Callum and I sit on the living room couch, both of us silent. What started as a beautiful evening and involved a passionate, breathless kiss has now ended in the two of us sitting in a shocked silence after coming across a dead body. Once I called Dad, he ordered Callum and I to get to the house while he and his allies who know about the attacks went to investigate. 

I haven’t seen a dead body in real life before, and especially not one that has been drained of blood. I can feel Callum shaking beside me; he’s been distraught since we got home and I want to take him to my room to comfort him and offer him some kind of safety, but Dad wants to talk to us. 

I think he’s realizing that when he was attacked, he was very close to looking the same way. Plus, seeing a dead human is terrifying because humans have no way of defending themselves from supernaturals since they don’t know that we exist. 

Callum’s hands are shaking aggressively and I grab them in my own. His eyes find mine and my heart aches when I see the tears that are there but haven’t fallen. 

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, wishing I could make it better. 

He looks down at our hands. “I know there’s nothing we could have done… it’s not fair. He didn’t have a chance to defend himself and now he’s dead. Whoever’s causing those attacks needs to be stopped.”

“I agree.”

“I’d be pretty concerned if you didn’t,” he says, cracking a weak smile. 

The front door opens and Ramsay walks in, tossing his keys on the counter. He sees myself and Callum and sits down on the couch beside us, looking a bit pained. He’s not wearing a suit anymore; he’s wearing a sweatshirt and sweatpants instead. 

“Dad called me,” he says. “Are you guys okay?”

“We found a dead body,” Callum deadpans. 

Ramsay winces. “Yeah… Dad and Joseph are trying to see if they can find any footprints but whoever did it moved quickly and didn’t leave any traces of themselves behind. His friends are burying the body.”

“In an unmarked grave,” Callum says, standing up. “His family will never have closure and he died because humans don’t have any way to protect themselves from people like us. I… I need time.”

It upsets me to see him so distraught and hopeless, but I don’t follow him as he walks upstairs. I’ll check on him in a little bit, but he needs some time to himself to process. We’ve talked about how we deal with our problems before and Callum shared that he usually needs time to himself before talking things through. 

Ramsay squeezes my shoulder to comfort me. “He’ll be okay.”

“I know,” I say, but saying it doesn’t offer me much comfort. “It brings back memories for him.”

I know that Ramsay knows what I’m referring to because Callum opened up to him when we were at our house last week, but it was one of the newly rare occasions of seeing Ramsay. Ramsay has been going out a lot lately but he doesn’t really talk much about what he’s doing. Seeing him at the restaurant would’ve clued me in if I had any clue who that guy was. 

“Do you think the attacker who got that human is the same one that attacked Callum?” Ramsay whispers, glancing at the stairs. 

“I doubt it,” I respond. “That was three years ago and this string of murders is new.”

Ramsay shrugs. “Just a thought. Plus, you said that Callum’s aunt almost caught the person who turned and almost killed him. They might have gone underground for a while so they wouldn’t be caught.”

“It’s possible, but I doubt it.”

Dad and Joseph walk inside, and I assume they helped dig the grave because there’s mud all over their pants and hands. They both look tired and Joseph looks a bit sickly. He’s got a gentle soul and kind heart so I’m sure seeing a dead body made him extremely uncomfortable and burying it must have hurt him. Plus, it’s his weekend off from work and burying a dead body is not a fun way to spend your weekend. 

“Where’s your mate?” Dad asks, walking to the sink and washing his hands off. 

“Upstairs,” I say as Joseph slips off his muddy shoes. “Did you find anything?”

Dad shakes his head as Joseph disappears up the stairs. “Nothing. Thank gods you and Callum weren’t there an hour earlier,” he says, and I see clear distress in his eyes. “Why did you get out of the car? How did you find that body?”

“I rolled down the window on the drive back because it was hot in the car and I smelled blood. I was worried that someone was injured and it freaked me out that it was so close to our house that I went to investigate,” I say, getting up from the couch and going to the kitchen to heat up the kettle. 

I never drink tea unless I’m sick or need something comforting, so maybe it will comfort Callum a little bit. I want to go check on him and I’m worried about him, but I know he needs a little more time. So, he gets alone time until the pot boils and I’m finished making him tea. 

“If it happens again,” Dad says, pausing so he can ensure I’m paying attention to him. “You need to call me first and then go home. I do not want you witnessing a scene like that again. I’m going to be speaking with more vampires who are willing to assist and we’re going to try to put more of them in the areas where the attacks have been to try to find out who;s been doing this.”

