Turns out, I’m just defective as a human.
“Uh, yeah. It… still seems to be hanging around.”
“While we’re now absolutely certain that you’re human, we think there’s a possibility that you might have inherited some recessive traits from your vampire ancestors, and that’s why you can feel magic the way you would if you’d actually been born a vampire.”
Say what now? “Oh-kay…”
His smile widens. Is he amused by my hesitation? These people. Seriously.
“We’d like to test this theory—”
I open my mouth to protest—no more fucking tests—but he raises a hand.
“—no, no more medical tests. We want to see if you can pick up any vampire abilities. It would be some meditation and physical activities, the same things vampire adolescents do when they first begin to come in to their abilities.”
Well… that doesn’t sound too bad. Although… “Would I have to drink blood?”
Andrew snorts. “Only if you find yourself wanting it.”
I’m pretty sure that’s not going to happen. I haven’t said anything, but the sight of blood squicks me out. I’m used to it after so many blood tests, but that doesn’t mean I like it.
“Okay, I can do that.”
Sam pats my knee again, this time with approval. “Hopefully, you’ll find you have some latent abilities we can bring out. I’d feel more comfortable if you had an innate ability to defend yourself.”
I hadn’t even thought of that, but fuck yeah. I might not want to be a vampire, but even I can admit that they’re badass scary motherfuckers. If I could develop vampire charisma, speed, or strength—or even just enhanced senses—I’d be in a much better position to defend myself if Tish comes back. Maybe I’d even be able to sleep for more than thirty minutes at a time.
“Sure. Sounds good.” I’m totally on board with this.
“Great. You and Andrew can work out the details. I think it would be easier for you if the first attempts, at least, are made without an audience.”
Oh, fuck my life. Andrew? I look over at his stupid, smug face. Damn it, I should have guessed he’d be the one assigned to this. He is the only vampire on the team, after all.
I did not think this through.
“Uh, does Andrew have a lot of experience guiding adolescent vampires?” I make a desperate attempt to retrieve the situation. “Maybe someone who actually has kids…” Crap. Does Andrew have kids? He’s been around, according to gossip, for over eight hundred years, so maybe they’re all grown up. Maybe he has dozens. I mean, I can’t stand him, but that doesn’t mean he’s not seriously hot. People would want to have sex with him. Hell, if he was gagged and had a bag over his head, I’d even think about having sex with him. And while everything I’ve overheard points to him liking men, if I’d lived for centuries, I’d probably give women a try—just to see what it was like.
Everyone is staring at me.
“Do you not want me to help you?” Andrew asks. On the surface, he sounds concerned and a little hurt, but there’s a twitch to his lips and a sneaky gleam in his eyes that tells me he’s screwing with us.
Fucking dick.
“You’re so busy,” I say, laying on the whole innocent act, although I don’t think anyone in this room will fall for it. They’ve been around me enough to know better, even Percy. “I wouldn’t want to take you away from anything important.”
As soon as I say it, I know I’m toast.
He shakes his head, grinning broadly. “Oh, no, Noah. Nothing is more important than you right now. I’ll happily sacrifice my free time to help you.”
I think about arguing, but is there really any point? Instead, I manage a grimace-slash-smile. “Great. Thanks. Really looking forward to it.”
Sam coughs, and David clears his throat, lips pressed together like he’s trying not to smile.
Andrew, the asshole, claps his hands. “Great! Can’t wait to get started. In fact, we can start today!”
“You’re such a dickbag,” Alistair tells him, then turns to me. “If you accidentally maim him, that’s okay.”
“Good to know.” Yeah, I definitely like Alistair.
“Not good to know,” Sam chides. “Holy crap, it’s hard enough riding herd on this lot. Don’t make it worse, Noah.” He’s smiling at me, though, and I get the feeling that he likes seeing me comfortable with the team. Like I said, Sam’s appointed himself as my mentor-slash-father figure. He wants me to be happy and goes out of his way to make it happen.
I honestly don’t get it.
Percy clears his throat. “We might leave it there, then. Noah, we’ll give this theory some time, but if it turns out to not be valid, I have some other ideas about why the magic likes you so much.”
I nod. “Thank you.” I mean that. Percy’s been great—at first, when they brought me to meet him and said they’d know what to do with me after, I was shit scared. But he’s been nothing but kind and patient, and after he said the magic vouched for my story, everyone else got on board too. This may be a completely unfamiliar world to me, but these total strangers have been nicer to me than my supposed parents ever were.
The meeting breaks up then, and as everyone’s getting up and gathering their things and chatting, I sidle toward the door. Maybe I can sneak out while they’re all distracted and avoid Andrew—
The hand clamping on my shoulder kills all hope.
“Trying to get away?” a feminine voice murmurs in my ear, and I turn to see Elinor’s grinning face.
“I could learn to hate you,” I tell her, and she laughs.
“It won’t be that bad. And you never know, you might like it.”
Like spending time with Andrew? Is she—
Oh. She means the exercises themselves. Yeah, sure, maybe.
“Ready, Noah?” The dickbag himself—thanks for that word, Alistair—comes up beside me, Percy with him. I stretch my mouth into something that could probably pass for a smile.
“Sure. Can’t wait.”
Elinor laughs again and pats my shoulder before leaving. Percy smiles at me and follows her out. But before I can even think of maybe making a break for it, Sam and Gideon join us.
“Where are you going to do this?” Sam asks, and Andrew shrugs.
“Not sure, actually. I was thinking the gym, but it’s probably better to keep it private to start. My place, maybe? Or Noah’s.”
Oh, hell no.
“What about a meeting room?” I suggest, somewhat desperately. “How much room do we really need, anyway? My place isn’t big.”
Andrew smirks, like he knows I don’t want to leave the office with him. “Probably not that much room, but the meeting rooms are a little small.” He gestures around, and he’s right. With the table and chairs, there’s not a lot of space to move around in.
Not that I know how much space we’ll need.
“The main conference room?” Gideon suggests, and I jump slightly. He doesn’t talk a lot—not to me, anyway—so when he does, it always surprises me.
Andrew tilts his head and purses his lips like he’s thinking about it, and he looks so stupid, I snort.