I’ve never been one to hold my tongue when I’ve got something to say.
I read enough science fiction, urban fantasy novels in my youth, and as bizarre as it sounds, the words vampire and shifter are nudging their way up the totem pole.
“What if I am? Would you fear me, Mr. King?”
I look at Hemsworth, who is muttering animatedly to himself over by the bar, pouring himself a cola. Or is he talking to Lorcan?
I cross my arms across my chest. “Let’s say for shits and giggles and a dash of madness that I have welcomed two vampires into Queenie’s home—”
I get yanked out of my seat with Lorcan’s arms straight-jacketing my own in the blink of an eye, forcing my back up against the front of his suit with a strength I’m unable to budge. His mouth is hovering at my neck. “Would you care to continue this line of inquiry?” I get spun around, eye to eye. “Or would you rather not poke the hidden monster standing before you.”
I look on as he shows me a wicked smile with sharp teeth, then does a one-eighty and winks at me before taking a few steps away from me.
“What the fuck?!”
“Lorcan, could you please not mess with Mr. King.”
I’m studying Lorcan with new eyes. Mr. Tall-dark-and-handsome and his wife are ethereal beauties. He’s got a class about him that isn’t modern. It’s classic, even his suit and fedora hat. His speech is formal. Plus, he seems to be able to convince me to jump rope naked if he so wishes. The couple appears out of nowhere wearing an old-world charm about them and seem to glide on air at times.
I doubt I am going to get an answer either way. I know the world has changed, and all is not what it seems since the pandemic was over.
“I guess Hemsworth knows who he’s dealing with if he’s not pissing his pants in your presence, and he asked me to trust his judgment—and I do—then you are what you are, as long as you are a friend.”
Lorcan tilts his head, acknowledging my ramblings for what they are. My world has turned a little off-kilter if I am to believe what I think I am seeing before me.
“Sir, the Gregario’s are very much”—he makes quotations marks—“friendlies.”
While my mind wrestles with that almost confession, I raise an eyebrow at Hemsworth in question. “Dare I ask?”
“Sir…” Hemsworth points both thumbs at his chest. “One hundred percent human. I think you’ve had a little too much to drink tonight, and your imagination is running away from you.”
“I was referring to how you know the Gregarios because you haven’t mentioned them before. And I dislike you taking me for a fool, old man. You know me better than anyone in this room, and my gut instinct is rarely ever wrong.”
“Or have we met before Mr. King, and you don’t remember? Perhaps through some business dealings?” I can’t tell if Lorcan is joking.
“I would remember your face.” Or would I? And then my mind catches up with me. Queenie! She’s alone with—
“Calm your beating heart, Mr. King. My darling wife will not be drinking the girl’s blood, nor will she be doing anything other than caring for her in the medical sense. You have my word on that. She is safe in Fern’s hands, I promise. We are not all the things fiction depicts us to be. The Supernatural Council is working alongside the human world leaders to keep us a secret for as long as possible. Vetted humans know of our existence, like Hemsworth. We have known him for forty years.”
“Lorcan, now is not the time for idle chatter about my past.” Hemsworth’s face reddens.
“Hemsworth is a loyal friend to my friend, Henry. My family will do anything to assist Hemsworth when he is in need.”
Fuck! “You’re going to make me forget about this whole conversation before you leave, aren’t you?” It’s a rhetorical question.
Lorcan nods. “I’m afraid so, Mr. King. Hemsworth sings your praises, but we guard our existence carefully. A picture will get painted in your mind, but we will not be the faces you see. Your mind will acknowledge what I allow of this day and the same for Queenie. She will not remember Fern, but a kind, faceless doctor who cared for her. The drug in her system will add validity to her inability to remember much of what happened.
“Your phone will get checked shortly and wiped of any information you stored