“You shouldn’t have brought Joseph,” I say, opening the cupboard and taking out a box of chamomile tea and putting a couple of bags into the pot of water. “He looked sick when he walked in.”

Dad huffs. “Joseph can handle it. He and I will speak about it, but he’s perfectly capable.” He says it firmly, ending our conversation. 

He walks toward his room, probably to change out of his dirt-covered clothes before he does whatever paperwork comes with finding a dead body. He’ll also have to work with his friends and allies to find out who’s causing these murders and how to find them. It’s weird to me that the killer keeps getting away with it and hasn’t been caught. 

Ramsay comes into the kitchen and leans on the counter. “He’s hiding something from us,” he mumbles. “You know that, right?”

“I assumed,” I reply, crossing my arms and scowling at Dad’s closed door. “Do you think he knows more about the murders? Or something about the killer?”

“I don’t know, but there’s something he’s not telling us.” Ramsay opens the fridge and takes out a blood bag, raising an eyebrow. “Joseph got more A+ blood.”

I wrinkle my nose in slight disgust as he pours the liquid in a cup. The scent of blood is making me feel a bit nauseous after finding the body. “What about it?”

“He doesn’t like A+ blood.”

“Can you actually taste a difference?”

Ramsay nods, putting a straw in his cup. “How was your date? You know, prior to finding the body and witnessing the whole crime scene situation?”

“It was nice,” I say, smiling when I think back to our date. 

“Did you… you know?”

I scowl. “Why do you want to know that? Pervert.”

“I was asking if you kissed,” Ramsay deadpans, but I know him too well to believe him. 

“Sure you were. Yes, we kissed, and it was great.” I can’t help but smile as I think about our kiss. 

Ramsay rolls his eyes, but I can see how happy he is that I’m happy about the growth in my relationship with my mate. I’m still confused by what he was doing tonight, since usually he’d tell me if he was doing something important, but he hasn’t said a word. 

“What did you do tonight?” I ask innocently, trying to come across as curious and not interrogative. 

Ramsay shrugs. “Nothing, really. I went to the vampire district and went to one of those eighteen and older clubs. Met some people that know dad, nothing too exciting,” he says. 

I know he’s lying, but I have to give it to him; he’s a smooth liar and if I hadn’t seen him tonight, he would’ve gotten away with it. It’s pretty clear that Dad isn’t the only one trying to keep things from me. 

“Fun,” I say as the teapot starts to scream. “Meet anyone?”

“No one I want to sleep with,” Ramsay says, laughing to himself as he finishes his cup of blood and washes the cup. “I’ll come bother you and Callum later, but I want to shower.”

I pour the hot tea into a mug and put some honey into it. “Text me before you do. He’s having a hard time tonight and might need some time and space with just us.”

Ramsay gives me a piteous look. “I hope he feels better.”

“Me too.”

We split after that and I shakily carry the cup of tea up the stairs, trying not to spill. I’m pretty careful, but I hate carrying hot things like this and I don’t want to splash hot tea all over my hands and drop the cup. Plus, I’m going up stairs, and that’s not an easy feat. 

I open the door to my room and find Callum on the bed, looking through a photo album of mine. When I enter, he smiles, but I can’t help but notice how tired and overwhelmed he looks. I put the mug on my nightstand and sit down on the bed beside him. 

“I brought you some tea,” I say, looking down at the photo album that showcases pictures of me as a little kid. “I don’t know if you drink tea but I was hoping it would help a little bit.”

Callum smiles weakly and takes it from me after closing the photo album. “Thanks,” he says, sipping from the cup. “Chamomile?”

“You are a tea drinker?”

“Not at night usually, but my mom grew chamomile and lavender so I’ve had a lot of chamomile lemonade and it’s a familiar scent. I used to drink tea in the morning a lot.”

“English breakfast with a splash of almond milk?” I ask Callum, since that’s what he has ordered every time we’ve gone out for a morning coffee together. Sometimes he uses oat milk but he prefers almond. It’s weird that almond milk is his preference. 

Callum nods as he sips his tea. “Don’t wrinkle your nose about the almond milk.”

“It’s gross. At least use oat milk.”

“I like almond milk,” he says, putting his tea on the nightstand. “What did your dad say? I heard Joseph come upstairs so I assume your dad is back, too.”

“He said if I smell blood again that we need to come home and call him so we don’t have to experience something like that again. He also said they didn’t find the killer but they’re going to start pulling in more vampires to kind of patrol and walk through the woods where the attacks have occurred to see if they can find anything.”

