watching her for years. Watching her whore her affections for lunch money, trade kisses for change. The worst part was that it was her own friends who encouraged it.
When she had vanished from view, he glanced towards the young man she had kissed, recalling how she had parted the crowd to bring that man’s lips to her own, and once again he felt the pang of jealousy burning in his stomach. For years, he had tried to get her to notice him, to realise he would always be there when she needed someone. Just once, he wished she would notice him, that her fingers would weave their way through his hair as she pulled him close and finally saw all he was, and all he could be for her.
He pushed the plate aside, his appetite ruined. Besides, he’d only bought them because it was the last Wednesday of the month, the one day he could guarantee she had scarcely eaten a morsel.
“Don’t mind if I do.” Will felt himself flinch as the seat opposite him drew out, scraping the floor in a way that caused him to shudder as Devon turned it. The dark-haired figure of Devon Prescott cast a daunting shadow across the table as he pulled the plate towards him, devouring the remaining chips. “You got my money?” Looking up, his eyes met with the almost black irises of the man before him. His hand extended, his gaze piercing Will as he made the money gesture with his hand.
“Yeah, I got your money,” he grumbled, producing a small wad of notes, tossing them on the table.
“Good job,” the figure snarled. Standing, Devon snatched the payment, counting the notes before rubbing his hand through Will’s tousled hair, much as one would a toddler. Then again, to a vampire, that was possibly how he appeared. He touched the extended device, accepting payment and Will’s thumb print beside his own to mark the transaction as complete. “Same time next month.” Devon gave something resembling a salute with the money in hand as he walked away, a wicked grin on his lips.
As the tension drained, Will let his head fall against the table. He hated vampires. They thought themselves above everyone else. They had a secret monopoly on the town and no idea what a ‘mere mortal’ would have to do to come up with the protection money they demanded. He couldn’t afford for his gran to lose the store, it was her way of clinging on to the memory of his father. Yet she refused to pay anyone for protection.
When she had taken over the curio business, everything seemed to go wrong at once. Windows were broken, stock would go missing, the furnace broke. The Blue Coats said it showed signs of sabotage, but were never able to uncover the perpetrators. Someone was playing with her, leaning on her grief in order to terrify and exploit her, but she refused to be intimidated. Even now, she believed standing her ground was why the torment stopped. She had no idea that, fearing for her safety, Will had approached Devon, and asked for his clan’s protection. It was no secret he made money on campus through less than savoury activities, and he was known to be in the service of Vincent Masters, one of the most influential clan leaders in Overton.
Within a week, Devon reported they had found and dealt with the perpetrator, but part of him wondered if they had been responsible. He could never prove it, but knew that all small business owners paid tribute to one clan or another. The problem was, the payments were high—too high for a student secretly supporting a failing store. Lifting his jacket sleeve, he scratched tentatively around the angry-looking Y-shaped wounds tracking down his arm. Rubbing his fingers together, he felt the warm tingling of his healing energy before he focused it towards the inflamed areas, while glancing around to ensure no one was paying undue attention.
Will’s family came from a long line of healers, but when his father didn’t possess the gift they assumed the talent had become extinguished. Will had kept it secret when the
