The door to room 906 opened when Finch was halfway down the hall and Luther beckoned him in. Finch could immediately tell that Luther wasn’t his usual calm, annoyingly smug self. This was a man on high alert, and Finch wasn’t sure he wanted any part of whatever might make a vampire feel that way.

Finch had stayed in this hotel before, but either they’d renovated in the last six years or Luther had rented a nicer room. This one had a kitchenette and floor to ceiling windows. There were curtains that could be drawn to cover the windows, but Finch had seen the blackout curtains Luther typically used and these didn’t compare.

A young man, maybe nineteen or twenty years old, knelt on the sofa, staring out of the window over the back of it at the city lights below. He had short, dark hair and he was wearing a black hoodie and jeans. In his hand he held a half eaten slice of wholegrain bread. He took a bite of it as he turned and gave Finch a once over with startlingly pale blue eyes before going back to staring out of the window.

Luther was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. Not even ones that looked fitted or expensive. Just… clothes. Every single other time Finch had encountered him, he’d looked like he’d just stepped out of a fashion magazine.

Finch looked down at his black body armour as Luther shut the door behind him. “I feel a little overdressed.”

“You are,” Luther said. “My fault. I should have told you to dress casually. We’re trying to avoid drawing attention.”

Finch gave Luther a very deliberate glance up and down. “Is that why you’re dressed like someone’s dad?”

“Funny you should say that.” Luther took a step to the side and held his arm out towards the young man. “Finch, meet my son, Shadow.”

Shadow shot Finch another quick glance.

Finch stared at Shadow’s back for a long moment before turning back to Luther, eyebrows lifting. “You can’t have children. You’re infertile.”

“And you’re rude. If you met an infertile couple and they later introduced you to a child they said was theirs, would you tell them, oh, no, you can’t have children, you must be lying,” Luther said, the last part in a mocking tone, “or would you, perhaps, consider that they may have adopted?”

“Who would let you adopt a child? Did someone let you adopt a child?”

Luther waved a dismissive hand. “The details aren’t important. He’s my son. That’s all you need to know about that.”

Finch considered pushing the issue, but after a moment he just shook his head. “Whatever. He appears to be an adult. Whatever the fuck you two are up to with this father/son shit, I don’t care and I’m not sure I want to know. Now, what do you want, Luther?”

“I need you to take Shadow with you.”

“You want a babysitter?”

“No, Finch, I thought we’d established that he is not a child. I need you to keep him safe.”

“Why is he not safe with you? Beyond all the obvious reasons, of course.”

“I’ll have you know he is perfectly safe with me under normal circumstances, thank you. But now…” Luther shook his head. “Things have changed. I’ve always said that I was the only vampire in this world, but it turns out that’s not the case.”

“There’s more than one of you fucks? That’s the last thing we need.”

“There’s one other. Katrina. She was with me when I fell through a thin spot in reality and ended up here. I always believed she hadn’t come with me because I assumed that if she had, she would have ended up nearby. Afterall, an entire city full of people was dumped here, all still together. It turns out that didn’t happen in this case and she ended up… well, I don’t know. Elsewhere.”

“Why is this a problem? For you, I mean. Another one of you is definitely a problem for the rest of us.”

“She’s nothing like me, and believe me, Finch, that’s not a good thing. Vampires… we can’t reproduce sexually, but we can create more vampires. I won’t go into the process, but all vampires were human once.”

“Wait, is that why…” Finch gestured in Shadow’s direction.

Luther glanced at Shadow, who was staring out of the window while methodically consuming the crust on his slice of bread. “He’s clearly not a vampire. He’s eating bread, Finch.”

“Obviously. I meant that’s not why you have him, is it? You’re not planning to turn him into a vampire, are you?”

“No,” Luther said. “Anyway, I bring this up because Katrina was the vampire who turned me. At the time, I thought all she wanted from me afterwards was for me to stay with her in a committed relationship. As it turns out, she expected a more… complete dedication. For me to exist only for her. I attempted to defy her, and it cost me dearly.”

“Why did she even want you so bad in the first place?”

“Now? Because I’m hers and that’s that, in her mind. Originally?” Luther shrugged. “My eyes. Grey eyes are uncommon and she thinks they’re attractive.”

“And, what? You think she’s going to go after Shadow?”

