Page 57 of Wounded Soul
Then the alley smell he’d somehow ignored until now hit his senses, and Jesse wrinkled his nose.
Fresh clothes it was.
Quickly and efficiently, he stripped Ian down to his boxers, shoving his soiled clothes in a thick plastic bag, which he shoved in the en suite. Before he could dress him again, a soft knock sounded on the door.
Jesse darted over, opening it just wide enough to see Peter on the other side.
Barging past him, Peter slipped inside and quickly shut the door behind him, looking uncharacteristically flustered. He took one glance at the bed and laughed. “Did I interrupt something?”
Ignoring him, Jesse asked, “Everything go all right?” He noted the several bags of blood Peter clutched to his chest. “Do we need that many for now?” There was no fridge in his room; they wouldn’t keep for more than a few hours.
“Saw Liam on my way up here,” Peter said. “Had to get creative, so if he asks, we’ve made up, put our past behind us, and agreed to start afresh. Can’t have him running back to Raph telling tales.” He gestured to the blood. “I told him we were going to feed together and carry on with our heartfelt chat.”
“Really?” Jesse found it hard to believe Liam would fall for that.
“Yes, really. I’m very persuasive.”
Jesse recalled how Peter had made him feel before and scowled. “Did you do something to his mind?”
“What?”
“Like you did to me?”
Peter’s eyebrow’s rose. “That’s interesting.”
“What is?” Jesse got the feeling he’d let something slip that he shouldn’t have.
“I didn’t think it’d worked on you. I’m still practising how. It’s hit and miss with vampires at the minute—and would never work on Liam; Raph taught him too well—but humans are easier.” He grinned. “Much easier.”
Jesse hated to think what Peter had been up to with humans. “You really are an arsehole, aren’t you?”
Peter just shrugged. “We’re superior beings, Jesse. It’s time we started acting like it again.”
“Whatever.” He didn’t have time to deal with Peter’s tendency to talk bollocks. But he had said something of interest. “Raph’s not here, but I could tell Liam.”
Peter’s eyes narrowed. “You know the very first thing Liam will do is contact Raph. Do you really want him to get that news while he’s visiting another coven? Vulnerable and away from his own? Do you want to put him in that position?”
Would Liam do that? Jesse couldn’t think straight with everything going on, and the last thing he wanted to do was put Raph at risk in any way. He needed him on their side as much as possible. Fuck.
“As soon as Raph gets back though, we’re both telling him.”
Peter’s expression was hard to read. “We’ll see.”
First things first, they had Ian to deal with. Jesse gestured towards the bed. “I’m going to dress Ian, and while I do that, you can tell me what to expect and what we have to do.”
He walked over to his chest of drawers, pulling out a T-shirt and comfy joggers. “Talk,” he said, returning to Ian’s side.
Peter perched on the side of the king-size bed, dumped the bags of blood on the bedside table, then made himself comfy against Jesse’s pillows.
Jesse grimaced. Great. Now they’d smell of Peter.
“In my experience,” Peter began, hands clasped in his lap, “this twitching phase can last anywhere from ten minutes to a couple of hours, but never longer than that.”
“Then what?” Jesse struggled to get joggers under Ian’s backside.
“Then bam!” Peter clapped his hands together theatrically. “It’s like their body suddenly comes alive and they’re awake. And thirsty.” He laughed. “When you woke up, I’d never seen someone so hungry. Couldn’t get blood in you quick enough.” His smile turned into a leer. “That’s not the only thing I got in you. You couldn’t get enough of that either.”
Jesse rolled his eyes, trying to not remember how good it had been, how he’d craved both blood and Peter in equal measures. He’d been vulnerable, frightened, and unprepared for the new life Peter had brought him into, and Peter had taken advantage of all of it. At the time Jesse thought Peter loved him, thought he loved Peter. Maybe it had even been true for a while, but in the end, Peter only loved Peter. He only cared about things that benefitted him in some way, and only wanted what he couldn’t have. Jesse had learnt that the hard way.
