by Frey Ortega
“Don’t be,” Elijah said. “Honestly, the way you bailed on me…well, it sucked. But like I also said, I get it. If anything, I just think it’s a step in the right direction that you don’t find the prospect of being with me totally revolting,” Elijah added, amusement clear in his voice. “Maybe if you’re up for it, we’ll start slow. We could just get used to one another, get to know each other better, maybe find time to hang out?”
“I’d like that,” Bennett replied. The thought of hanging out, of just spending some time together—casual, low-key, without any expectations or grand gestures—actually seemed…well, nice. Bennett wanted nice right now—hell, this was more than nice, really. Here was this handsome man who could’ve had anyone, and yet he was bending over backwards to try and make Bennett feel comfortable.
Honestly, if that didn’t make anyone feel special, they were probably monsters, Bennett thought with all seriousness. This was amazing treatment from someone who could probably get anyone they wanted.
“I do have to admit that I feel kind of bad that you’re trying to slow down so much just for my sake,” Bennett added. He was getting this picture that Elijah was this guy who enjoyed his grand gestures and his big declarations. Elijah Lillegard was probably the type of guy who was all pomp and circumstance, and judging from how well he dressed and how nice he looked, Elijah knew the importance of a show.
Though Bennett understood all of that, it wasn’t him. Well, no, he understood presenting himself well, and he even appreciated a surprise and a grand gesture every now and again, but not quite so out of the blue. Maybe if he’d had some warning beforehand, it would be different. The thought of suddenly being placed in the center of attention made Bennett feel itchy, like he was about to break out into hives. He preferred something quieter, and more intimate.
Something like being curled up in a blanket by a fire, with a hot mug of chocolate, while his mate wrapped his arms around Bennett. They’d get a little frisky, maybe, and things would get a little naughty…
But now wasn’t the time to think about that.
“You let me worry about that,” Elijah replied. “Besides, it was wrong of me to sneak all of this mating business up on you all at once. What say you and I do something this weekend, then?”
Bennett tilted his head. “Like what?”
“Well, if you promise not to disappear on me, maybe we could have a proper dinner,” Elijah said. “Thinking out loud here, but a dinner might be nice. We could go out into the city tomorrow night and get food from one of those late-night food carts, like those taco trucks that park right in front of some nightclubs. We all need to eat, and I don’t really cook at my apartment. We could watch a movie at my place, but that might be too intimate. Also, I’m not sure you’d appreciate going to Pastiche with me. It might be a bit too loud.”
“Pastiche is the nightclub, right?” Bennett asked. The thought of actually setting foot in a nightclub was daunting, to say the least. Bennett thought about the loud music and the sweaty bodies on the dance floor, and he wanted to run away and hide under his covers immediately. Not to mention the bright lights and the possibility of getting lost in a crowd of loud, sweaty people just like in a mosh pit!
Bennett couldn’t help but grimace at the thought. Loud venues were not his idea of fun. His stomach churned at the very notion.
If he was being honest, though, Bennett did like the idea of a walk through the city at night. Now that was romantic, but not so grand as to make Bennett anxious. Sure, the city was noisy in its own way, but it wasn’t blaring-music-and-writhing-bodies loud like a club would be. All the sights they could see while walking would be well worth it. Maybe they could even pass through the park! And between the two of them, a vampire and a warlock, anyone who might try anything would have a hell of a time doing so. They were safe—much safer than if he were being jostled around by a crowd, anyway.
“Right. I manage Pastiche for the coven,” Elijah said.
“I definitely like the idea of a walk more than the nightclub,” Bennett answered. “This weekend, maybe?”
“Yeah, that sounds great,” Elijah answered. Bennett was probably overthinking it, but Elijah sounded a little happier than earlier. There was just something in the vampire’s voice—maybe the tone of it—that felt like it had been lifted. “I don’t like the idea of waiting that long for us to have a date, but I understand. Sometimes the anticipation makes the payoff even sweeter.”
“It’s only a couple of days,” Bennett said. “Besides, we could keep talking like this until then. Maybe you’ll even want to join me if we catch each other at the café again some time.”
“Yeah, I guess I’ll have to make do,” Elijah said, sighing a tad overdramatically. Bennett imagined Elijah winking after he did it—a little joke, just to ease the tension. It made the smile on Bennett’s face grow even wider that his cheeks almost started hurting. “Oh well. This weekend it is. But you promise you won’t disappear on me if I decide to sit with you?”
Bennett leaned back against the head of his bed, more comfortable now than earlier. He didn’t expect today to go like this at all, and though it was a major shake-up in the stable life he was trying to build with the Blanchard coven and Ifeya’s house, the news was settling in a little bit easier now.
“I promise,” Bennett said.
Maybe being mated to a vampire wasn’t going to be a bad thing, after all.
Chapter Six
“Wait, what exactly do you need me for, again?”
Elijah looked up from his phone after swiping it locked for the nth time just that hour. To say that Elijah had become a little bit preoccupied was an understatement. He had been exchanging text messages back and forth with Bennett these past couple of days, and for the first time in forever, he was happy.
It almost felt like he was a high school boy with his first crush.