“She did go after Shadow. She entered my house while I was out. Shadow hid, but he heard her talking to a human man as they looked for him. They gave up and left before I got back, but when I realised who had been in my house and why, we packed a few belongings and left immediately.”

“Okay, so we take Shadow. What are you going to do about this?”

Luther held his arms out at his sides, palms up. “I don’t have any solutions yet. Older vampires are stronger, so I wouldn’t win in a fight. She can’t be reasoned with. The police won’t do anything. In this case, I don’t even blame them. They’re not equipped for this.”

“So this probably isn’t going to be a short little weekend stay and then you come pick up your kid. A thousand sounded pretty good for one night’s work. It’s not sounding great for indefinite room and board.”

“Put him on a mattress on the floor somewhere. He’s very quiet and undemanding. You’ll hardly notice he’s there.”

Finch twisted his lips together. “Hm…”

“I only have so much cash with me right now, and I need to keep some for my own expenses. Once this is all settled, I’ll pay you… I don’t know. Whatever is reasonable, taking into account how long this takes and any complications. You know I have the money to back that promise up.”

“You’re asking me to take in an entire person.”

“So that he isn’t killed. Yes, Finch.”

Finch looked at Shadow again and this time Shadow looked back, held eye contact. Finch had to imagine that there was a long story behind how Shadow had ended up with Luther, but he didn’t seem to have absorbed Luther’s obnoxious personality and he probably didn’t deserve to pay for his mistakes.

“Fine,” Finch said. “Give me the thousand. I’ll have Adin come up with an itemised bill for the rest when this is all over, and you’re going to pay every cent of it.”

Luther held his hands up in a defensive gesture. “I told you, he’s my son. His life is in danger. I’m not about to short change you, Finch.”

“Uh huh,” Finch said. “Does he talk at all?”

“He certainly can,” Luther said. “Sometimes he does.”

“I see.”

“Anyway, I have a little bit of a drive ahead of me and fewer minutes of darkness than I’m entirely comfortable with. I’ll walk the two of you down to the parking lot and we can part ways there.”

Shadow hurriedly shoved the last of his bread into his mouth as the three of them left the hotel room together.

“Why did you ask me to help you with this, anyway?” Finch asked as they stepped into the elevator. “We’re not friends. I see you maybe two, three times a year if I’m really unlucky.”

“Exactly.” Luther hit the button for the ground floor. “Where do you think he’s harder to find? With you, someone I barely have contact with, or with someone I’m known to be associated with? Besides, I think you might actually stand a chance at protecting him, should it come to that.”

“You think I could take on a vampire?”

“You, in a one on one fight with a vampire?” Luther scoffed and shook his head, dismissing the idea. “But your whole team, in a fight with no rules? Well, that’s a different matter. I’m sure you have countless tricks I don’t even know about. I’m not sure you would win against her, but you’re also the only people I wouldn’t entirely count out. Including myself.”

As they stepped out of the elevator, the receptionist averted her gaze. Whether it was because she knew what Luther was or because she didn’t want to think about what a man who appeared to be around forty was doing with a guy half his age and now how a third man in body armour fit into that equation, Finch didn’t know.

Luther led the way into the parking lot, long strides that were as confident as ever lending him a little less presence than normal in his t-shirt and daggy jeans. It humanised him, in a way, which was a dangerous thought since he was not human.

Luther pressed a button on his keys and the lights on a car flashed. Finch had been expecting something expensive, flashy, and definitely black, but the car that had flashed was one that Finch had passed on the way in without giving it a second glance. Grey, cheap, and unimaginably generic. Luther really was trying to avoid notice.

While Luther opened the boot, got out a bag, and began counting out wads of cash for Finch, Shadow opened the passenger door and retrieved a backpack.

Luther handed the money over to Finch. “I should go now. You take care of him, okay?”

“I promise to feed him. Anything beyond that… eh.”

“As I said, he’s not very demanding. Now, Shadow.” He approached Shadow and placed his hands on his shoulders. “I’m sorry all of this is happening, but I promise I’ll sort it out. I won’t let any harm come to you.”

Shadow nodded.

Luther patted his hands against Shadow’s shoulders before letting them drop away. “Take care. I’ll be in contact.”

As they parted ways, Shadow followed Finch.

This whole situation was fucking bizarre. Did this man, this vampire who had once spent years crossing all sorts of boundaries both moral and legal in an attempt to sample the blood of as many different beings as he could find, actually have a family? A son who he loved?