Callum seems to approve of that, but he doesn’t give me much else. He just looks sad and tired, which is not great to see because when a vampire looks tired like that, it usually means they need blood. His skin is more pale than it should be and the whites of his eyes are pink. 

“I’m going to go get you a blood bag,” I say, getting up from the bed. 

“Lennox, I don’t have an appetite,” he says, his voice broken and whiny. 

I look back at him. “The whites of your eyes are pink. You’re going to get sick. I know you’re upset and I know you don’t feel like eating, but you need to. I’ll just bring a bit up in a cup to keep you from getting sick but you won’t have to drink a whole bag.”

Callum groans and I can tell he doesn’t want to listen to me, but I’m his mate and I’m not just going to sit on the side and watch him make himself sick because he’s upset. He flops back on the bed and stares at the ceiling when I leave. 

I walk down the hallway to the stairs when I hear retching from the bathroom. I open the door and find Joseph on the floor throwing up blood into the toilet. There are tears streaming down his cheeks and he keeps coughing and choking. 

“Joseph?” I ask him and he turns around, wiping the tears from his cheeks. 

He looks terrible. There’s blood dripping down his chin, his eyes are red and it looks like he hasn’t eaten in weeks. Vampires rarely get sick unless they haven’t eaten, but I know Joseph ate two days ago because I saw him eat. 

I have no clue why he’s sick. 

“I’m fine,” Joseph says, his voice crackly. “Just… the whole scene tonight.”

“Is there anything you need?” I ask, kneeling beside him and patting his back. “I’m getting Callum some blood, do you want some, too?”

Joseph nods. “Yeah, please.”

“Do you need me to get dad? Vampires usually don't throw up.”

“No, I’m okay,” Joseph says, coughing once more and spitting into the toilet. “It’s just being worked up from the whole situation tonight. I don’t want Dad to worry that I can’t handle it.”

I respect Joseph’s ability to gauge his own comfort level, but I still feel bad for him since he wants to help Dad and be useful, but this situation seems to just have been too much for him. I grab a bag for Joseph and then pour a small cup of blood out for Callum. 

Joseph thanks me as he takes the bag before disappearing to his room. He’ll probably need to sleep tonight to regain some of his strength. He probably should stick to meetings and things that don’t consist of seeing dead bodies. 

Callum is still flopped on my bed when I come back and he’s staring at the ceiling. He doesn’t acknowledge me when I come back and I think he’s hoping I’ll back down on my insistence that he needs to eat. 

“Callum?” I ask, sitting down with the cup. 

He opens his eyes. “Hey,” he says, sitting up and taking the cup from me. “Sorry that I’m being such a downer. I really didn’t want the night to end like this.”

“It’s not your fault,” I say as he downs the glass before chasing it with his tea. “I should’ve called my dad and just told him that I smelled blood and we could’ve waited. I was worried someone was injured but I just brought back memories for you of your attack and I-”

I guess I started rambling because Callum covers my mouth. 

“Lennox, I don’t blame you. Your heart was in the right place and we did have a pretty good night up until that point. I… I don’t know your family all that well, but I trust that they don’t want any other humans hurt.”

I shake my head. “No. My dad is one of the biggest names in the vampire community for ending human slavery and my siblings are the same. We’ll find the attacker, I promise.”

Callum kisses my forehead. “I believe you. I feel weirdly exhausted and you look tired. Tomorrow we’ll do something to take our minds off of this whole situation.”

I nod, thinking about all of the fun things we could do to get away from this frustrating scenario. I want a good way to distract Callum and to bring a real smile back to his face. 

“Did you talk to Ramsay about what he was doing at the restaurant tonight?” Callum asks me, changing the subject. 

He readjusts himself so he can be the little spoon and lay against me, and I indulge him by wrapping my arms around him and pressing my nose into his neck. His scent is as attractive as it always is, but there’s the bitter spot of distress mixed with it. 

“I did talk to him,” I say, thinking back to our conversation. “He lied to me. He told me he was at an eighteen and over club.”

Callum makes a humming sound that indicates confusion. “What reason would he have to lie to you?”

“I don’t know. Ramsay and I are really close and even if he doesn’t tell Dad, Joseph, or Raina everything, he and I rarely hide things from each other.”

“Are you going to try to find out what he’s hiding?”

I smirk even though Callum can’t see it. “Of course I am. Wanna join?”

“Of course I do.”