Page 75 of Wounded Soul
He must’ve been scowling because Raph patted him on the shoulder again. “Peter’s still keeping an eye on the situation, but he seems to think that although DS Jones and Mr Moreton appear to be close friends, he doesn’t believe Jones has confided in him about our existence. If that continues to be the case, then there’s nothing to worry about.” He smiled again, and Jesse suddenly realised it wasn’t the case, would never be the case, and there was no way they could ever make this fuck-up go away. Even if they introduced Ian to Raph as a new covenless vampire from wherever, eventually he’d run into Blake. And then it would all be over.
They needed to tell Raph what was going on and take the fucking consequences. Peter had made a huge mistake and so had Jesse, whether they meant to or not. Well, Jesse hadn’t meant to. Peter obviously had. Hiding from it wasn’t doing anyone any favours.
Not him, not Raph, and definitely not Ian.
And on top of that, Jesse had dragged Lys into it.
The lying had to stop now, before they made things any worse.
If that were possible.
Steeling himself for what he was about to do, Jesse turned to Raph. “Raph, there’s something we—”
“Yes!” Peter hurried over, a surprised expression in place as though Jesse had just reminded him of something. “I’d almost forgotten.” He sent Jesse a venomous glare as soon as Raph looked away. “Jesse and I noticed we were getting low on blood. I wanted to talk to you about maybe upping our supply next time or keeping a better eye on how much people are taking.” He steered Raph away from Jesse, towards the door. “With the VLCD keeping such a close eye on how much we buy, maybe this is something to bring up at the agreement meeting you promised us.”
Jesse watched as Raph’s focus shifted fully to Peter, frown in place now Peter had brought up the meeting Raph had agreed to. “But I really need to—”
“Jesse,” Peter hissed. “I’m sure whatever drama you’ve got going on can wait. You should get back to Lys. It’s not wise to keep her waiting when she’s hungry.” There was a threat in there somewhere, and as Jesse struggled to figure it out, Peter deftly led Raph out through the door in the direction of Raph’s office, and Jesse cursed under his breath.
He’d lost his fucking chance. Peter could keep him in there for hours, spouting his bullshit about tweaking the agreement or abolishing it all together. And Jesse couldn’t hang around indefinitely waiting for them to come out.
Racing after them was an option, but judging by Peter’s expression, he’d stop Jesse from speaking to Raph any way he could, and a fight with Peter wasn’t what he needed right then. He’d just have to wait.
Bollocks.
Grabbing some blood from the fridge, Jesse marched back to the stairs, taking them two at a time until he reached his floor. He heard the footsteps well before he saw Michael rounding the corner, coming from Jesse’s floor.
Jesse narrowed his eyes. “What the fuck are you doing up here?” Michael’s room was on the floor below.
He hesitated for a split second, but Jesse caught it, fuelling his suspicion.
“Visiting.” Michael quickly regained his confidence. “That all right with you?” He glanced at the bags in Jesse’s arms, smirk appearing. “I guess you and Lys must be thirsty, huh.”
So you’ve been to my room, you nosy bastard.
Forcing a smile, Jesse shrugged. “You know how she gets after a long shift at the hospital.”
“I can imagine.” He gestured over his shoulder. “Better get going then, there’s hungry people waiting for you.”
Jesse walked past him without replying, refusing to play whatever game Michael was aiming for. It wasn’t as though Jesse didn’t know Peter had told them where Ian was. What did Michael think he was gaining by talking like that?
Arsehole.
If Jesse was getting into trouble for this, then those three were bloody well going down with him.
He reached his room without running into anyone else, thank fuck, and hurried to get inside and lock it behind him.
“Everything all right?” Lys asked as he leant against the door for a moment.
“Ran into Michael,” Jesse offered by way of explanation.
Lys rolled her eyes. “He came here, knocking on your door. Didn’t even pretend to have a good excuse for being here.”
Jesse walked over to the bed and sat down.
“I hid in the en suite while she answered the door,” Ian added. “In case you were wondering.” He wrinkled his nose and Jesse suddenly remembered the bag of dirty clothes. “Something in there stinks, by the way.”
“Yeah.” Jesse managed a genuine smile this time. “That would be your clothes.”