Finch reached his car and got into the driver’s seat. Shadow got in the back.

Finch started the car and pulled out of the parking lot. “It’ll be about an hour’s drive. We don’t have a spare room, unfortunately, but we have a sofa or one of those floor futon mat things you can sleep on. Tyla and Malyn are already sharing and Adin doesn’t even have a room, so quarters are a little tight.”

Shadow nodded from the back seat.

“I’m probably gonna crash as soon as we get back and I don’t see Tyla or Malyn being up any time soon, but Adin literally does not sleep and he doesn’t really leave the house, either, so he’s always around if you need anything. Even when we’re working, he’ll be home so you won’t be alone.”

Shadow nodded again.

Well, this wasn’t a very engaging conversation. Finch turned the radio on and flipped through stations until he found some music.

How were the others going to feel about this sudden addition to their little family? There was a chance Shadow wouldn’t be with them for long, but his experience with Luther was that vampires didn’t rush things. Or at least Luther didn’t. When you had forever, a year probably didn’t feel all that long.

Finch glanced at Shadow in the rearview mirror. “So, how old are you?”

Finch had half expected Shadow to try to answer the question by holding up fingers or something, but he spoke without hesitance. “Twenty.”

“That’s about what I guessed, but it’s a wild, wild world out here and you never really know. Especially when Luther’s involved.”

Shadow nodded, but there was a lightness to the way he bobbed his head, like he was aware of, but largely indifferent to, Luther’s bullshit.

Maybe he really was his son, whatever that meant. Maybe he was more used to Luther’s shit than Finch could ever be. There were a lot of questions he should probably ask, but they were both tired. All that shit could wait until later.

Maybe Adin would be the one to get him talking. He was the most terrifying of all of them if you knew his full story, but he came across as a calm and gentle intellectual. He was one, too, just… other things as well.

They didn’t talk for the rest of the drive home. The sun was beginning to rise, and at some point Shadow pulled out sunglasses and put them on. They were full on, dark sunglasses that wrapped around to fully cover his eyes from all angles and were held on with a strap. Maybe his eyes were sensitive. They were an unusually pale blue.

Finch pulled the car into the garage. Shadow was silent, even his footsteps light and unobtrusive as they entered the house.

Adin looked up from his desk, his eyebrows lifting. “Oh. Hello.”

“Adin, Shadow. Shadow, Adin,” Finch said, waving his hand between them. “Shadow is Luther’s son, apparently. That’s what we’re getting paid to do. Have him stay here for a bit.”

“A bit?”

Finch shrugged. “Luther doesn’t know how long for. Apparently another vampire’s shown up who hates him, and that puts Shadow in danger.”

“And Shadow is… not a vampire?”

“No, he’s…” Finch gestured vaguely. “I don’t know. And don’t ask me how any of that works, because I don’t know that, either. I’ll go over everything I do know in the morning, or whenever I wake up, which probably won’t be morning. I can tell you now that it’s not much, though.”

“I’m sure we’ll figure it out.”

“Yeah. Listen, I’m sorry to surprise you like this. Luther didn’t tell me what he wanted when he called, and by the time I got there, we were in a race against the sun so I kinda just had to decide on the spot.”

“No, no. If he’s in danger, what else could you do?” Adin offered Shadow a kind smile, but Finch knew him well enough to see the tension behind it. “I’m sure it will be nice having you, Shadow.” 

Shadow nodded.

“Yeah, he doesn’t talk much,” Finch said.

“Well, we’re all different,” Adin said. “Shadow, can you read?”

Shadow nodded again.

“I’ll dig out the list of house rules I made when Tyla joined and put it back on the fridge for you to read through. It turned out not to be very useful for Tyla because, as we quickly found out, he can’t read. Not in our language, anyway.”

Yet another nod from Shadow.

“Shadow, you want the sofa or the futon mat?” Finch asked.

“Futon mat,” Shadow said.

“I’ll get that for him,” Adin said. “Why don’t you get to bed, Finch? You’ve had a long day.”

“Mm, thanks,” Finch said. “Hope you sleep as well as I’m about to, Shadow.”

Finch went to his room and shut the door, and then sighed as he realised he still had the task of stripping out of his body armour ahead of him. Why did the very last thing you had to do before you could rest always feel by far the hardest, no matter how small it was compared to everything else?

Finch finished undressing, leaving his body armour in a pile on the floor. That was a problem for future Finch to deal with.