When the sun came up in the morning just before Elijah headed to sleep, he would share a phone call or a quick exchange of messages with Bennett. And right before dusk fell, as Elijah prepared to head to Pastiche, the two of them would greet each other and share a message or two. It was always something small—hell, sometimes they talked about absolutely nothing at all—but it was enough.
For now, anyway. Elijah reminded himself that they had to take it one step at a time.
Still, every time that phone gave a telltale ring, or vibrated with a new message, Elijah almost visibly bounced from the excitement. It made a big smile appear on his face, so much so that sometimes it actually made his cheeks hurt. According to more than one person, Elijah had a spring in his step. People were commenting on the marked improvement on his mood, and all he could really do was shrug and say that he was just feeling good. Because truthfully, that wasn’t a lie. He was feeling good, he just wasn’t being very open about the why.
To be fair, it certainly didn’t help Elijah’s case that every time his phone vibrated in his pocket or made that little chirping tune when a new message came in, the smile on his face grew ten times bigger.
But now wasn’t the time to be all giddy and excited—not when he was in a meeting with Julien, and some of the other people Elijah’s coven leader considered his right-hand men.
Julien sat there with his fingers entwined, leaning back against his office chair as he stared at Elijah. Julien was smiling right at him, as though he knew something that Elijah didn’t.
Well, honestly, Julien probably did.
“You back on earth now, Elijah?” Julien asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
Elijah cleared his throat and sat up straight. He looked around the room, seeing Julien’s assistant, Uriel, stare back at him, and Vadim with a stoic expression as always on his face, sitting back.
Elijah peered back down at his phone, and looked at the message on the screen. I can’t wait for the date tonight, it said plain for Elijah’s eyes to see.
The vampire smiled, feeling a little smug over the fact that he’d actually gotten Bennett excited
to go on a walk through the city. He turned to look up at the group, finally pocketing his phone.
“Yeah,” Elijah answered. “So, what kind of thing did you need me for again? I’m pretty sure it’s not something dangerous because if it was, it’d be Vadim being called to bat.”
Vadim’s expression turned into a light smirk and a nod. Elijah winked at his friend.
“No, nothing intense, although depending on how things go, it might get a little physical. It wouldn’t be in the way you’re thinking of, though,” Julien replied. “We bought out the abandoned docks that Marcel used as a hideout and we’re going to be turning it into a mixed-use development. I want you to lead the project.”
Elijah blinked. “What?”
Julien simply looked at him, the tiniest sparkle in his eyes making Elijah think that the coven leader was up to no good. “You heard me.”
Elijah shook his head. “Yeah, sure, but I’m confused. First of all, why me? I don’t know anything about construction. I just manage Pastiche. And sure, I also handle a lot of the shadier stuff when you don’t need a hole punched into someone’s ribcage—looking at you for that one, Vadim—but I don’t see that being general construction experience. Second of all, why did we buy the land? This skyscraper isn’t exactly at full occupancy.”
“Fair points,” Julien said. “Firstly, you’re not going to be building the entire thing yourself. You’ll have a team, a contractor—the whole nine yards. You’ve handled big projects and teams of people before. You can do this.”
The coven leader reclined in his chair and steepled his fingers. “To answer your second question, the Blanchard building isn’t at full occupancy, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take this opportunity to invest in something that’ll help us in the future. The building is tailored specifically to the needs of our coven, but it’s not really the best place to entertain guests and new friends.”
Considering there was that training complex underground and the fact that the building was mostly residential from the fourth floor upwards, Elijah agreed. “I can see that. I have it on good authority that many people find entering the Blanchard building a bit…daunting, to put it nicely.”
Julien grinned. “Eos and Orion call it the Skydick.”
Uriel chuckled, and shook his head. “Skydick, huh? That’s an interesting take,” the assistant said. “Personally, I think it looks more like a giant obelisk. Which, now that I think about it, is really just another word for a tall, long, pointed thing. Yeah, I guess it does kind of look like a penis.”
The neutral expression on Vadim’s face seemed even more severe for a moment as he spoke. “Call it whatever you want. It’s a big, black…building.” He made sure to pause there, before looking up at the other men in the room.
Elijah snorted, fighting back the urge to laugh, and instead tried to seem as though he had just cleared his throat, while Julien cracked a smile and Uriel laughed.
“Alright, jokes aside, if we create a neutral space, it possibly will foster some good will with the Supes. We might open up friendships with other covens, or witch houses, and maybe even packs around and outside the city,” Julien said. “This development could be something for all of our allies, and the potential friends we hope to make.”
“I didn’t think that was on our list of priorities,” Elijah said. He leaned back against his chair. “Making friends with the other Supes in the city, I mean. In Pastiche’s case, anyway, a customer is a customer.”
“We’ve always been trying to do that,” Uriel said, finally chiming into the conversation. “But with the Blanchard building being our base of operations, we’re more likely to intimidate someone than to actually form alliances and friendships with our neighbors.”
“Yeah, plus for a good year or so we were concentrating on dealing with the Marcel situation,” Vadim said. “Fostering some good will in the community isn’t the worst idea.”
“Right,” Julien added. “Now that he’s gone, extending an olive branch to other Supes and showing them that not all vampires are homicidal maniacs seems like the best path forward.”
Elijah wasn’t really convinced. He spent a moment quietly regarding Julien, the two of them locked in a staring contest.
“Fine, I suppose. I have about a hundred different reasons in my head asking me why I’m the one most qualified to do this job. Can I at least say no and back out if it seems that I’m not up to task?”
Julien shrugged. “You can always say no. For what it’s worth, if I wasn’t confident that you were the right man for this job, I wouldn’t be asking you.”
“Just don’t be surprised if the entire thing ends up being a mall with luxury apartment units right above it, or something,” Elijah said under his breath, muttering.
“Not exactly a bad idea,” Uriel answered. “Income is income, and letting those apartments be specifically for supernatural tenants could be exactly the kind of thing the city needs.”
“You’re a good fit for this, Elijah,” Julien said. “For a number of reasons.”
“Meaning?” Elijah asked.
Julien continued. “Well, for starters, this development is going to be for us, but it’s also going to be for Ifeya’s witches, and the supernatural community within the city. I think that should pique your interest a little bit, being that your mate is a warlock.”
Elijah nodded. He was about to make a point about how Bennett was his mate, but that they weren’t mated yet, but it felt like he was just arguing semantics at that point. He sighed and leaned back against his chair, crossing his arms. This sort of project was way above his pay grade, so to speak.
Elijah Lillegard knew for a fact that he was good with people. He knew how to get a club packed full of people who wanted to let loose and have fun. He was good with socializing, and getting people buying drinks. He didn’t know anything about building an entire waterfront property. Renovations to a building to make it look like a club with whatever theme was currently trending? Sure. Finding bartenders who actually know how to mix a drink in five seconds flat? He’s done that before, too.
But Elijah had never handled a project quite like this by himself.
Was now really an appropriate time and place to try his hand at something of this magnitude?
And sure, there were a lot of other skills he had that could have translated into being a good fit for other places and situations, but was managing an entire construction project one of them?
Given that he had a choice, maybe he should back out now, and let them find a suitable replacement. Was there anyone else who could do this job?
Elijah frowned. He couldn’t help but feel so incredibly out of his element—like a fish out of water. He shifted in his seat, before leaning forward and entwining his fingers. So many thoughts crisscrossed his mind.
“I understand that this is a lot to take on,” Julien said, pulling Elijah out of his thoughts. “But like I’ve said before, I wouldn’t have asked you if I didn’t have confidence in your abilities. Instead of giving us an answer right this very second, though, why don’t you take some time to mull it over? Do some research, or some soul searching, or whatever you might need. We’re not in any hurry right now.”
Elijah nodded. “Okay. I’ll try not to waste your time, but I’m telling you now that I’m leaning towards saying no on this. You might need to find someone else to spearhead this project for you.”
Julien shrugged. “Hey, if you don’t want to take the job, it’s fine. I’m not here to push you if you don’t think you’re quite up to task. Just take a couple days, maybe a week or two if you really can’t decide. We already own the docks, so we can take our time deciding who’ll handle all the details.”
The coven leader leaned forward and looked right at him, maintaining a degree of eye contact that usually wouldn’t have bothered Elijah, but it did now for some reason. “Just think about it for now. Don’t give me an answer yet. Maybe you’ll even want to talk to Bennett about this and see what he has
to say.”
Now, that was something to consider, too. Would it be fast for the both of them if Elijah came to the warlock with these little issues and problems?
“Fine,” Elijah finally conceded. He leaned back against his chair, looking at Julien. “I’ll consider it.”
Everything after that was a blur to Elijah, having stopped paying attention to consider his own problem at hand. Though he vaguely heard Uriel and Vadim talk about an issue regarding security, or paperwork, or something that would have bored him to death, Elijah’s mind was clearly elsewhere.
His input wasn’t really needed in any of the other issues, and his mind had wandered off into thinking about what was in front of him. Not that he thought it was a big problem, honestly, he was just considering it a bit too seriously for his own comfort. Truthfully, it was as much a fixation to Elijah as his own issue with Bennett was. But that had always been his dilemma—Elijah Lillegard was an overthinker.
He couldn’t even refute it, either. He was too deeply absorbed by the situation at hand, and honestly there wasn’t really any harm in taking a couple of days to consider things and weigh his options. Hell, he was even thinking about how he was thinking, which was the beginning of a spiral, and Elijah knew to quit while he was ahead.
As the meeting ended, Elijah just went through the motions of bidding his farewells to the others and then gathering his stuff so that he could get back to the club. The entire time, he knew that Julien was still looking at him, assessing him—scrutinizing him—and Elijah was sure that his coven leader knew exactly what type of thoughts were rushing through his head.
He had to get out of there, quick, before this turned into one of those talks.
Elijah gave Julien a single nod as he quickly slid past the man, murmuring a quick farewell. He could’ve sworn he saw his friend smirk as soon as Elijah shuffled past.
Bastard. Elijah couldn’t help but grin. His friend really did know him all too well.
